You name it, I've been called it.
Stupid, ugly, pathetic, lame, ridiculous, fake, ignorant.
But, of course, never to my face.
No, these insults and rants were delivered via the Internet. In blog responses, in chat rooms, in e-mail.
In this age of virtual communication, where we can hide behind handles and noms de plume, it seems people have become more confident, more cunning and way more reckless with their jabs and threats.
To me, that's cowardly.
I've been blogging professionally for about a year now. And I don't ever pretend to be someone else but me. I use my real name, post a real photo and share my real feelings. If I write it, I stand by it. Period.
Lately, however, I've received more and more vicious messages and personal attacks, calling me a hack, an idiot and a whore -- once all in the same message.
While I admire people who can dispense their honest thoughts about the war in Iraq, "Grey's Anatomy" and the return of leggings, I'm equally annoyed by those who sling insults from a safe distance, behind fake names.
The worst comment I've ever received arrived via e-mail several years ago, after I had written a seemingly innocuous story about a local TV station starting a weather segment.
Without using a real name -- of course -- one reader proceeded to crucify me for celebrating the worst, most revolting part of TV newscasts. Why glorify weather anchors, the guys who weren't good enough to sit at the anchor desk?
Everyone is entitled to an opinion. But I had to draw the line when the e-mail got too personal.
In so many words, this angered reader told me to do the world a favor and "stick a gun" in my mouth.
What bothered me most about the e-mail wasn't so much the threat but the anonymity this person used to deliver it.
It's easy to hurl rocks from behind a fake name. It's like yelling insults at the driver in the car next to you with the windows rolled up.
But thanks to the Internet, more and more people are compelled to express their opinions, regardless of their ramifications. You don't have to use your real name -- or provide any identifying details -- to sign up for a free e-mail account.
Sometimes that anonymity is useful, allowing people to discuss embarrassing details of erectile dysfunction, for example, or to grieve over a recent death with others online.
But that anonymity also bolsters the confidence of those cowardly people who like to swing wildly at an opponent, sometimes without provocation.
It seems women often are targeted more than men.
According to a 2006 University of Maryland study cited in an article in The Washington Post, female participants in chat rooms received 25 times more sexually explicit and malicious messages than men.
Some of what they reportedly were told is horrifying.
A female tech blogger stopped blogging because of online harassment. She revealed one message that discussed cutting her throat, the Post story said. Another columnist and blogger noted a post that called for the "torture, rape, murder" of her family.
This just isn't acceptable. In fact, it's downright despicable and pathetic.
So go ahead and throw rocks from behind meaningless handles; sling mud with your fake names; make threats without the fear of retaliation.
Just remember: As real as you are, the person on the other end of that LCD screen is real too.
Only she's not afraid to admit it.
source : http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2007-11-08/news/0711080551_1_free-e-mail-account-fake-names-chat-rooms
Stupid, ugly, pathetic, lame, ridiculous, fake, ignorant.
But, of course, never to my face.
No, these insults and rants were delivered via the Internet. In blog responses, in chat rooms, in e-mail.
In this age of virtual communication, where we can hide behind handles and noms de plume, it seems people have become more confident, more cunning and way more reckless with their jabs and threats.
To me, that's cowardly.
I've been blogging professionally for about a year now. And I don't ever pretend to be someone else but me. I use my real name, post a real photo and share my real feelings. If I write it, I stand by it. Period.
Lately, however, I've received more and more vicious messages and personal attacks, calling me a hack, an idiot and a whore -- once all in the same message.
While I admire people who can dispense their honest thoughts about the war in Iraq, "Grey's Anatomy" and the return of leggings, I'm equally annoyed by those who sling insults from a safe distance, behind fake names.
The worst comment I've ever received arrived via e-mail several years ago, after I had written a seemingly innocuous story about a local TV station starting a weather segment.
Without using a real name -- of course -- one reader proceeded to crucify me for celebrating the worst, most revolting part of TV newscasts. Why glorify weather anchors, the guys who weren't good enough to sit at the anchor desk?
Everyone is entitled to an opinion. But I had to draw the line when the e-mail got too personal.
In so many words, this angered reader told me to do the world a favor and "stick a gun" in my mouth.
What bothered me most about the e-mail wasn't so much the threat but the anonymity this person used to deliver it.
It's easy to hurl rocks from behind a fake name. It's like yelling insults at the driver in the car next to you with the windows rolled up.
But thanks to the Internet, more and more people are compelled to express their opinions, regardless of their ramifications. You don't have to use your real name -- or provide any identifying details -- to sign up for a free e-mail account.
Sometimes that anonymity is useful, allowing people to discuss embarrassing details of erectile dysfunction, for example, or to grieve over a recent death with others online.
But that anonymity also bolsters the confidence of those cowardly people who like to swing wildly at an opponent, sometimes without provocation.
It seems women often are targeted more than men.
According to a 2006 University of Maryland study cited in an article in The Washington Post, female participants in chat rooms received 25 times more sexually explicit and malicious messages than men.
Some of what they reportedly were told is horrifying.
A female tech blogger stopped blogging because of online harassment. She revealed one message that discussed cutting her throat, the Post story said. Another columnist and blogger noted a post that called for the "torture, rape, murder" of her family.
This just isn't acceptable. In fact, it's downright despicable and pathetic.
So go ahead and throw rocks from behind meaningless handles; sling mud with your fake names; make threats without the fear of retaliation.
Just remember: As real as you are, the person on the other end of that LCD screen is real too.
Only she's not afraid to admit it.
source : http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2007-11-08/news/0711080551_1_free-e-mail-account-fake-names-chat-rooms
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