Valuable Advice from Schplook

I agree with you that Blackout Korea is a terrible site. However, I don't consider the bad behaviour shown on the blog to be anywhere near the same level of evil as the acts of the guards at Abu Ghraib. This comparison is highly inflammatory and will damage your main argument and cause people to ignore you or simply react angrily rather than thoughtfully.

I understand your anger, but I don't agree with the nature or style of your response -- your blog comments. Unfortunately, your site will only be taken seriously if you try to calmly present reasonable arguments, and even then only decent, mature people will listen. The people who should be encouraged to improve their behaviour (those taking the photos and those posting them online) will probably ignore you. I feel that it would be better to deal with the problem more logically.

If you believe that the photographs on the site are against Korean law, then you should report it to the appropriate department of the police. If you want to persuade the creators of the blog, and the people taking and sending in photos, to stop (or change) then you should contact them directly (and calmly, as I said). I know you have contacted other respectable foreign bloggers in Korea, or commented on their sites, but remember that even these people will feel uneasy about agreeing with you if they think your reaction is too emotional (full of anger and derogatory language) and your arguments are too extreme (comparing Abu Ghraib with Blackout Korea without giving a good reason, or logical argument).

It is very unfortunate that people on the internet will say things (and show things, post pictures) that they wouldn't say or do in public. Even more unfortunate, is that some people actually would, and don't care at all about being rude to someone while looking them in the eye. There are some people who don't know that what they are doing is wrong, but some that will never change, no matter how well (logically and fairly ) we argue with them.

A minority of people cause the majority of problems. What we can do, is to try to convince the majority of reasonable people (who have temporarily lost their sense of common decency and contribute offensive photos to Blackout Korea) to see that their behaviour is not acceptable.


Here are my arguments against Blackout Korea:

1. Taking photos of people and publishing them without their permission may be a crime in Korea. Please at least make sure to conceal the identities of these people (if you're going to post them online).

2. Unwanted touching is a form of assault and, therefore, also a crime. Please do not touch people without their permission.

3. Posing with and ridiculing people in unflattering states is immature, insensitive, and offensive. Please respect other people, even if it seems amusing to you at the time. Stop and think about how you would feel if it happened to you. If you wouldn't be offended, keep in mind that not everyone is like you -- just because you think it's OK, doesn't mean it is for someone else. Hold on to your empathy -- these are people with feelings.

4. Blackout Korea is promoting, and normalising bad behaviour. Don't encourage this. Make it clear what is over the line. (In my view, showing the faces of, posing with, and touching unconscious people is over the line -- do not allow this on the site.) If someone were to take it too far and do something for the site that constitutes a (more) serious crime, then Blackout Korea will share some of the responsibility, if not the consequences.


Arguments against your site, English Teachers Out:

1. The angry tone is not helping. Focus on the behaviour, not the people. If you say someone is 'bad' (or an idiot) there is only one natural response -- they will become defensive and respond to you in the same (or worse) way. If you criticise behaviour, people have the option to change it.

2. Any time you compare someone to a criminal or war criminal, you need to be very careful. The comparison itself is not part of a valid argument unless the crimes are comparable. Comparing the processes involved, and making clear that they are different situations, is acceptable if done in a reasonable way. A direct comparison showing the worst of the Abu Ghraib photos to Blackout Korea's photos is not a valid argument -- it's an appeal to emotion.

3. Labelling all (or not differentiating between) people of a group as evil is also going to derail your argument and send into a free-fall of abuse and insult. Please make it clear that (as you don't know how many foreigners agree or disagree that Blackout Korea is awful) not all foreigners or foreign teachers are evil idiots.

4. Appealing to emotion will simply create a loud screaming match where no one is heard and nothing is said. Some people enjoy this -- don't encourage them. The people who enjoy arguing in this way are probably not the ones you can persuade or reason with.

5. Blackout Korea has a right to exist as long as they conceal the identities of the unconscious people in the pictures, and don't publish any that involve touching (assault). The posing, while it is distasteful and should be discouraged, is something that is not illegal, so should be changed through polite, reasoned arguments.

I am not saying you are wrong it what you're doing, but I am saying that your approach will be more effective if you take my advice. I am not saying you should stop criticising the bad behaviour you have seen promoted on Blackout Korea -- you have the right to do so. But if you continue, you can expect to face awful and offensive arguments from people who disagree with you -- these are from the few people who will never admit fault or change their behaviour. The more reasonable people will think carefully about their comments, but I think many of them already agree that Blackout Korea is offensive.

writer : Schplook   

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Bintz agrees all of Schplook's arguments against this blog.  I've learned much.
Just one thing I couldn't wipe out in my minds.. "they are terrorists in Korea."  :'(