Only two weeks old, and our little revolution has already run into the "MLK vs. Malcolm X Syndrome." Some of us want to bring about justice "by any means necessary." Others feel that peaceful negotiation with the Beeb will be undermined by subversive or offensive tactics.

Would you believe I'm not on the Malcolm X side of this one? The two most outspoken proponents of guerrilla tactics at this point seem to be Wumbeevil and DrGoofLithium. If you're looking for some ideas on how to mess with things, check out the links below. Suggestions range from annoyances like writing interminable poems directly to the moderators so they know how much we love them, to major actions like a boycott on writing new guide entries, or even temporarily "deleting" all our guide entries.

I'm leary of using tactics like these yet, because it would probably mess up any chance for credibility if we petition BBC for change. Some might argue that a petition is already useless, but I think it's the best place to start for now. If the petition turns out to have little or no effect, then we could use other methods.

What petition?

For now, the main Zaphodista page acts somewhat like a petition. We have just over 100 people who have signed it. Anyone in the h2g2 staff or BBC can view that page to see the unique names of researchers who agree that the new restrictions have got to go. However, I'd like to send this thing as a formal petition through the proper channels...after toning down the rhetoric, of course. For example, even I, yes, the ranting founder and spokesman of the Zaphodista Army, have pretty much given up on the rule against swearing. I don't like it, I won't be able to post my fiction here anymore, but I can live with it. For now, we should concentrate on major issues, like the restriction to only English, or links to off-site images, or the mysterious and inconsistent pro-active moderation process.

Sooner or later, I'd also like to get some input from Peta (h2g2 Community Editor and Zaphodista!) on what form the petition should take, and to whom we ought to send a petition. But it also has to reflect a consensus of the feelings of the Zaphodistas. Your input on this idea is required, or at least requested. (Please see Petition (Final Draft?) where people have already commenced debating this stuff.)

UPDATE! Been there! Wrote that! Fished for consensus! Asked Peta for her comments and suggestions! Please skip those dusty old rough drafts and go straight away to the live Petition for Greater Freedom on h2g2.

What boycott?!

Should we boycott instead? When? How? Boycott what? Are you sure this won't destroy our credibility on a petition? I don't think we should do anything this drastic yet, but I want to hear what all y'all think.

The most frightening boycott idea I've heard is the temporary deletion of our unedited guide entries. Since deleted entries are apparently stored on h2g2 indefinitely, and can be reactivated later by the researchers who authored them, we could all choose a week or a month to "temporarily" delete all of our unedited entries. Imagine people surfing through the guide, finding page after page of the standard message: "This Guide Entry has been deleted in protest of BBC's new restrictions."

This sounds like a more frightening prospect than Zaphodistas staying away from the Guide for a week or a month, or boycotting submission of new entries. Still, I think we should hold off on major group action until we try diplomacy first. But who am I? Not a dictator, sadly, so it's up to you to discuss and debate this stuff and prevent me from making unilateral decisions.

Should we send a petition to someone at BBC? Should we show our strength with a boycott or by deleting hundreds of entries for a month? Should we pester Pierce the Pirate to hurry up with building his pirate ship so I can make my rendezvous with my zaphrodisiac groupies wearing only their Goo berets? Please start a forum below and go buck-wild.

virtual PUBLIC SELF-IMMOLATION

For gods' sakes, don't do anything to hurt yourself in REAL LIFE just to protest BBC's restrictions. Especially when there are (everybody now, feel free to join in and repeat in unison) thousands of other webhosts and online communities, around the world and even in the UK, that give full functionality and relatively free speech to users.

But if you were thinking of leaving anyway, you can make an effective protest against the BBC's restrictions on h2g2, in a way that is very public and demonstrates how h2g2 values your contributions.

First, submit a new guide entry to the edited guide. Follow it closely through the Peer Review process, and polish it as best you can. I'm not talking about putting protest into the content of your entry. Just write about your hometown, an event or place or biography of a person, whatever you would normally want to write a guide entry about, whatever topic or style with which you've succeeded in the past.

Imagine your entry debuting on the front page of the guide, one of five entries for that day. Imagine how many thousands of readers might click through to read your entry, how much they'll enjoy your entry, and what will run through their heads when they see words attached to your nickname saying, "Researcher #whatever {CLICK HERE TO READ WHY I QUIT H2G2}".

It must be painful already for the BBC/h2g2 establishment to see 450 or more edited guide entries with "Zaphodista" or "goo beret" or "end BBC restrictions" in nicknames of the researchers who contributed them. Imagine how they would feel to see a guide entry which read "CLICK HERE TO READ WHY I QUIT H2G2" on the same day it was released. What a great way to show that even in your moment of greatest glory as an h2g2 researcher, getting one of your submissions accepted to the Guide, getting the clearest affirmation from editors that you are a valuable contributor to the community, that you are willing to remove yourself from the community for a month or six months or a year to show your feelings about the BBC's restrictions on your ability to express yourself. (You could then spell out your reasons on your personal space, which readers would see after they click on your name in the new edited guide entry.)

People who already have their minds set to acquiesce to the BBC will think this is absurd, and that it won't happen.

It has already happened, though not quite as publicly as all this. There's no easy way of knowing how many valuable members of this community have returned to h2g2 since the downtime, observed the BBC's restrictions, and silently left for good. There have been at least 4 or 5 that I know of who have dropped out vocally. They could be dismissed as whiners and extremists, if you ignore the fact that some of them were active volunteers in h2g2 pre-BBC, and some had contributed to entries that were accepted in the edited guide.

But if you're considering the possibility of dropping out anyway, why not do it in a blaze of glory.?

Related Fora & Links

FORUM: Quick, try this before it breaks


(DrGoofLithium ideas for guerrilla tactics)


FORUM: LEAVE YOUR NAME AND U#...

(Wumbeevil gives dozens of ideas for wicked guerrilla tactics, look around after post 165 or so?)