Play, Writing and Blogging

THIS IS A VERY SAD DAY FOR BLOGGING

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO REBLOG THIS POST TO SHOW YOUR SOLIDARITY FOR A FRIEND AND FELLOW BLOGGER – JASON CUSHMAN.

It’s recently come to my attention then a friend and fellow blogger has been permanently BANNED from WordPress.com.

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Jason Cushman’s blog HarsH ReaLiTy is going to be closed down shortly, which is a very sad end to an era of Jason doing so much for the WordPress community, and bringing NEW and PROGRESSIVE ideas into blogging. He is in blogging terms CHARISMA PERSONIFIED. Jason had this to say :

All blogging advice articles will be removed within 24 hours. The meet and greet threads will be removed by the end of next week. I appreciate everyone that has supported this website. –OM

Jason and I first came into contact when he invited me to join his “Project O”. I was pretty new to blogging at the time, and didn’t take part mostly because I didn’t really understand what he was trying to do. I watched Project O with curiosity, and was amazed at his ability to give MORE THAN 50 people a voice. It was an utterly staggering feat, one that I’m still impressed by. In hindsight I regretted my decision not to take part.

Luckily however Jason invited me as a guest blogger for a weekend, an opportunity which I’M ETERNALLY GRATEFUL. It was an exhausting experience, I devoted AN ENTIRE WEEKEND to it. BUT boy did I HAVE AN EXTREMELY VALUABLE experience. Mostly what he gave me was a voice and the confidence to actually “BE GOOD” at blogging.

IT WAS COLLABORATIVE BLOGGING, BLOGGERS HELPING BLOGGERS.

Jason has HELPED MANY MANY OTHER bloggers in similar ways. He also devoted a MASSIVE amount of time to his blog. Honestly I have no idea how he’s managed to reply to the HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF COMMENTS on his blog – I’ve struggled with tens of thousands on mine.

JASON CUSHMAN IS NOT A SPAMMER

He’s just simply not. I’ve seen him meet and greet people, always friendly, sociable, kind words, good sense of humour. He even sent me a message one day from the poolside whilst he was on holiday. HE LOVES TO SOCIALISE, and he’s got to be the least “spammy” person I know. If he sent a “ping” out to you then he genuinely was interested in connecting. That’s been 100% my experience of him.

I just left this message for him on his blog :

My “like” is to show solidarity Jason … and NO, I DO NOT LIKE what happened to you … I’m appalled actually that after doing so much for the community that you are treated like this … and to be accused of being a spammer, well that’s at the very least defamatory and at WORST AN UTTER LIE.

THIS IS A VERY SAD DAY FOR BLOGGING.

My thoughts are with you my friend, keep well 😀

Don

– http://aopinionatedman.com/2015/01/14/closing-harsh-reality-going-private/comment-page-1/#comment-264436

His content has nothing “spammy” about it. HE BLOGS ABOUT REAL, INTERESTING AND THOUGHT PROVOKING topics, that’s about as far from “spammy” as it gets. Plus he makes me laugh, and has done so on numerous occasions. So the guy has a very good sense of humour.

I appreciate Jason’s blog is not everyone’s cup of tea, which is fine, there are 80 million blogs on WordPress.com, so not everyone has to like him. Not everyone likes me, that’s life, I don’t care about it … BUT this is a significant event in blogging, for which I feel is a worthy cause to support.

So I’m writing this in solidarity and friendship to my friend Jason Cushman. I hope that some of you will also show your support for him, and show that we are united in the community against the bulling of people WHO DO A MASSIVE AMOUNT IN THE COMMUNITY TO HELP OTHERS.

COMMUNITY IS WHAT SEPARATES US FROM OTHER SOCIAL NETWORKS – SO PLEASE SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR JASON.

Unless of course you want to be part of a faceless generic intelligent spam network … up to you … not something I’m personally that interested in.

LASTLY – JASON – THANKYOU FOR YOUR HELP, ADVICE, SUPPORT AND FRIENDSHIP. GOOD LUCK AND DON’T BE A STRANGER 😀

Warm regards

Don

Comments are invited

Comments are often welcomed, provided you can string a legible, relevant and polite sentence together. In other cases probably best shared with your therapist, or kept to yourself.

218 thoughts on “THIS IS A VERY SAD DAY FOR BLOGGING”

  2. I am unclear as to exactly why he was banned. Is the Word Press Community itself who reported he was spamming? Can he not have his own blog on his own website? Thanks for clarification

  3. He is not in any way, shape, or form a spammer! He read and commented on my posts, and he answered every single comment I made on his posts. This is a sad and unnecessary situation for sure.

  7. I saw the messages from him and I was in shock. He found me early from a tag on my blog, he was always polite and kind to me, and he is the kind of guy that we want on WordPress. He seems like a really great guy. He allowed me to guest blog, and while I was learning, he told me when I made an error but was never unfair. He helped me greatly, and I am so, so sad about this. I truly don’t understand how this has occurred.

    1. Virtually mirrors my experience of Jason, and pleased to hear he helped you too … I did a further post which explains what happened in more detail …

  8. Yes there are trolls among us.
    Trolls who cannot stand the idea of someone being free in his opinion.
    Trolls who come freely on facebook and blogs and then demand to be “removed from it on which they where placed in error”.
    They have asked for this action several times and will have to report this if no action is immediately taken.
    They don’t understand that they could have removed theirselfs by just clicking the “leave group” of the “following” button.
    What exactly do they want to report?
    The fact that they don’t know how to leave a group?
    Alas, it takes only 3 of those trolls and you are being removed.

  10. Hi there!! I didn’t know Jason but this is something that would worry all bloggers. I’m not familiar with this blog or style. Would u mind explaining why he was banned? Then WP has all the power and “authority”? Sad … indeed!!

    1. Hey Dr Rex … I’ve done a second post, which goes into more detail … and Jason’s posted the forum link where he’d asked for the ruling to be overturned …

  11. Reblogged this on Kindredspirit23's Blog and commented:
    ts; connected in Life
    An Important Point to Make, I am certain…I Just Don’t Know How.

    Okay, I have been here about 4 years, yet I don’t really know how to Contact WordPress and gripe. I believe I understand what has happened here. I am reposting this and hope that someone with more smarts in this area than me will please contact WordPress and tell them what’s up. It’s up to all of you…let me know how things go.

  12. Pingback: An Important Point to Make, I am certain…I Just Don’t Know How. | Kindredspirit23's Blog

    1. Sure, I’ll send you an email if there’s anything I can do … I’m on holiday for a week or three, but should be able to do at least a little 😀

  15. I didn’t know Don or know of him but I am curious why WorstPress has banned him for life. What has spamming to do with his blog and did WorstPress tell him who lodged these spam allegations against Don. This bloggers host site is becoming the wort place on the globe.

  16. I am new to WordPress and Jason’s blog but from what I have seen and read this situation is terrible. What happened to freedom of speech? What are blogs for anyway? I hope that Jason finds another site to share his thoughts and help to others. And I hope I find him there.

  22. Pingback: Who’s Next ? – Spammy Little Name Callers – WordPress.com Censorship | Don Charisma

  23. I must say I’m shocked. Though for sure he put out much too much stuff to keep up with I enjoyed what I read and was helped by his tips etc. I feel so bad for him.

  26. So much for freedom of Speech in some respects this is no different than the horrific attack in paris just the no one gets killed just a person’s blog,thoughts ,opinions and memories…..this is so wrong on so many levels….a sad day indeed!xx Rachel and Speedy

  29. As a follower of his blog I can say that he’s one of the most sensible people I’ve known (or read in my case). I can’t believe they’re shutting him down.

  30. Reblogged this on SVM & TB Stories and commented:
    Sad day indeed.
    This is just a little hint from one not so often blogger to another: sometimes the ‘spam’ is our own fault! When I first started replying to blogs I erroneously clicked the little button that will then send you all responses, thinking it would be only to what I had written, not everything on the thread!
    Then, when WP changed their blog follows management I edited it so that I would get responses to posts in my email. MISTAKE! You get EVERY comment, no matter who makes it, whether you’ve commented or not and whether you’re actually interested in that particular post.
    This was all before I discovered that little notifier button in the top right hand corner of the free WordPress that lets me know when I’ve got a response, someone liked one liked one of my posts, pingbacks, etc.
    Please, be careful out there, apparently there are witch hunters EVERYWHERE, not just on fanfiction sites.

      1. :). It seems to be happening to others as well. Story Time With John (Sorry, not in a position to link right now) seems to have been hit by the same computer bug. We’re all hoping the computer is taken offline and life goes blissfully on :D.

  31. Reblogged on Juno’s View as the first new post following the recent sad death of ‘Juno the blogging cat’. Thanks D for keeping on bringing such important messages to our attention.

  33. So wait, WordPress is now shutting down bloggers for being unliked by a portion of the community? Without any sort of recourse available? I wonder if Those In Charge would care if their bloggers got vocal?

  40. Reblogged this on The Modern Theologian and commented:
    I consider Jason a good friend. I know that without his help thousand of bloggers would not have the following they do, including this blogger. What happened was poor form on WP’s part, and is tantamount to censorship, strange in the shadow of Charlie Hebdo.

  46. Why is his account suddenly being banned I don’t understand? This sounds so scammy. He could have easily stole people’s ideas and try to profit of it. I really don’t understand im sorry for being skeptical but this sounds really off

    1. Check out his blog, all the links and full story on there … basically it’s a minority that seem to have taken a disliking to him, and this is the result … bullying in other words …

  47. Reblogged this on Idiot Writing and commented:
    I am at a loss for words which seldom happens. I am sad, mad and cannot believe how our freedom is being taken away bit by bit by misinformation and fear of beautiful people who share themselves with others… Thank you Don for writing this. I hope some words find me soon.

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