The last couple days ds_santos, a writer for VLR who I will now refer to as "Diogo", has made some problematic statements. Rather than take accountability for those statements, Diogo has repeatedly brushed them off. I will go over what statements and behaviors I personally find problematic, link back to those statements and top of that grab statements from fellow VLR members showing concern over this behvaior.
To start, Diogo made this tweet criticizing regular poster on VLR forums "james_ff". Criticizing someone is understandable, especially if done well and considering Diogo's position in the field. However, the way he went about it was taken by many as immature. Diogo in this tweet said lines such as "this is a forum dweller who spends his day checking player streams" and "this is not journalism, this is someone that needs to leave his parents' basement." Anyone can see that these Tweets are out of line considering the extent of influence james_ff has, and on top of that, these statements are not criticism but rather just hatred and insults towards james_ff.
This is not appropriate behavior for someone who is supposed to be a source of news and information, especially considering that james_ff is trying to become one himself. Rather than taking any accountability for making those comments, he doubled down with the statement that: "James is an absolute clown." This was not taken well, and maybe community members pointed out that it felt like "journalism was being gatekept" and the response was immature.
Afterwards, Diogo yet again rather than taking accountability posted on twitter. This time, Diogo quoted VLR posts and comments with sarcastic statements such "the weight of the community's opinion is more than i can bear to stand." This response, at least to me, shows lack of care for what the community thinks which I find concerning considering the community is what runs the site.
Expanding on the lack of care for what the community thinks, when Diogo made a comment on his thread about rhyme, he said "thankfully the naysayers don't pay me." They are the life and blood of the website, and I find making light of valid criticism from the people who make the site as lively as it is and bring in the traffic is immature and crass. This Tweet and that comment are still up and has not been edited.
Finally, all the james_ff drama cooled down. However, this was unfortunately not the end of the issues Diogo has caused this last week. In tragic news, KRU player "DaveeyS" passed away due to decompensation. While many in the community mourned, Diogo sent out a tweet starting with the line that "Twisten's passing hit me a great deal heavier than DaveeyS, maybe due to how little I watched the Americas." While the Tweet also stated that "sitting down at my desk today to learn this was disheartening," it left a bad taste in many people's mouths.
Many people posted that they thought that the Tweet very much lacked empathy and was poorly written considering the circumstances, but unfortunately this was yet another time Diogo did not take any action for the community's displeasure. Rather, he posted "hi" showing absolutely 0 concern for the community's concerns over his Tweet and taking 0 accountability for the way he phrased a tragic event.
Due to this, when Diogo made a comment on why George Geddes was hated, he immediately got downvoted and replied to people criticizing the way he handled the DaveeyS situation with comments such as "I got flamed by an echo chamber" and that "I don't know how to live like this, I'm utterly shattered" to people downvoting him and saying he should listen to his own community. Yet again showing his lack of connection to the brand he works for and not taking accountability for his actions.
Personally, I am not asking for the removal of Diogo as a writer, I enjoy his articles and I think he is valuable to the growth of Valorant and the reporting scene. However, his harmful attitude towards people attempting to do the same work as him and his lack of concern for the community's criticism as well is concerning to me. All I am asking for is some accountability taken for the actions that have transpired over this last week. All I can hope is that you see this, Diogo, and change your mind on some of the statements you have made and your outlook on how important it is to foster community respect and understanding rather than alienating yourself. I have tried my best.
Thank you.
TL;DR - ds_santos needs to take accountability for his negligence of community displeasure due to his actions
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