Rumour Queen - my take on the Royal BS

Sigh.

There's lots to debate in the ChinaIA community - regulations, wait times, eligibility rules, conspiracy theories... but perhaps the strangest phenomenon is the Rumour Queen. This is a website supposedly hosted by an adoptive mom of two from China. It appears to be a community that started with her own small blog on which she reported rumours and invited others to share information as they come upon it. It has grown into a blog and forum that boasts tens of thousands of registered members. I found it in August 2006, just before we were logged in in China through a link on a friend's site. When I first found it, I was thrilled! The RQ (as she's notoriously called) seemed to have LOTS of information, way more than what I was able to find out on my own. The forum provided a source of reading, commenting and asking information from people who had been through the process and who were in the same stages as we were. People who Got It. For several months I enjoyed reading and participating in the community discussions, gleeful at finding such a resource...

Fastforward a year and a half and skip all the small events, comments and contradictions that have changed my mind about the site, I'll give My Opinion about the RQ and her Queendom here:

1. She makes a MINT folks.

I was naive enough to believe her when she said "I only use the advertisements to cover the expense". Now, to that I say Bovine Excrement. I didn't know the numbers but have spoken to people who do... She's likely making AT LEAST $100, 000 A YEAR, probably more, on the 25 or so ads she runs on the site at $150-$250 a week. Do I care if she makes money? Nope. What peeves me is her insistance that she does it for the good of the community, from her heart, for our interests, blah blah blah. BS - I mean BE.

2. She is in CONTROL 24/7.

I have read people say they have posted but the post has not shown up. Last night I spoke with a friend while we read the latest shananigans on RQ. She posted a negative post. Not a rude post, but one that disagreed with RQ. I posted a neutral post. Within MINUTES of each other - in fact, mine was posted just after hers as a "time marker" to see when/if hers would appear. Guess whose showed up this morning? Guess whose is not there at all? Of course there are some criticisms here or there, she allows some to go through so she can say people saying what I'm saying now are wrong. Com'on, if you're going to be a public forum, inviting comments, post them. And guess what happens if you don't play by her rules? Bannished. In fact, my friend will be checking later today to see if bannishment accompanied the censorship.

3. RQ is condescending and rude.

She's quite comfortable in the spotlight. She relishes that people look to her for information. She sucks up the praise and compliments. In fact, she publicizes when she receives negative feedback so that people can tell her "Oh don't listen to them, you're awesome". She confronts anyone who challenges her with belittling and dismissive attitude. If it's a rumour reported by someone else, she plays it down with a tone of "Well, if you want to believe this one..." If it's a comment to how she runs her Queendom, she cites rules of ettiquette and bannishes them if they don't conform. And don't DARE participate in the dreaded "metadiscussions" it's against the rules to talk about how the forum is run.

SOOO, "Why do you bother to read it?" becomes the obvious question.

Unfortunately I'm hooked. As much as I've grown to detest RQ and her posts, there is no where else to go to read information about ChinaIA. Most of the people who post seem to be honest, sincere and informed. It is a good source of information and support when I can get past the Blog to where the lowly subjects post. But as good as it is, I'm getting more and more annoyed and finding it harder to "behave" according to the "rules" as they are dictated. UGH.

Why post about it here? Because I can. No one is going to kick me out, censor my post, threaten me with consequences. Read it or not, I'm just spouting because I can. That said, I'd love to hear that I'm not the only one! Surely there are those who are not brainwashed as I once was???

N