Real Kato Blog: So What's With All The Hate?

Or, Do Not Feed The Trolls. There were some fireworks over at Dooce today.

I don't get many nasty comments here on this site. I try to avoid making enemies here, though I would guess I don't have too many fans who are Bush supporters, who talk on their cell phones while driving, or who are offended by the occasional poop story. But even when I say something that someone might find offensive, I don't get hate mail about it. There's something to be said for obscurity, I guess.

So after all my talk yesterday about becoming a blog star, I cringed when I read today's Dooce. I mean, if anything, Heather is way less offensive than I am, but just because she gets a hundred thousand visitors a day, eventually some jackass is going to say something bad to her. Today, I guess a certain Mr. Matt Jackson of Southern California pushed her over the edge, because she felt compelled to post his horrible e-mail, thus unleashing the legions of doocelings on him.

I have no sympathy for Mr. Jackson. If you go around just looking to say nasty things to people you don't even know, you get what you deserve. And if you tangle with someone as beloved as Heather Armstrong without thinking about the possible consequences, well, let's just say that wasn't very bright. Hell hath no fury like a woman [with an army of loyal supporters] scorned.

While I would have been tempted to do just what Heather did, I usually just click "delete" and let it go. The thing with Internet trolls is that they are specifically out there trying to get a reaction, and sometimes they get their egos pumped up by getting into a flame war. I like to use the old Usenet expression "Do Not Feed The Trolls". Or in other words, "Plonk".

I guess the blogosphere can be a treacherous place. When we write, we put ourselves out there and make ourselves vulnerable, and sometimes we get stung by it. But you know what? That sucks. Here we have this great chance to make a virtual world that's friendlier and more supportive than the "real" world, and a few punk-ass jokers have to ruin it for everyone. WHY, PEOPLE? DON'T YOU HAVE ANYTHING BETTER TO DO?

* * *

Then there's the problem of having your blog read by someone you know. In the case of Sarcastic Journalist, her formerly anonymous blog because un-anonymous when she was outed by the Washington Post. Then a family member found something and got upset about it, and now it's become a big commotion. Ooh, awkward.

Of course, there's the saga of Suburban Bliss*, which I won't get into because I have some personal connections to the story.

The thing is, these blogs are sanctuaries for our personal thoughts. We don't want to have to be dishonest about our feelings here; for a lot of us, this is our one chance to really express ourselves. We don't mean to hurt anyone. When you come here and read about us, it's like having you drop by our houses while we're watching porn, and we forget to turn the TV off before you come in. Sorry if you saw something that you weren't supposed to see, but that's the chance you take by coming here.

*Don't go to suburbanbliss.net. Someone else bought the domain and Melissa no longer writes there.

Permalink 2 Comment

Posted by Ken in: commentary

Comments

Comment #1 from Nicholas (Guest)
2005 Mar 9 - 9:10 am : #

After reading the wikipedia definition of troll, I realized that sometimes I am one sometimes. Sometimes I like throwing a little gasoline. Though always just on a subject in general and not on a person. My sarcasm does not translate well via the internet.

Am I banned?

Comment #2 from Ken (realkato)
2005 Mar 9 - 10:19 am : #

Well, you haven't done anything here that warrants banning yet. Just follow the posted commenting guidelines and you'll be okay. And remember that lots can be determined from your IP address and your e-mail address... :)

Comments are closed for this post.

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