Four ‘famous’ (or somewhat infamous) NUjij’ers: ‘Makes me less lonely’ | 25 years of NU.nl

De recordrespecteerder: ‘Dit is mijn manier om iets te doen’

Username: Nachtvlinder_
Number of comments last year: 308

There’s a good chance that you’ve had one respect from Nachtvlinder_, a thumbs up for your comment. We thought she was a bot at first. What motivates someone to hand out 19,701 respects in one year? That is a record number of an average of 522 per day. Sounds inhuman, but behind Nachtvlinder_ there turns out to be a person of flesh and blood.

Annemarie ter Velde (65) works as a night nurse at times when NUjij is not open, but you can respect previously posted comments. “At one of the locations where I work, there is sometimes time to read the news.” And to give thumbs up on the assembly line.

“I think I give the most respect when reporting on the war in Ukraine,” she suspects. Ukraine is one of the rare news topics where she sometimes types a comment during hours when NUjij is open. “I have been following this since the invasion started. I feel powerless and this is my way of doing something. Although I really understand that it does not help the Ukrainians.”

The critically ill poet: ‘Sometimes I get a poem back’

Username: James_4e808513
Number of comments last year: 280

Enjoy two sprits with coffee
While I’m using them, I see flashes of light outside
I can’t hear the thunder
So it won’t bother me

Anyone who has to or is going outside
Be careful on the street

More and more fellow NUjij’ers are now noticing them: the poems by James_4e808513 in our comments. “It’s not difficult, but it’s fun,” says James Martens (64). “I also get nice reactions. Sometimes other NUjij people write back a poem, Wetlooklover for example. That is inspiration for me.”

James usually posts his poems under the daily weather forecast. “I don’t think a poem is appropriate for many subjects, such as war articles or articles of violence. But even if bad weather is predicted, you can spice it up a bit this way. I recently made one about healthcare. People liked that .”

James talks and participates closely on NUjij “to drive away the loneliness a bit,” he says. He lives in a care center and suffers from diabetes, COPD, kidney failure, Parkinson’s and cancer. James hopes to live another four or five years. “With the exception of moments of care, I am often alone. I hope to keep my spirits up with the poems I write.”

The critic: ‘A disapproval is a shame for my ego’

Username: DerPaulie
Number of comments last year: 453

He has quite a reputation among our moderators. A reputation as a result of the roughly six hundred critical emails he sent to [email protected] over three years, often hundreds of words long. Critical comments and questions about our moderation policy are of course welcome, but our NUjij editorial staff could not cope with this relentless typing drive from DerPaulie. Replying to all his long e-mail pleas took so much time that we decided to stop doing that in July 2023.

Our mailomerta does not prevent former lawyer Paul Meijer (70) from still posting plenty of NUjij responses and from asking us about our moderation choices every week. “Personally, I thought it was a shame that you stopped responding, but I understood: you have to be able to handle it business and technically.”

Yet the editors still read all his emails. Sometimes he has a point and we still approve his rejected response. More often than not it turns out that his comment really violated a house rule. “Then I apparently provoke it myself and I just have to accept the rejection. Too bad for my ego. But I must have already scored my points in life, I tell myself.”

Striking: the opinion of NUjij’er DerPaulie is not always the opinion of the person Paul Meijer. “Certainly not. As a child I enjoyed telling my six brothers and sisters position A one week, position B the next week and then position C again.” He sees it as a challenge to express a certain opinion on our platform, regardless of what he actually thinks. “But you do see a typical Paul Meijer flow in the argumentation. People recognize that.”

The educator: ‘I also sometimes have reactions that are rejected’

Username: Luneau
Number of comments last year: 5093

If you come near her without excellent debating skills, be safe. Tineke* (46) flawlessly points out your shortcomings when you present unconvincing arguments, play tricks on the man or spread factual inaccuracies. She faithfully reports comments that do not comply with our house rules. Even once her own, when she discovered she was accidentally spreading false information.

That critical view makes her an incredibly valuable NUjij member. Although it sometimes feels a bit like she is educating her fellow responders, she admits. But she does that for a reason. “I like that we can have a discussion on NUjij without too much ‘nonsense’ like on social media. There is so much nonsense going around and I think it is important that the facts are put on the table.”

“You can have a difference of opinion about everything, but if someone makes incorrect statements or plays on the man, you cannot have a substantive discussion. While I love that, especially when I disagree with someone. Then I can also learn a lot from someone.”

Is there never anything to criticize about Tineke’s own comments? “Oh certainly. I also sometimes have responses rejected. Then I think afterwards: maybe I played too much of a man or was a bit too blunt. Especially when I see that other NUjij members are victim blaming. , I can go out of line and react too strongly. Ultimately, I’m only human.”

*Tineke’s surname is known to our editors. For the sake of her privacy, she asked us not to publish it.