Mediacrat
|
The following events are a piece of ED History. |
The Mediacrat Saga was an internet phenomenon which took LiveJournal by storm during Summer '04.
One day, a clearly mentally unstable student from the University of Washington hooked up with lulz warrior, Andrewpants. This chance encounter eventually exploded into an orgy of drama involving the now-defunct ljdrama competing against 
mediacrat (aka Joshua, Grayden, selfsufficience) in an all-out war, complete with lolsuits, IRL court hearings, and the birth of many, many memes. The Great War Against Mediacrat™ is a very important piece in the history of the internets, having acted as the midwife of girlvinyl who was carrying the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome-infected babby known as Encyclopedia Dramatica. Wikipedia does not agree with mediacrat's obvious notability.
Background Information
In January of 2002, mediacrat met andrewpants through the online dating service Gay.com. The two seemed to really hit it off, having gratuitous sexual intercourse both on Valentine and in March of 2002. However, things did not last as they soon went their separate ways. Though Joshua claims it was because Andrew's cock was too small to please him, Andrew claims that it was because he got shitdick from sticking it in Joshua's pooper. No matter what happened, the two split up and never spoke to each other again. Then, on November 4th, 2002, Joshua posted in uw that he showed great disdain for homeless people spending the night in the Odegaard Undergraduate Library. Andrew, under his alias, the_passives, got into an argument with Joshua over how much of an asshole he is. The debacle can be found here, but don't bother looking for Andrew's arguments, his account was suspended and thus his posts were replaced with "(Reply from suspended user)".
For the next year and a half, the rift between Andrew and Joshua grew wider and wider as the flames grew hotter and hotter. Andrew did as much as he could to raep Joshua, as noted by Joshua himself:
2002, my pumpkin is stolen off my front door mat in a locked and secure building.....it shows up in a picture on LiveJournal.com along with harassing comments about me
fall 2002, gay male naked deck of playing cards shouved under my door in locked secure building. anonymous comments show up about it in livejournal
fall,spring,winter,summer, recieve constant harassing anonymous comments on livejournal
winter 2003, harassing comments found on my professional photography website which also impersonate me and I am able to track the IP address, which leads to San Francisco and where Andrew self purportedly resides.
2004, old fatty picture of me surfaces online. i am able to trace the picture back to the owner and find that chadsteruw gave it to jameth who gave it to
four days ago, begin getting sexually charged phone calls from men who say they saw an adult personals ad for me on craigslist.com. Saved documents, possible to contact site to track i.p. address.
May 2004: The Battle Begins
Realizing the potential for some sweet, sweet drama, ljdrama joined Andrew in his quest of ruin. On the first of May '04 someone posted a "fatty" picture of Joshua (shown to the right) in his "mediacrat" journal. The week after, two separate Craigslist ads went up stating that Joshua was looking for a hot bear to buttsecks with. Joshua accused Jameth of posting the fatty picture of himself, but upon discovering the Craigslist ads shifted the blame over to Andrew, accusing him of being a stalker. With the drama bomb set off, the first ljdrama entry for mediacrat was created. Following this, a fake journal, mediacart, showed up to create more drama.
Joshua then gathered the emails received from ljdrama and Jameth and sent out the following email on May 11th to all participants in the troll war:
This is no longer a game, this is real world grown up stuff. So you had better play safe. Please keep in mind that I have done not one single thing to any of you aside from misidentifying Andrew as the auntie character. And kinda lost my temper and said a couple things that werent true so I just backed out. So just dropping it will not effect you in any way. Thanks for having a level head, and a little compassion? Someone posted a fat picture of me in my own personal journal. Someone will not leave me alone nomatter what. Someone from the internet made me change my phone number and put my home address and phone number on a website inviting men over for sexual pleasure. This is really bad you guys, please just help me by leaving me alone. I didnt do anything besides stop talking to him almost 3 years ago and id really like to continue doing the same.
On May 12th, Andrew, who had remained silent the moment this started, finally replied to Joshua's postings. At the same time, jjbond outlined his experiences with Joshua. He talks about, for the most part, how Joshua is a self-hating fag who hates jjbond for no other reason than being "representative" of the University of Washington's gay community. The rest of the post talks about how mediacrat acted like a total asshole to jjbond because of his damaged right arm (caused by an accident at his birth).
—The opening to jjbond's post. | ||
In a supreme display of idiocy, medicrat started to make litigious threats against Andrew, Jameth, and the other ljdrama admins. From this, the "internet lawsuit" and "internet trial" jokes were born. Jameth received a subpoena for the internet trial, mediacrat v. ljdrama, and went to San Francisco to attend internet court. A ten-thousand-dollar internet settlement check was issued by hepkitten. At the same time, turdfergeson encountered Joshua at a local grocery store, though nothing of importance came of it. Later that day, Joshua began to email the ISPs of the people who responded to the May 11th emails:
A student of yours with the address (removed) is using his academic account to harass me. I feel personally attacked by the use of "e-penis" and sexually harassed by the word faggot. I have been researching your usage policy and found that these are strictly prohibited and hope that you remember this when abating this student. These attacks were completely and utterly unsolicited on my part, and if you follow through this email this fact is overly appearant.
I demand immediate and adverse action against this student or face further contact from me involving legal support. Thank you for your help, I can really use it.
I expect carbon coppies of all correspondences sent to this user. Thank you.
Regards,
-Joshua R. Williams
Joshua also sent an email to a local Seattle TV news station. The email in question contains a severe case of Unwarranted Self-Importance:
Date: Thu, 13 May 2004 15:44:28 -0700 (PDT)
From: Joshua R. Williams ([email protected])
To: [email protected]
Subject: Here's a doosie (IMPORTANT)Please forward this to the investigative unit. I must warn you that it contains references to sexual behavior (I'm getting stalked by some internet creep and sexually harassed)
My name is Joshua Williams, a rising college student at the University of Washington who met some guy on the internet three years ago and he has not left me alone since. I have been being harassed for the past couple of years by somebody I do not know and it is starting to get really nasty. He has posted fake accounts about me in personal ad sites with my home address and guys have actually showed up here looking for sexual gratification. The owners of the websites are not even willing to help me remove the material, so right now there is an ad with my name, address, and statistics on it asking for: (insert craigslist ad here)
All of this is very true, and very disturbing. I have all the evidence already, I have been working very hard.
It is hard for me to admit this to you because I'm ashamed, but I have already had to change my number, my email address, and I'm changing my name as well. I have not yet gone to the police, but I thought it may make an interesting piece regarding information online and how one person can really get carried away and start ruining your personal and professional life. He's done so much crazy stuff we could have a hay day with this. Total trash. I'm a media studies student so I think I can catch an interesting, pressing scary story like this.
I have a huge stack of papers that would make this really easy on you, and I have not yet made a trip to the police. I could really use your help and legitimacy. Please contact me as soon as possible:
old name: Joshua Ryan Williams
Regards,
-Joshua
Joshua continued to threaten restraining orders and lolsuits against ljdrama and Andrew. Andrew was subsequently arrested and held in internet jail for a couple of days. On May 16th, 2004, Andrew and the ljdrama team were acquitted of all charges. Following this, the drama died down for a couple of days.
On May 19th, Joshua went on a psychotic manhunt for Andrew in San Francisco. At the same time, Joshua sent some voicemails to Jameth. In both voicemails, mediacrat demands that Jameth dump all of Andrew's dox in exchange for having the lawsuits dropped. Medicrat stated that if he did not supply said dox, the police would come and arrest Jameth. Jameth laughed heartily as he immediately dumped the voicemails onto the internets. Many famous medicrat phrases came from these voicemails, such as "unlimited disposable income," "Mediacrat," and "I'm rich and I'm beautiful". A techno remix of the voicmails appeared on the internet, and much lulz ensues. Meanwhile, Turdfergeson posted an open letter to mediacrat to his LiveJournal:
Yeah, I'm going to come right out and say it: you are mentally imbalanced. You or someone close to you should institutionalize yourself. Just take a break, alright? Now is not a time for drastic behavior. Please, just step away from this all, leave Andrew alone, and think about how much you have caused this to escalate, think about how much of this came from within, and most importantly take some serious time to reflect on the patterns of your own behavior. Recognize the problem so you can start getting help.
You should seriously look into changing mediated to medicated.
Aside: I know for a fact that some of the people on your list who loved your before you loved yourself actually don't like you. They just stay on your good side because you throw decent parties.
Jameth then posted on LiveJournal that mediacrat did not remain true to his word: the police never showed up, no subpoenas were issues, no depositions were given, and there were no visits by process servers. That same night, Jameth is confronted by Joshua at a Seattle bar; reports indicate that Joshua stripped down ready for a fierce assault and Jameth promptly asked him to leave.
Of course, things got pretty serious when Joshua went to Portland to confront the heads of LiveJournal and speak with some customer service agents IRL. During this time, another remix of Joshua's voicemails and the Ballad of J is released.
Pop Singer Lady Gaga took inspiration from medicrat's messages and dedicated her song "Beautiful & Dirty Rich" to mediacrat as a 'thank you' for setting off her successful career.
Previous Video | Next Video |
June 2004: The War Rages On
On June 3rd Jameth posts information regarding Mediacrat; the posts outlines the various claims made by Joshua, including (but not limited to) that he was negotiating a book deal, had an embedded news crew from MSNBC with him, demanded a million dollar loan from Brad Fitzpatrick, went into police protection, was hired by MSNBC, was in the process of writing a PhD dissertation about the troll war, purchased a Land Rover, went to Las Vegas, and earned some modelling contracts. On the same day, ljdrama.org went down for maintenance and many people believed it was hacked by Joshua. Of course, Joshua is too stupid to do anything like that.
On June 11th, a new Craigslist ad was set up for Joshua.
Then, on June 13th, a very surprising miracle happened: Joshua was reportedly checked into a mental health facility. This served as a major victory for the Dramaticians and a turning point in the war, but skeptics remained unconvinced. That is, until an anonymous person sent emails to Jameth stating that Joshua's friends had an intervention under the disguise of a going away party. Joshua was discharged on June 19th, and almost immediately after being released hopped back on the dramamobile by calling up Jameth, just like in the good ol' days. Joshua's legal complaint appears on the internet sometime later:
NOTICE: DRAFT-
Summary: I met an individual through a personals site in June of 2002 whom has been harassing me ever since. I never saw him or accepted communication from the defendant named Andrew (last name unknown at this point ever again, yet he continued ). This individual continued to harass and libel the plaintiff in a multitude of electronic communication environments in addition to molesting the plaintiffs personal space. The defendant interfered with the plaintiffs ability to communicate freely online and with his peers. In addition, the defendant removed personal property from a secure private premises, impersonated the plaintiff with use of pictures and counterfeit online profiles without the plaintiff’s consent.
With that, Joshua set up the groundwork for a class-action lawsuit against ljdrama. Joshua posts about it in seattle and uw.
On June 29th, in the ultimate display of irony, Joshua was issued a temporary restraining order by Jameth. In response, Joshua deleted his mediacrat account and posted this on his website:
today I decided to remove myself fully from live journal and drop all proceedings relating to the site. you are not worth my time. all of you are very lucky that my boyfriend talked me out of this. but I am glad he did. we now return to you not knowing a thing about me, the way it should be. I hope you can not stop imagining how glamourous my life must be - because it is. I do not work or go to school. I am everything you cannot be or do. thank you all for inspiring me to be the best man I can be. but i do not need you any more. goodbye el jay. 4 years. i am the rain king. i am loved. i am lucky. i will be rich. i am beautiful. i am g r a y d e n
Though it seemed the war had ended with a victory for ljdrama, mediacrat would not die...
El Fin: July and August 2004
On July 2nd, Joshua posted the following on his website:
[ 0 7 / 02 / 0 4 ] I just put up my signed=by=the=entire=band Death Cab For Cutie Seattle show poster up. Ahhhhhh. passing through unconcious states. i was on the high way. uglyandy: i have everything you wish you had...including a neck.
[ 0 7 / 02 / 0 4 ] yesterday pete* (*names have been changed to protect identity) and I were walking by a fine department store* (locations too) and I decided I wanted to work there. I walked in and had a meeting with two managers. They loved my ipaq. I think they will give me the position which puts me in way of designers and that is gooooood news. plans for the 4th are for home and with him, so I am happy. i am the rein king.i hold the lasso. i t o l d y o u i w o u l d . i am g r a y d e n. and rachel green hahaha.
Joshua continued to update his website with the latest news concerning his frivolous legal actions against Jameth, Andrew, and ljdrama. On July 6th, the temporary restraining order on Joshua was extended by a year at a RL court hearing, protecting Jameth from the buttraep that would ensue from the rich and beautiful lol-cow. The day after, Joshua undeleted his mediacrat account so he could continue his attention whoring on seattle. There, Joshua claimed that he was employed with the Emerald City Model and Talent Agency, though one of the agents stated that he did not work there. Joshua disallowed comments on his post so trolls opened a discussion about why he disallowed comments, reaching over 10 relpies within hours. Mediacrat showed up to explain why he left the coutroom during his July 6th court hearing:
james wanted a CIVIL restraining order, he got one
i could walk out because it was not criminal and i didnt even have to be there
im bored with you and embarassed that i used to have you on my friends list i think. bye
On July 19th, Joshua updated his LiveJournal one final time (via the extended user info page) before being suspended for faggotry. Finally, on August 9th, Joshua made one final update to his University of Washington student account before admitting defeat and leaving the internets forever.
Gallery
-
Rich and Beautiful panties
-
Screenshot of Mediacrat flash animation game
-
mediacat
-
-
Ballad of J CD cover
-
Hep's internet settlement check
-
He will have your humility.
-
I stole your pumpkin, lulz
Media Files
For transcripts, please see the Mediacrat Voicemails.
See also
| Featured article | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Bantown |
May 1, 2005 Mediacrat |
Succeeded by Star Wars |
| Preceded by Michael Crook |
December 10, 2006 Mediacrat |
Succeeded by Jameth |
| Preceded by iChan |
December 4, 2008 Mediacrat |
Succeeded by Epic Sword Guy |
| Preceded by Egg Girl |
April 13, 2009 Mediacrat |
Succeeded by Radelaide |
|
Mediacrat is part of a series on Visit the Faggotry Portal for complete coverage. |
|
Mediacrat is part of a series on Visit the LiveJournal Portal for complete coverage. |
|
Mediacrat is part of a series on Visit the Trolls Portal for complete coverage. |
| Featured article April 11 & 12, 2012 (disambiguation) | ||
| Preceded by Bryci |
Mediacrat | Succeeded by Girlvinyl |