I've been good. I've been patient. I've tried my best to be polite, helpful, friendly, civilized, and mature. I've listened to what everyone had to say. Now, you listen. I'm tired of being the bad guy, and I think it's about time I had my say. Let me tell you, you who complain to me or about me, just what the Archipelago web ring is, and what it is not. And if, at the end of this, you still think I suck or Archipelago is just an elistist organization, then okay. But at least you won't be working from the sole basis of other people's comments. You can quote mine.
Number one, it is a web ring. A web ring is a collection of web pages with a common theme, connected by the generosity of Sage Weil's WebRing organization. It's entirely up to a ring coordinator whether to allow anyone to join or be selective. There are many web rings that are selective. For instance, see the Ring of Photography, which both Kymm and I belong to (to use two online diarists for an example.) Some people did not realize this and got all bent out of shape about it when I started Archipelago. This leaves me unmoved; ignorance is no excuse for shrieking like a fishwife at someone who does understand the web ring options.
Number two, it is a project, an attempt to select some journals that offer outstanding writing plus outstanding graphics. If one element is unusually interesting, I might let the second element slide a little, but only a little. That's why you can find a range of styles, both visual and textual. It's also why you can find an example of a diary "just like yours" that made it in when yours didn't. If you can't see why it's there and yours isn't, then you're simply not getting the picture. It's not peace, love, and web awards all around. It's selecting for gestalt of design and content.
Number three, as the ring coordinator I'm the boss. I made the rules, and I wrote the rules down as clearly as I could so that everyone would be clear on the concept. If you read them and think they don't apply to you but you get turned down, then maybe you should read them again. If you don't get into the ring, don't assume I hate your journal. I probably don't. I may have liked it quite a lot, but felt it didn't meet the specified rules of acceptance. Have I turned down friends who wanted to join? Yes. Have I turned down really good writing that had abysmal graphics? Yes. Have I turned down beautiful sites that had kinda of dull content? Yes, indeed. Are there journals which I've invited to join that don't want a thing to do with Archipelago? Certainly. I don't assume they hate me just because they didn't join.
Number four, I'm not setting myself up as the last word in what makes a web page a superior piece of art. Lots of people have taken the burden of giving out web awards on themselves, and I don't see a general outcry about them. I thought about doing web awards, but I thought it would be more fun to organize and oversee a web ring instead. At the time (April 1997), Open Pages was getting so big that it was really difficult to keep up with all the sites joining. Breaking it down into suburbs, as OP's ring coordinator Kat calls it, seemed a really good and obvious choice to both of us. I was, and remain, amazed at the amount of vitriol and self-pity generated by introducing a new web ring into the online journaling community. It's just ridiculous to expect a community with a rapid growth rate not to naturally separate off into small groups of like-minded people. I personally support the proliferation of projects, rings, and lists within the larger community, which is why I have a Ring Journals Page accessible from my journal's index page.
Number five, Archipelago is just a web ring. It isn't going to make you smarter, richer, or a better person to belong to it. It doesn't mean I like you, or don't like you. It does mean I think, and many other people will agree, that your site is an outstandingly good combination of design and content. Elitism? I don't think that's a dirty word. Let's see what the dictionary says:
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ELITE n., pl. elite or elites.
1.a. A group or class of persons or a member of such a group or class, enjoying superior intellectual, social, or economic status.
b. The best or most skilled members of a group.
To conclude, I think it's specious to denounce any web ring as elitist when all it is is selective. I think it's pure grandstanding to complain about how snobby, mean, or evil I am personally for rejecting someone's journal and having the temerity to explain why. If I'm wrong, or out of line, I say so as soon as I realize it, and you can ask Doug Franklin of Nilknarf! if you don't believe me. You don't have to like me, you don't have to love me, but you damned well better not make the mistake of assuming I think I'm better than anyone else just because I'm running a web ring. I don't. It's only HTML and .jpgs when the day is done, and if it's also art, then that's what makes me happy.
Thank you, and goodnight.
