Dear friends of ChuckThis,
There is an ongoing situation that we are upset with and need to clear the air with everyone.
This blog was born out of a sense of frustration with the NBC boards and limits to freedom of expression, so it is with sad hearts that we share with you that one of our commenters is causing what we deem to be a problem. We have privately tried to handle the matter but since it continues, we feel we have no choice but to address it publicly.
This is what we know, and we’re going to name names.
One of our regular commenters, Liz James, has taken it upon herself in the past to form her own Greek Chorus of blog aliases (VickyJay, First Timer, godot, Buy More Associate, MarieM, James Lee, A Friend of the Family, MaryM, MariaM, ReadySet, HenryH, Gabbo, AngelTwo, FrancesM, BeCoolBoy… You get the idea) to both bolster her own suppositions from previous posts, as well as to gang up on other posters with whom she doesn’t share a POV. While the sock puppetry has largely come to an end at our request Liz continues to change identities and post under new aliases on a regular basis. This is an extremely dishonest and disingenuous practice and we want it to cease on our blog. We enjoy differing opinions here, but ganging up on another poster via multiple personalities is wrong, as is presenting yourself in a dishonest fashion that robs the other members of the board of some much needed context and information. We shouldn’t have to be the post police, but since this behavior has continued we feel we have no choice.
We’ve kept this quiet both for the tone of the board and to spare Liz the embarrassment and the potential damage to her well earned reputation as a clever and engaging commenter. She’s had ample warning privately, and ample opportunity to act with restraint to publicly preserve that reputation, yet by continuing to take advantage of our reluctance to reveal what we know she has not done so. Collectively, we now think it is time to come clean with the readers, and to allow them to judge Liz and her criticisms knowledgeably.
We *still* resist banning people outright. However, posters can not be permitted to advertise themselves in a deceitful manner here. We welcome opinions, but we must insist everyone own up to them. Aliases are fine, but creating a gang of them to support yourself is not. Changing aliases to present yourself as someone new, or to engage in behavior you would not want attached to your name is likewise something we will no longer tolerate.
We hope this board can remain a free and open place where all opinions are welcome and discussed politely, and we ask for your continued help and cooperation to make it so, but we will no longer tolerate our deference and good intentions being used against us to carry out deceit.
Amyabn, ATCDave, Ernie Davis, Faith, Thinkling, & Joe
PS: I originally wanted to not have comments this one time on this post, because there really isn’t anything to discuss. But we also don’t want any frustrations to fester and perhaps boil over to other threads, so I’m making the personal decision to keep comments open, at least for the while, here. We’ll read them.
You’ve all been tremendously respectful of each other, which is the reason why what has happened sticks out like a sore thumb to us. Please let that continue. – joe
amyabn
atcDave
Ernie Davis
Faith
joe
thinkling
Chuck This 
What a bummer. I hope Liz learns a lesson here, that we are a community, we love Chuck and we love to talk about it, that’s it’s not about winning a battle of words, but it’s about sharing our opinions and views and we all respectfully listening the the opinions of others.
This blog is a fun place to be! the team behind it is EXCELLENT! I’ve made good buddies here. Too bad she couldn’t appreciate that. Thanks for sharing this with us!!
May I be part of a “Greek Chorus” that seconds you, Jen?
I so enjoy the intellect and thoughtful comments on this site with the added bonus that all of us are mostly “chill”.
And frankly at the end of the day, it is a TV show that is supposed to be an hour of fun escapism not a platform for bad behavior.
Yes u may 🙂
And i’m not here as often as i’d want, but i appreciate this place and all the ones that come here to talk about the best show in the wooooooorld.. CHUCK! 😀
Now, sadly, i have to get busy with work.
I wish you all a Chucktastic day 😉
Joe, thanks for sharing this with us. I am flabbergasted.
On a lighter side and with no intention to offend – may I present Alladins Apothecary’s latest offering to those who are bitten by the multiple aliases bug – yeah we invent based on the situation, why do you ask? – anyway here it is – Multiple Alias Remover& Sanitizer or in short MARS . Product is available in the form of small and colorful pills – designed specifically so that people confuse it with the much famous offerings(M&M’S) from the original Mars. 😛 😉 🙂
For further details please contact Thinkling, Head of Product Development. 🙂
Also not to be confused with the Area 51 psychological study:
Multiple Alien Replacement Syndrome 🙂
Joe,
I’d figured out that there were a few people posting with similar views and tone to Liz, but I didn’t realise how many. And I hadn’t put 2 and 2 together and figured out that they were all her. Like Alladins, I’m flabbergasted. I don’t understand why someone wouldn’t want to own their opinions and have a conversation out in the open. We’re talking about a TV show for heaven’s sake – no one’s going to get shot here.
It’s particularly rude for someone who was given a forum as a guest poster to respond in that way.
Thank you for drawing our attention to it – and for drawing the line in the sand on behalf of us all.
It is a sad day when people must resort to such means to support their position. If the point is well constructed then support is not needed. I have a feeling that there is some underline issues at foot here. Lets hope they get resolved as this appears to be a manifestation of an underline problem.
I have really enjoyed the posts of VickyJay and FirstTimer (I don’t recall the others).
They have been very thoughtful. I don’t really have an opinion about the multiple poster question. I hope that I can continue to read these thoughtful comments and that Liz continues on the site.
Judy, we welcomed Liz and her commentary. At one point, we had asked her to join. She chose to do the occasional guest post. Cool. What is not cool is multiple personas. Armysfc summed it up nicely below-we all have opinions, we defend them, keep it civil, and share our love of the show. It crosses a line when you use another persona to quote yourself (as another persona), to essentially shout down other opinions because you are using multiple ones to make and back your POV. I hope this makes sense. It is sad, really, because Liz is a great writer.
I remember back in season three after the infamous “Beard” episode Liz James stated that she would no longer watch Chuck or post on this blog. Granted I can’t blame her after such a hideous episode and everyone is entitled to change their mind but to do it in such a stealth manner is sad.
well dang, that’s nuts. anyone that’s read my posts has seen that i have taken my lumps from the mods here for some of my views. just the other day i got told i was spreading doom and gloom, another time it was hinted i was a troll. i never hide behind a fake name to do it. i stand there and take my lumps and drive on. i also post good stuff too and that makes it easier to deal with.
one thing we should all take away from this is that we can’t change anyone here’s opinion. i can’t change the mods and they can’t change mine. to try and do so is futile. the fun thing for me here is i can agree with dave or thinkling on one subject and disagree on another. for the most part it goes well and a good discussion develops other times not so much. as long as nobody takes it personally it’s a good thing. Nuff said.
Well, if it would help the situation, I will join Liz’s Greek chorus. My personality will be real, and my opinion will be in line with her’s.
Really, I’ll do it. No questions asked. Just give me the A-Ok.
Well since you’ve already been both Bartleby and Enforcer you’re off to a good start.
This is Amy sending a virtual spy high-five to Dave.
But seriously, why the need to deceive? If you can’t make your point in a logical fashion, is it so important to be right that you gang pile with different personas? The practice is terrible imho.
Joe, this is VERY interesting. I remember this time last year, you sent me a private e-mail about HenryH and how I was getting frustrated by the negativity. Little did I realize that ALL of the folks who I had an issues with WERE THE SAME PERSON. That is plain dishonest and deceitful. By all means, state your opinion, be it positive, negative or otherwise. But DO NOT invent your own little gang to promote your ideas. Thank you for bringing this out into the open. When behind the scenes interventions don’t work, maybe public shaming will.
I had a few run ins with the multi moniker’d muse too – but I have to say the bipolar user name practice is somewhat common on contentious raucous blog sites, which is my only other blogging experience. This site, your site, is usually near the opposite, and seems meant more for a place where kindred spirits can commiserate. But, one can usually tell when someone is trolling or flaming, and there certainly are ways to combat such antics.
I would be remiss if not to mention 2 things:
1 – At her best, few have written better stuff about chuck
2 – One of the biggest injustices (no ones fault, just fate I guess) was as the news about 3×8 was going to play out broke on another web site, as she had just released a remarkably well researched piece on how 3×7 was a con on this site, it got almost no play as the webosphere went wild over the news about 3×8 ….
I honestly don’t think anything has been the same in this fandom since, to the point still many snide little remarks are buried in posts that many of us make (I am very guilty of this on the shipper side of the aisle, but I am not alone, and try to do so in a retaliatory sense, more so than in an aggressive sense). When taken too far, we get what we have here, too bad really!
We all get a little too excited sometimes Jason, that’s part of the fun. But we’ve always tried to make this a community, and owning up to your own viewpoint is a significant part of that.
@dave – absolutely one needs to own up and fight for one’s ideologue with his or her own user name – I am sure more than one user here dreads when they see that Jason has just posted, probably joe the most, kind of like what trouble is he stirring up now …. if I used multiple ID’s, where would the fun be in that?
That’s interesting. I had reduced my reading of this blog partly because I thought the quality of the conversations had decreased. I will have to reconsider reading more regularly, although the end of the season might do that anyway.
I applaud the efforts of the owners of the blog to maintain an interesting, honest, and open forum.
For the record I’m the same as Faith, as ChuckNewbie8, as ChuckNonPareil8 and well @jemjoven on twitter. The multiple aliases are coincidence :D, and I think most know me as the same all throughout. Well that and I’ve always signed in here as CN8 or Faith, complete with signature.
Just wanted to clear the air. It’s still me, I promise!
That and your picture sort of gives it away … unless you have a twin.
Yes, yes I do. I’m black and white, she’s the colored photo.
Just kidding! 😀 Can you imagine, two of me? My squees would more than damage eardrums the world over! Right now it only travels to the east coast lol.
Faith, you underestimate your squees. I am pretty sure we can hear them in Asia too. 🙂
Well, a Queen is entitled to some titles. So I don’t have a grudge against your various “names”. 😉
There really is only one title I covet…Mrs. Chuck Bartowski 😛 Well that and Mrs. Clark Kent and Mrs. Zac Levi. Either one of these 3 is welcome ;).
Faith
Hmm, For Mrs. Chuck Bartwoski you have Sarah Walker (and don’t you forget it) to contend with – I see things ending very badly – for you. 😛
For Mrs. Zac Levi – Well, if Mondays (from NBC boards hears of this she will cut you. 😛
That leaves Mrs Clark Kent – Well, after S3 a lot of us don’t look at Superman the same way, so you can have a try. 😉
I don’t think we’ve ever doubted when it was you!
This is very sad to read. It’s just a TV show for heaven’s sake, not life and death. There are far more serious issues in the real world to contend with. I am very sorry of hearing about this and hope it can be worked out eventually in a reasonable way.
That’s a terrible shame Joe. You know I don’t post here, but I do read – and it was a pleasure to see so many people getting along.
Being a veteran of so many message boards, blogs, online games, etc – there are a few in every bunch that feel like they’re not getting heard and decide to take it a step over the line.
It’s always a bad thing when it actually happens though. I know it feels like you’ve all been taken for a ride and duped – but I hope nobody lets it get them down. I really love reading the back and forth here, and I’d hate for this to put a damper on things.
❤ you guys!
Why, thank you, Karen.
But seriously, if you put this on a scale against all the good friends, feelings and moments I (and we!) have had doing this blog and being part of the Chuck fandom, there’s no question. This hardly registers.
Now about you lurking for so long… 😉
Well, you know my stressful life of playing video games and watching TV keeps me pretty busy. LOL