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Tripod: People get so personal in fray. Does that surprise you?
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Powazek: I'm always struck by the degree to which people are revealing on
the Web, and especially in fray. We get posts about really heavy topics
— dealing with illness, or childhood sexual abuse — and then
there are names and e-mail addresses at the bottom of them. That's one of
the really powerful things about the Web, that people are willing to put
themselves out there like that.
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Tripod: How does the Web facilitate that?
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Powazek: Because it's possible! The Web makes it so easy to respond to something. Newspapers have a Letters to the Editor section, but who takes the time to write a letter to the editor?
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Tripod: Yeah, but there's call-in radio, and TV...
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Powazek: It's vaguely possible with a radio or even with call-in TV shows. But it hasn't been used this way. It's mostly used to present questions to some
authority on something or other, and that's not a very humanizing at all.
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Tripod: But don't you think anonymity is a factor, too? I've posted tons of things under hundreds of pseudonyms, mainly because it's fun to take on different identities.
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Powazek: Yeah, of course anonymity is a factor. But personally, my feeling
is that it's incredibly empowering to tell a personal story and sign your
name at the bottom of it, because you are owning the experience. I understand that sometimes people aren't ready to do that, so they're not going to sign
their name, and that's fine. With fray, all of the stories that are published there must be signed and they must be true, and — to the best of my knowledge — they are.
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Tripod: One of the things I love about the Web is that it's a place
where people kind of explore their darker sides — of course, the
stories on fray really go into that. Was that your intention, to bring up
the "dark side," or did it just evolve that way?
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Powazek: (laughs) Fray has established itself as being a bit of a dark
place, which is okay with me. I like that mood. But I'm not looking for
dark or depressing things per se, but stories about alternative experiences
that maybe you haven't had, or it's a new way of looking at something that you
hadn't thought of. We've heard all about puppies and Christmas. We've done
those to death in the mainstream media. So let's look at what's left! I
think hearing first person stories about lives that we don't lead is the
most compelling stuff ever. It's just part of who we are as human beings,
that we're into personal stories. I think it helps us get to know each
other a little better. And the funny part about it is — Jesus, I hope
I'm right — is that personal stories can't be commodified.
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Tripod: There are plenty of places in mainstream media that personal
stories are commodified. Look at the talk show circuit! How is fray different than, say, Ricki Lake?
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Powazek: That question turns my stomach. Ugh. The Ricki Lake show is exploitive.
It's a circus freak show. People are paid to appear there, to flaunt their
oddities for the public. It's a spectacle. A bullfight. And it's not about
honesty, it's about being as outragous as possible. Fray is quiet and personal and intimate. And there's no money involved. I truly believe that money is a corruptive element. That's why there's no ads in fray and why nobody associated with the project is making any money from it. I don't want anyone to have an ulterior motive for being a part of fray. The fray is about personal storytelling. The fray is about honesty. The fray is not about making an ass of yourself in public.
See, when I talk about being self-revealing online, that means revealing
yourself and having control over that process. You can't do that on television. There are producers and sponsors and marketeers and censors — it goes on and on. You just can't sit down at your TV and make yourself a little homeshow. But you can on the Web. Individuals cannot do what they do online anywhere else. That's why it's so special. That's why everybody should do it.
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J. Betty Ray is the editor of Fucker Dot Com, a bastion of free
expression for Fuckers around the world.
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