Hate Inspires Community

Great column by Rob Walker today in The New York Times Magazine. Topic: a community of Rachael Ray haters at Rachael Ray Sucks Community. (In case you didn't know, Rachael Ray is the, er, over-exposed food celebrity). Says Walker:

The most important rule for those who wish to join: “You must be anti-Rachael!” As with any community, the key to attracting members is not just a clear core idea but one that can be fulfilled in a variety of ways. Members of the Rachael Ray Sucks Community certainly do this, criticizing her cooking skills, her overreliance on chicken stock, her kitchen hygiene, her smile (often compared to the Joker’s), her voice, her physical mannerisms, her clothes, her penchant for saying “Yum-o” and so on. The general tone is suggested by the community’s name for the object of its united spite: “Raytard.”

As Walker explains, this is a community that's been formed around "shared dislikes," which might be a surprising concept to people who think of communities simply as places that attract people with shared "likes." Not at all surprising to people in the communications professions, who have long understood the role that hate plays in organizing groups. After all, what are "like" and "dislike" but two sides of the same coin? Think of the Rachael Ray Sucks Community as a light-hearted instance -- Walker goes out of his way to show how benign this community is -- of a much larger, darker phenomenon. "Shared dislike" is at the root of many campaigns in social, political and commercial marketing, and it has been used for both good (reform) and for evil (genocide).

But what's most striking -- to me -- is that we are now having this discussion in the context of "communities" -- communities, that is, with a capital "C," the online organizations (such as MySpace, Facebook and Second Life) that so many businesses are attempting to join, infiltrate, or emulate. As I have said in many blog posts and at public forums, for a community to be successful, it must have a clear and compelling purpose. The lesson here is that the purpose could be something less than savory (Rachael -- no pun intended).

UPDATE -- "GIGGLES": My wife Eden asks an even better question: if you hate someone so much, why spend so much time writing about them? She suspects that some of the folks at Rachael Ray Sucks Community actually like Rachael, and are like Rachael. Doesn't seem too far fetched. The community site complains that Rachael "giggles incessantly." In his column, Rob Walker describes community founder Misty Lane -- who might be Rachael's most virulent critic -- as "an upbeat-sounding woman who punctuates every other sentence with a friendly laugh." Tee-hee.

Comments

[Misty Lane]

The difference between my lightheartedness and Rachael's is that mine is real-- not just a fake television persona that flips on and off like a lightswitch.

[Giovanni Rodriguez]

Tell you what, Misty. Why don't you and Rachael come over for dinner, and break bread. I promise not to use any EVOO.

[LizaRay]

Misty Lane thinks she's lighthearted? HA! And she can spew her hate about RR but she can't stand for anyone to say anything bad about her. She has complained about at least one message board for "disparaging" her name. What a hoot. I can't wait to see what kind of idiot she ends up looking like on RR E! True Hollywood Story.

[Eric Gomez]

I tried to post on Misty's web site rrsux.com, but alas I was denied a voice. Misty is a nasty hateful individual that to me is just jealous and ignorant. How could you hate someone you dont even know. You would think most people would have more to do with their lives than come up with a website that spawned hatred against those they do not know. Well dictator Misty ....enjoy.....get a life and you and the other 1000 or so haters wake up, eat your cheese danishes, grab your remote, sit on the couch and spread, and find more things to hate about those that are more succesful than you.

[Jay F]

Did any of you SEE Misty on THS?? Wow, thats like Shamu calling Jabba the Hut fat. How DARE she say anything about Rachael? Sounds (and looks) to me like someone gets no attention from guys and hates any woman who does.
MIsty-the walking Garbage Bowl.

[katie hubbard]

Is there a Misty Lane Sucks web site?

[KathyB]

Actually there ARE at least 2 sites that are anti-Misty.

http://rrsuxsucks.livejournal.com/

and the other is

http://www.myspace.com/rrsuxsucks

You can read without joining at the livejournal site but the myspace stuff requires joining and being a "friend" of the page owner.

Whatever the reason, the tide has started to turn against Misty Lane and her site probably will just fade away into oblivion. She claims over a thousand members but doesn't acknowledge that almost all of the posts are made by the same few people. One of the moderators, who has since resigned because of the chaos, even said that one member was posting under 3 different names so use your own judgment as to how many active members there REALLY are.

Misty's "lightheartedness" is obviously a fake if you ever read some of the posts she's made. She is really nasty and vengeful.

It's unfortunate that she has received so much publicity for running a site that encourages the bullying and herd mentality that is not healthy for our society. We can only hope that it withers quickly and goes away.

[Waaahhhhh!!!!]

What a hypocritical cow! Misty Moron had Live Journal kill an anti-RRSux LJ for the second time! It's just too, too funny! She can dish it out all day long, but when she gets criticised, it's Waaahhhhh, make them stop!! BTW, she was embarrassed simply because whoever has that LJ was merely posting links and screenshots of other things that Misty herself has posted in various places online. Ha, what a moron, can't take her own words coming back to haunt her!

[Yuck]

Yuck, Misty's just a big fat ugly cow who is so bitter that the only way to feel good about herself is to tear someone else down.

[loretta salinas]

I think misty is just a hater and is obviously just jealous of rachael. Just because R.R is pretty,succesfull and rich shes tring to diss her.Well heres some advice loser get a life and quit talking SHIT about rachael ray.Find another hobby.Its obvious your just jelous cause shes every thing your not.
loretta s.

[getalifefatso]

Menacing Misty Lane is what you call a "cyberbully" who really just desires all the attenion and admiration that Ray receives daily.

[JIK]

Misty who? What a fat, homely, jealous, pathetic loser. Get yourself another case of Twinkies, honey, and shut the **** up.

[getalifefatso]

Apparently, Misty Lane created rrsux.com for the sole purpose of harassing someone who has acquired the fame and fortune that Misty feels Misty deserves. Ignoring Misty doesn't work because she now just sits back and allows her community members to post these awful insults and harass anonymously (i.e. greylady2). I'm all for freedom of speech but this journal was created for the sole purpose of harassing someone which is a violation of the terms of service. So if enough people file a formal complaint to livejournal at http://www.livejournal.com/abuse/report.bml just maybe they'll shut rrsux.com down.

[EatMoreFatty]

Misty Lane reminds me of that fat moose that takes 10 minutes to order from the dollar menu. The closest she comes to a respectable critic of food, is when she is inspecting the niblits that fall into her disgusting bosom. I threw up in my mouth when she aired on E!. I was surprised they fit her in the screen. Technology is amazing.

[stefano]

Rachel Rays fame is well deserved she started from the ground and work her way up. She could be over the top sometimes, so what? Misty Lane alias Jaba the Hut in an obese state is such a bitter/jealous woman. Stop being a leech and do something for yourself. Do you have a mirror at home?. Enjoy your few minutes of fame because after that everybody will forget you. Soon you will go back to eat a dozen of donuts for breakfast and a bucket of KFC for lunch.

[Misty Lane aka Jaba the Hut still sux]

Lol that alias is too funny

[Misty Lane sux]

Misty Lane and her husband Justinian, who Misty aka "Jaba the Hut in an obese state" has to support until he graduates from law school could care less about RR. They are merely a couple of lazy opportunists. And her husband even boasted to the media that Misty gets paid to run these ads on her now numerous livejournal, etc. accounts. But to me Livejournal is the real culprit for allowing this cyberbully to publish a journal for the sole purpose of publicly harassing this celebrity.