Trying to curb nastiness in the blog-o-sphere

[kelcrocker]

The NYTimes reports that some high-powered techsters are proposing various guidelines for responding to blogs. How sad that this is even necessary! Here's the story.The online forums I'm involved in seem to be filled with people who express their opinions without putting others down-or getting all violent, for example-for thinking differently. (

Comments

[carriejones]

Kelly,

As you know, I am so, so, so, so far from a high-profile blogger, but last year when I posted about this kid, Benny Starbuck, I was really bullied.

Benny had been using drugs in high school, battled to get clean, got clean, and had started life over, basically. He'd been a star athelete in high school before the drug thing.

He was killed by a drunk driver. He was clean.

So somebody kept commenting on my blog about how it wasn't any big deal that Benny died (at like 20 or something) and that he wasn't some kind of super hero good person.

I just kept deleting the comments. They went away. It did make me think about how people can be so angry when they are anonymous. It made me think about how I think of Benny as a guy who was doing the right things, and started his life again, while someone else had a totally different take.

[kelcrocker]

Now that you mention it, I remember the stuff about Benny. But didn't know about the bully. That is so crazy! It's almost like by being anonymous they can think of the blogger as "anonymous," too, that is, not really human with feelings. I'm convinced that most of these people wouldn't say these things, for example, if they saw you in person. But it's really creepy that they can be so hate-filled when they're posting anonymously. Blech to mean, hate-filled people!

[kidlit_kim]

One of our TV stations offers blogging. I can't believe the fights that take place on that site. The problems could so easily be addressed if the site offered a few more features, such as allowing the blogger to delete flaming comments, or adding an "ignore" feature...or if the moderators of that site set up some standards.

Ideally, people would behave the way we act in the kidlitosphere!

Then again, there's that issue of the YA novelist who is being cyber-bullied on her own Amazon page. The discussion board there contains personal attacks (not about her book, but personal attacks) from childish people. The tags and reviews people have attached to the page are petty. And, Amazon won't do a thing about it.

Sometimes I think blogging allows people to live in their highschool bubble forever!

[kelcrocker]

You're killing me with the high school bubble! What a great analogy. And what a cool icon. Very springy (even if our weather isn't cooperating). Great to hear from you. By the way, I do not know about the YA novelist and Amazon. That is major ick. Can you email me privately with the scoop? Kelcrocker at mchsi dot com.

[jenwhite_write]

Amazing story. Thanks for posting it!