Friday, February 11, 2011

Saluting the recently Etsy muted

Recently muted under the new Etsy forum policies:

FancyPantsAndMore, who I cited in the post below for being part of the group organizing efforts to help designedbylucinda. One of Fancy's mute-able posts was, "Yippee Diane!" She got a thirty day mute from the forums.

ArtmakersWorlds, for posting "Bite me" to no one in particular.

KarmaRox, who has been an Etsy seller since 2007, and has offered help and warmth to many in the forums.

All three spoke up against the changes currently occurring on Etsy, and were chastised for being "too vocal" in the forums. Too vocal? Interesting turn of phrase there. There is at least one seller who can no longer post in the forums who hasn't received a muting notice from Etsy yet.

The results of these mutings are twofold: There are those who see this as a challenge and want to ramp up the fight, even if it results in their own muting. And there are those who see this as both frightening and intimidating, and are now wary of speaking in public. In the past, Etsy has found loopholes for closing down shops when sellers have spoken out. What a great way to build a more social shopping site that's all about community. Micro-economies indeed.

Imagine trying to sign in to Etsy, and finding your shop gone. Hours and hours of work, customers waiting on shipments. Gone.

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not after you.

And to the muted, this fight isn't over.

For more details, check out this thread over on the UEF.

5 comments:

  1. Most people will not stay in an abusive relationship. Wonder how this will affect Etsy's bottom line?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for this. I will admit I was pretty shocked, even though I probably should not have been.

    I was saddened and hurt the most, not by my mute, but by the closing of the condolence thread for Lucinda and at RobW's closing remark, which to me, came across as fairly cold. I just wanted that thread to grow so Lucinda could find hundreds of posts of love and support for her and her family, all in one place.

    I am happy that now we have a place to hopefully grow the community again, thanks to UEF and its Administrators/Founders. It will never again happen at Etsy. They will nip it before it has a chance, as they are already doing.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think also a lot of people have left the forums not because they are afraid but because they see it as pointless now.

    It was always pointless, but it used to *seem* less so.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh good blog! And Fancy Pants got muted now too? It's a sad day.
    But... I think I figured out why.
    Just go look.
    http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/cab/abn/y11/m02/i14/s04

    Seems etsy, has taken on one or more of EBAY'S former executives as board members. OHHH NOOOO! But it explains a lot.

    The sudden sloppy confused promotions all over our bios. Addition of circles. Don't fix the search, no confuse buyers even more.

    The lack in response from admins about anything.
    The digging our contacts out of our email so "friends and family can find us easier." HUH? Friends and family already know where I am.

    And now for all those complaining? MUTE!

    Same nonsense ebay did.

    I fear this is but the tip of the iceberg. Ebay followed all that with increased fees, stricter rules, (don't dare post a link to any place else, your listing will vanish.) And wave after wave of people leaving.

    Etsy is on that path. so far the fees haven't increased, but as waves complainers get muted, and shops close, they will be forced to raise fees. You watch!

    I posted a moving to artfire note in my shop and bio. Etsy promptly removed it. AND sent me yet another "warning."


    They are selling out. And I AM moving.

    So... HALF OFF SALE on Artfire to anyone who ever bought from me on etsy. OR sees this blog, or my own site or anything. Just put ETSY in notes to seller and I'll gladly refund 50%.
    http://www.artfire.com/users/ArtmakersWorlds

    At least until Artfire puts a former ebay employee on the board. Then Ill be moving again.

    ReplyDelete

Dish the dirt here.