Please read this entire thread to the bottom. You will be pleasantly surprised.Lately, the hard work we have put in at the Bitcoin Magazine has caused some unwanted delays. Since I am personally obsessed with quality and think products like “Coineer” are as bad as what my grandma would make in Microsoft Publisher, it is difficult for me to accept poor quality in my own products.
This is why I stand out in the myriad of poor quality sites and services in Bitcoin. Although DialCoin for example was expensive (SMS fees make it prohibitive to run such a business unless your customers are desperate for coins, wish to retain their anonymity, or are using credit rollovers.), the website design was headed by me. Everything down to the character's name “Selly” was a brainchild of mine. I am proud of the design and form of DialCoin.com, and even if it were to close someday, I would never forget how hard I worked to bring it up with my hard working team.
Now aside from a handheld Bitcoin device that will bring Bitcoin to everyone's pockets, a social network that will revolutionize the way people interact and treat the internet, and a few other projects of less importance, I also founded the Bitcoin Magazine (which is actually a spinoff from BitTalk.TV, which started out as a half-serious trollfest and ended up proving to be moderately successful with more views than most of Bruce's videos at the time).
Since I founded the DCAO, we've brought in over 50 long term members that have acted as a support group and consist of some of the strongest and most adamant names in Bitcoin. It's a mixed lot, but all of them have one thing in common-- they understand that I enjoy trolling, although some obviously don't approve because they think I should just “grow up”. This group has acted as a sort of support group for someone like myself whom has had little education in economics or politics. These past 8 months have really opened by eyes to the misconceptions people have about Bitcoin, allowed me to feel out my surroundings, but most important of all -- to actually understand the reason why Bitcoin is important for all of us.
When I first started the Bitcoin Magazine, I was thinking about entertainment over education to be honest, and I was planning on providing comics, satire, and something light hearted to keep the community from killing itself. That is until we started getting contacted by major media outlets, freedom organizations asking for 100s of bulk copies for redistribution, etc. It hit me like a ton of bricks that I had just taken a front seat to one of the most important positions in the Bitcoin community-- managing the collective voice of Bitcoin for the outside world.
I admit that the job of managing what would reflect on Bitcoin for better or worse seemed extremely daunting at first, but then something happened. Either aspergers cleared up (I'm actually at the average age where it would), or I did what I always do-- realized my potential and got serious about it. That's why we brought in some major writers, a new editorial board, professional illustrators (not cheap), and some people who knew better what they were doing than myself. Still, I have been told numerous times by multiple people in and around the magazine that skill can be lent, but vision and personality cannot, and for that reason, they would not want me to step down-- that they want my insights, obsession to details and quality, and overall comical attitude injected into a magazine to help lighten it up and make it readable for people of all ages.
I have done a lot of soul searching and seeking out my philosophy, and although I'm still building my opinions of the world, I think what Bitcoin needs most desperately above all else is a neutral voice that is loud. Even when the news doesn't favor Bitcoin, I will publish it, because truth promotes correction. And when the news does favor Bitcoin, it is best that it is delivered in a quality manner that is not treated like a joke. This is something we are fully prepared to do.
On the topic of trolling, I have logged 50+ days of activity on the forums, and a great number of my posts have been egoistical, rude, vulgar, abusive, aggressive, and downright vile. While some would see this as a sign that I have lost my mind, those closest to me know the secret – it's how I get my energy (silly, ey?).
My sadistic and dark humor (Robot Chicken, FilmCow, David Firth, etc) is unique, misunderstood, and most certainly immature, but it has always served to fuel truer intentions and good ideas.
When I first came to the forums, I was wide-eyed, humble, helpful and polite, but was met with harsh trolling, brutal ignorance, and constant misjudgments (read: BitMole vs. KeyserSoze). This and being labeled a scammer merely for defending myself led me to believe that the very forums of Bitcointalk.org were essentially a joke, and deserved anything it gets.
This harsh mentality has changed little by little the more successful I became in the community and the more important my projects became (arguably, this could also be coincidence and just that the aspergers is clearing up at my age). My mother used to tell me “You are not ready/mature enough for _____”, and I would always mouth back “I need to have ____ before I can be ready/mature enough for it.”. I have no method to measure how many others share this feeling, but I believe wholeheartedly that my personality changes with responsibilities.
With the professional responsibility of keeping a community happy, providing a professional and high quality product, and defending the company, this project has already had what feels like a lifetime of experience plunged into it in the mere 3 months we have been working on it. We've had harsh disagreements, hard lessons, but also huge insights and great support.
When I wake up these days, I look in the mirror and I don't see a troll and a goofball anymore – I see a future political activist that has been craving since birth to have something to sink his teeth into, and I finally believe I understand Bitcoin enough to know my place. I will not stop my development of other projects, management of other businesses, nor hobbies in or outside Korea, but I do take the long term success of the Bitcoin Magazine to heart and would soon rather suicide than let it fail.
There is an issue of my activities recently, such as announcing the support of a young model in South Korea whom certain parties seem to feel is inappropriate (actually, investors have flat out said it). I am not sure if I care much personally about what people think of my activities or intentions (certainly don't care what SA goons, especially Buttcoin.org, which is planning on writing up a Bruce Wagner style slanderous exposé trying to convince anyone who will listen that teaching a 17 year old model about bitcoin somehow means I am a pedophile), but I am starting to grasp that it's time to turn the trolling off and get more serious on my public image.
It has been a very fun run, lots of juice scandals, nerd gossip, name calling, and even the SA trolls have provided me with some epic laughs, but I think for the betterment of my future, the magazine's future, and Bitcoin's future, I will be retiring as forum troll.
From now on if anyone has a comment about me, I'm going to let the community do what they do best – speculate, and let the trolls do what they do best – fabricate. This will be hard for me since I typically can't resist snarkily tearing other trolls apart for spreading FUD, but my new-found philosophy has opened my eyes widely to a much larger troll in our midst, and every able body should be on board.
Here's to a new Matthew N. Wright on the forums, an absolute predictable barrage of baseless slander from anti-Bitcoin SA goons regarding this post (which will never be met with any response unless police are involved, with which lawsuits will be the response), and a ridiculously successful Bitcoin Magazine (and other projects) that will piss them the fuck off.
Sincerely strapped in for the rest of my life,
Moi.
