Yes, this is two days late...so what? It's still worthy of a post, and I guess it's high time I showed my face here again.

Of course, comments on the blog article linked below have now been disabled because they don't like the non-cupcake responses that started flooding in. OH, the irony, oh the hypocrisy! "Do as I say, not as I do" at it's best! They don't like being told how unprofessional they are, and this was absolutely done in poor taste. Is this how you like to see your money spent? Because if you're still paying Etsy fees, then your money is going towards stuff like this.

I'll ever bet that several shops will be closed once again ("accidentally" of course!) as a result of the comments made, but the article itself will not be removed no matter how many people make the request, no matter how many take offense. I've done neither, as I no longer sell on Etsy and I'm not a prude, but I certainly think this was incredibly inappropriate for a place of business.

Methinks those editors need some serious supervision.

Giving Etsy my sincerest one finger salute once again!

Etsy Dorque article suggests "Herpes" and "R U GAY?" conversation hearts.

Forum Post - "Would you write an article for your shop discussing masturbation & herpes? - Etsy did!"

I apologize we haven't had the time to get to this topic earlier this week, but surprisingly our lives don't always revolve around Etsy and their nearly continually occurring social atrocities but we've been chewing over what to say for a few days so here we go...

This weekend Etsy posted a Dorque article from a Guest named Temple St. Clair on the apparent immorality of coral. And the sellers went insane with rage over this, decrying you can buy coral and coral items on Etsy, and that no sister article accompanied it to inform about more "ethical" and entirely legal means for coral. It was even accompanied by a link to the sellers own *OFF SITE* website where she boats selling her pieces at Macy's and Barney's other upscale retailers which of course brought on cries that the writer should not have been given space at all, or that her status as a non-etsy seller gaves her somehow more authority and Etsy is promoting someone obviously in need of no promotion. Not to mention the request for readers to sign a pledge to not buy coral... on a site that sells coral.

While Etsy seems to want to be the New York Times and offer up challenging informative articles in the Dorque they can never pull off doing it right. They can't even comprehend how to present these issue articles, some of which can be very important information that should be shared, to a creative community of makers and sellers without it coming off as a slapdown as they currently make no distinction that the articles are in anyway are not "sanctioned" by Etsy but instead of a guest viewpoint. This is where they spin off the tracks of logic.

When media outlets allow non-staff to post articles on, they are called "Guest Editorials" or the like. (Even we make it clear when we post a article written by someone other than us with our "Ladies Auxillary" postings.) Most large outlets usually have a short bio next to a by line picture at the front or end of the piece making clear that the writer is a guest contributor and NOT with the venue, and her view points are her/his own. This is a long established way to do this, you barely have to even pay attention to notice that's how things are done. That's the problem, Etsy doesn't notice anything without a mustache attached to it and had they simply conformed to this one little convention this all might have been avoided. But then convention has always been too conventional for Etsy even though most of the time there is a damned good reason for it.

When an article by a successful off-Etsy jewlery designer is featured such as this you give them a great deal of authority. An authority that may or may not be deserved, that is why sometimes outlets will also offer a countering article with the other side, in this case one about legal and ethical coral, and coral alternatives would have been extremely appropriate and welcomed I think, but then the writer of that might not be some fancy pants designer that someone at Etsy peed their pants over getting an email from.

Of course, since this implosion the forums have been on fire, even the ideas forum is filling up with seller disgust, and moderators are busy shutting down topics as fast as they open, or shoving them into Etc or the like. They are scrambling to cover it all up like a handknitted cozy for a heating duct. The one thing you can consistently say about etsy is they don't take well to criticism in anyway. I'm expecting more mutings and banning this week to remind us all that Etsy is never wrong.