Internetting Weirds the Society
So this morning my various social media feeds are buzzing with the story of the gal who dated a geek, discovered he was a geek and went “OMG Yuck!” and then proceeded to post a ranty blog about it, only to have the rest of the internet rightly tell her what a nasty thing she’d done.
Okay. I would submit that anybody who posts to any blog anywhere has no business blasting someone for being a geek, but that just serves to underscore the ridiculousness of her tirade. But that’s not the point.
See, almost immediately after I read that, another story came up about women bloggers being systematically targeted with death threats pretty much for being women with opinions about things. That leads me to look at some of the more vicious reactions to the gal’s rant with a bit of a wince.
Having recently been blasted for stating what I thought was a perfectly reasonable opinion and having the reaction be that Diana’s pack of hounds chased me down and tore me to shreds, I find myself in the curious position of being sympathetic to Alyssa Bereznak, not for her piece (which was awful) but for waking up one morning to discover that the internet hates you.
It’s not fun. :(
So please internet, I ask you, exercise some restraint. Yes, her blasting of Jon Finkel was not cool, but she’s a human being too. Don’t forget that.
-The Gneech
PS: Spreading the word about this idea would be appreciated. :) Thanks!
Yeah, you’re one of the few I’ve seen who have even brought up this angle. Not to defend what she wrote (because it’s indefensible, imo), but some the stuff people are saying in response to her article is way out of line.
I would even go so far as to assume she’s probably gotten quite a few death and/or rape threats over this, because that kind of thing is sadly commonplace on the net, particularly if you’re a woman.