On Saturday, whilst working on our last minute changes to our ETech presentation, I received a frightened email from Kathy Sierra that read in the subject line:
“I may just have to quit”
I quickly opened it up. It wasn’t the first time Kathy had sent me an email on the content, but the subject line really jarred me. Kathy is a pretty tough cookie and has been my source of strength many times when dealing with this same group of people. So, when she indicates that the harassment has gone as far as to potentially silence her, I was saddened.
The link Kathy pointed me towards in the email led to a site that she screenshot and published on her blog. The images and language there were horrific – multiple depictions of violence against women: Kathy being suffocated by underwear (sexually violent), a fictional character who is someone’s female boss being physically beaten to relieve frustration, another fictional character being compared to a garden slug when removing her legs.
Chris and I immediately investigated the background of this site and it led to the same people who had started a site called meankids.org in my honor a couple of months back. Fortunately for me, Kathy had observed all of that, emailed me and gave me enough strength to tell them to go screw themselves. Unfortunately for her, it gave them license to turn on her (again…as she has a long history of being attacked by this group). And, unlike the mean, but fairly neutral (non violent, non sexual) imagery they created for me, the images and discussion around Kathy became quickly violent and highly sexualized.
The meankids.org site was prompty removed shortly thereafter. We believe, due to an email sent by Kathy to Jeneane Sessum, who is involved with this group on some group blogging projects (and, although Jeneane isn’t involved in this misogynistic, horrific swarming directly, I told her that her continued support of these activities through her friendship was akin to being accessory to a crime). Similarly, when I emailed Jeneane this Saturday about the Uncle Bobisms site in question, it didn’t take too long for the site owner to take it down.
But that wasn’t the worst of it. In the meantime, this type of swarming, heckling and sexually violent imagery was enough to egg on someone either within the group or on the periphery of it to send explicitly violent and terrifying death threats directly to Kathy. That was enough for her. She canceled her appearance at ETech and wondered if she should blog or otherwise publicly appear again.
…but she is an incredibly brave, unsinkable soul. Her raw and open post on this incident was one of the most amazingly brave moves I have ever witnessed. They couldn’t silence her. This is why she is my source of strength and one of my heroes.
I received a phonecall from someone last night who was concerned and wondering what to do to help Kathy. He expressed his confusion over the situation, “But I like these people, they are funny. I can’t understand.”
I replied, “This is not a difficult decision. Whether the group of mean kid swarmers are part of the direct and awful death threats or not, they have spent energy more than once invoking this behaviour. You cannot tolerate their actions. These are not your friends. They are mean people. They weren’t setting out to help the world. Be helpful. Raise an argument on a topic they disagree with. They were attacking a person. And their attacks were misogynist and sexually provocative.”
THIS ISN’T THE FIRST TIME THIS GROUP’S ANTICS HAVE LED TO THIS BEHAVIOUR…so they already knew and they continued to push it. And, if they aren’t directly involved in the death threats on Kathy, they certainly could be considered accessory. And I hope they get the punishment they deserve.
I’d like to believe the majority of people in this world are good. Even through this, I believe that. Even people who say awful things to other people online aren’t necessarily EVIL, but products of a frustrated world where we are so disconnected from one another that they believe it is okay to personally attack someone. Especially as someone grows in popularity. I find it insane that people don’t understand that there is a human being on the receiving end. But there ARE sick and evil people who see this ‘bad behaviour’ and can’t decipher between mean joke and real threat and they will act on it. I think it’s time to take responsibility for our actions.
About a year and a half ago, I didn’t understand this. I was witness to a distraught Mena Trott on stage at Les Blogs 2, talking about this very subject. She put a call out for civility in the blogosphere and was called ‘bullshit’ on it. That was an ill-informed and incredibly irresponsible reaction. We found out later that she had been on the receiving end of many of these types of awful threats. I felt terrible for being a part of the audience who supported the ‘bullshit’ position, and I’ve learnt since then what Mena was talking about, but hadn’t had taken the time to bring it up until now. I was one of the cowards who stood by and watched the bad behaviour be justified. I was as bad as the perpetrators themselves.
We cannot tolerate these attacks any longer. Sites like DIGG and Slashdot and instant chatrooms on sites are filled with awful dialogue. Sexist, racist, hateful stuff. Stuff that, I’m sure, these people wouldn’t dream of saying if their identities were revealed.
When we see personal attacks, we need to speak out. We need to tell the commentors and the people in the chat rooms that these statements are NOT okay. We can disagree with ideas, but attacking people personally is NOT okay. If you have a ‘friend’ who is engaging in this type of activity, you have to tell that person it is NOT okay. What is not okay in ‘real life’ is not okay in virtual life. If the virtual space is truly that democratic, of-the-people, world changing, Read/Write wonder that we proclaim it to be, we need to clean it up.
Kathy Sierra is such an amazing person. She is a strong and brilliant voice. She brings human into development in a way that we’ve never seen – which is why so many people adore her and her work. She is definitely my hero. I’m sad that it came down to her being silenced for people to start getting behind this idea. I certainly hope that we can encourage Kathy to get back out there and continue to inspire us.
Thanks, Kath, for being so unsinkable.
Bonus links:
- Lisa Stone has an amazing analysis here (and indicates agreement that bad behaviour encourages worse behaviour and those involved should take responsibility for it, like Frank Paynter has has)
- Shelley almost gets it, though her ’snark’ commentary in the past has led to the encouragement of ‘mean kids’ like behaviour. I think Shelley is smart, but she can also cross over to the side of mean at times, not knowing when to say when.
- Chris Locke fails to take any responsibility for his own actions and publishes a very ‘poor-me-my character-is-being-defiled’ post that a more self-reflective person (which, ironically, is what he likes to accuse others as lacking…where most of his snarky comments come into play) wouldn’t.
- I don’t feel the least bit sorry for the Head Lemur, whose comments on Uncle Bobisms were the ones describing a woman without legs as a slug and encouraging of ‘beating the bitch’. (update: Alan claims his computer was hacked, so it is unclear as to whether this was him or not. What I do know is that the Rev. Ed. avatar appeared as far back as February on meankids.org with his face on it, so it may be that his computer was hacked for several months without his knowledge…whilst interacting with his regular group of online friends. I’ve also seen his comments on several other blogs calling Kathy, myself and Scoble ‘idiots’ for the twitter thing during the past couple of months).
March 27th, 2007 at 9:21 am
Tara: Bless you and Hugh for saying what you have in regard to Kathy Sierra. You may remember Pastor Neimeoller way back before you were born. He said they (nazis) took one group after another and I said nothing then they came for me and there was no one to defend me. The same applies to those who attack Kathy or anyone else with this filth. You van attack anything I say but do it with some decency not just to show off your knowlege of human anatomy even if only in gutter language. You people talking/writing like that want to destroy the free interchange of ideas.
Kathy you have done somuch to clarify my own thinking don’t let these “pooheads” as my daughter would say shut you up. I offer my full support to you and as you can reach Tara easily if there is any help you need send it to me via Tara. Blessings on you and your daughter and also to Tara.
Roger Wilks
p.s. I lived through the second world war and remember the foulness of the jew haters and what they spewed out. It does not belong on the web.
March 27th, 2007 at 9:34 am
Tara, thank you for taking time from eTech (where I believe you took Kathy’s place, yes?)to make this post. Kathy is one of my heroes as well, and the silencing of her voice is a loss for all of us.
March 27th, 2007 at 9:46 am
“I don’t feel the least bit sorry for the Head Lemur, whose comments on Uncle Bobisms were the ones describing a woman without legs as a slug and encouraging of ‘beating the bitch’. I’m not going to link to him.”
Well, being that the comments in question were wrongly attributed to him I think maybe you should providing the damning citation that shows that he in fact said those things. Otherwise I don’t see how posts like this differ, honestly.
March 27th, 2007 at 9:50 am
Dude, I was there. I investigated into this before Bobism was taken down. His avatar, with his IP, linking to his site was right beside those comments. I’d post the screenshots of this, but I don’t want to give these any more attention than necessary.
March 27th, 2007 at 9:58 am
Then you also have a screenshot of the comments that happened before his? And do you also have a screenshot of the post associated with the comments? And the comments that followed?
Seriously. If you do, please send me an email with all of the commentary for the post, and the post.
March 27th, 2007 at 11:04 am
My God, what is happening here?
I’m a newcomer to the world of blogging and I believe it to be very dark in certain quarters. I also believe that it is sometimes dominated by undeserving big egos that enjoy notoriety at the expense of other HUMAN BEINGS. Consider the depth and meaning of those two words: HUMAN BEINGS. It’s so easy to hide in the shadow of anonymity and to wantonly hurt others…..but WHY? Does it feel good?
Kathy, my heart is with you and I hope that the perpetrators of your terror are outed. It is notable that your fears have ignited a firestorm of outrage and disbelief from fellow bloggers who are undoubtedly saying “There but for the grace, go I…” Good for them, because no one should be subjected to the threatened horror of losing anything, no less one’s life.
How would I (a total stranger) suggest you get through today and tomorrow? Gather strength and hold dear the support you’re getting from around the blogosphere; and as soon as you are able, get back to work. Drawing upon these experiences that render you terribly frightened today, will be a source of inspiration to others as you transition back into the world that you obviously love, and have earned a following from.
Over the past year and a half my entire family has been under seige by a blogger whom we have never met, and has resulted in the loss of employment, our home, and our health. The feelings of devastation are compounded by the masked hatred of it all….hatred that most of us on any level, cannot process nor understand.
Where are the Random Acts of Kindness? My God, what is happening here?
Kathy, my thoughts are with you.
Sherry
March 27th, 2007 at 11:08 am
Thanks for this Tara … those who are trying to rationalize this in your comments using semantics, are missing the point. At a minimum its called being an accessory to the matter … at a minimum!
On a different note, while I understand Scoble taking time to reflect and support his family, I think the blogoshpere (hate the word) including the A list (hate that word too), needs to do as you are doing, and help us all self police ourselves.
We can’t stop idiots in any medium, but we can control who we link to, and quote, and in so doing hopefully provide a decent reading experience for the normal majority.
Thanks again.
Colin
March 27th, 2007 at 11:10 am
These comments and their authors will come out over time. I don’t believe it’s my place to send these to anyone. I think there is an official investigation, so all those involved will be revealed and those who weren’t will be released.
March 27th, 2007 at 11:27 am
I wouldn’t be so sure about that. When someone’s immersed within a culture of such negativity for so long, it becomes the norm for them and they become desensitized to it. I remember an old friend of mine who was really a nice guy ‘inside’ but he hung out regularly with a few seedy people. In a conversation, it was hard for him NOT to swear, even if he tried, because he often forgot that he was even swearing because it had become second nature to him.
Personally I don’t think you can change a community’s culture if those in control of it don’t care about the same things that you do. That’s why it’s critically important for every community to clearly define its culture from the outset and vigorously ensure it is maintained. That way you can see what type of environment it is before deciding to participate within it. If it’s not in harmony with your own personal values then don’t bother joining it, as you’ll own frustrate yourself. Either find another community that is in tune with your values or create your own (assuming you have the time to maintain it).
For example, a while back I used to play Counter-Strike, a first person shooter game, and probably 90 percent of the servers I visited had really negative cultures to them. Not liking what we were seeing out there, our own clan of players decided to start pushing our own culture on our server that was the exact opposite of the norm.
Instead of just setting up a server and letting anyone have free reign on it, we cared for and tended our community server carefully. Whenever “weeds” appeared (unruly players), we pulled them out immediately (banning them) before they could get too big. There were no surprises though, as our small handful of community rules were clearly indicated when joining the server and everyone was always given a warning. Therefore, even though the game itself, Counter-Strike, could be construed as violent (i.e. guns and shooting), the culture that we created on our server was extremely positive (i.e. open, sharing, caring, respectful, etc).
Anyways, what I’m getting at here is that this is something that people building communities often don’t think about. The just think about creating the space and if a bunch of people show up, they think they are doing well. In my opinion, numbers mean nothing, as quantity isn’t a good measure of “success” for a community. Instead the quality of the connections or relationships within the community is what matters more.
Therefore, if you want to build a great community, you as the owner of it need to clearly define your culture from the outset of it and more importantly have people within the community helping you to maintain that culture (and thus having the roles and privileges to do so). If you don’t spend the time to tend and care for your community’s culture though, then others will define that culture for you and it may not be one to your liking.
March 27th, 2007 at 11:42 am
To help simplify what I just said above:
You can’t force people to change their minds or attitudes. They can only do that on their own. Live your life the way you believe it should be and your actions, along with others like you, will collectively help to change the culture and world around you.
“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi
March 27th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
There are people who will go to extremes whatever the provocation and environment. An online stalker of a blogger in the UK is in court next week, so when it gets personal, the law can help.
But there are cases when a person gets permission from the environment they are in, when the group mind takes over. It may be legal (free speech and the like) but that does not make it right.
It’s about stopping it before it gets too far in the environments and communities we play in, we work in, Before the teasing and satire becomes bullying. It’s for everyone to comment and challenge next time you see it – but also be careful that does not become censorship.
March 27th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
“An online stalker of a blogger in the UK is in court next week, so when it gets personal, the law can help.”
Hi Rachel….
Help me out here. I’m new to this medium, but my family has been incredibly harmed by a blogger. Can the law help non-bloggers who are being stalked by a deceitful and bullying blogger? I realize that you will anwer me from a UK law perspective, that’s O. K., because the U. S. is usually right behind the UK (My son-in-law is a Fellow at Oxford, I follow BBC news, etc.)
Thanks. I have become a blogger, still very new to me, I have tons to learn.
Thanks again!
March 27th, 2007 at 12:58 pm
What these misogynists have done is horrible and must not be tolerated if we are to have anything resembling a healthy society or community.
There are people who are trying to justify it under the idea of “freedom of speech”. The thing is, there are necessary limits on freedoms and rights. Those limits are the boundary where acting on the freedoms or rights would cause harm to others. Personal threats and other hate speech cause harm to others, so cannot be covered by “freedom of speech”.
I think it’s important that we all offer our support to Kathy, but that we not pressure her in her choice whether to continue to blog or not (and whether to continue with public appearances).
It’s not for me (or anyone else) to say what Kathy should do in response to the situation. The choice should be completely her’s. Having learned much that I value from Kathy’s blogging, I would certainly be very appreciative of her continued contributions if she chooses to return to blogging, but I would also entirely respect her choice to withdraw from that work if that is her choice. I remain grateful for the many wonderful things she has shared.
My thoughts are with you Kathy, and with all the countless women who’s voices have been constrained or silenced in this world plagued by misogyny.
March 27th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
“These comments and their authors will come out over time.”
As distinct from your accusation of Alan, supported only by your word, which can come out right now.
I don’t know Alan, I’ve never read meankids.org and I’m not accusing anyone of lying. But fair’s fair – if the damning evidence can come out straight away, surely the potentially extenuating evidence should do too. You never know, it might not be extenuating after all.
March 27th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
A few notes:
– While Mena Trott’s Les Blogs 2, talk on blogging civility appears related. But, it’s different to criticize someone’s ideas by saying “Bullshit!” than threatening a person sexually and physically. And it would be a shame to not be able to again use the Bullshit Cards that were at Vloggercon 2006. When an audience member disagreed with the speaker they could put it up.
– Men are also targets. I think it would be short-sighted to be mainly about women being targeted.
– While people have a right to express their values against attacking and threatening another person. Details need to be clear and correctly assigned to those perpetrating with guilt by association only going so far. The rights of undue attack apply to both sides.
March 27th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
I feel a little more connected with you now, though you have always been one of my champions!
This is the language of violence thing that I would rant about whenever you gave me opportunity. And is why I was so upset with how Mena Trott was treated.
You are an influential person, and influential people unfortunately often have to play a little more straight because there are people that got caught up in others passions, and twist them.
March 27th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
” – Men are also targets. I think it would be short-sighted to be mainly about women being targeted.”
With all due respect, but men aren’t typically threatened with sexual violence or objectified the way women are. Calling one’s manhood into question is apple and oranges compared to what women have thrown at them (in some places, literally).
March 27th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
If we can gain anything positive from Kathy’s unfortunate experience, may be it is an alarm for us all (men and women included) to be proactive and making our objection to hate speech (especially sexual hate speech) against women an unacceptable conduct in online communities. It is much easier said than done. We all have our tendencies to just overlook nasty speech and move on. May be it is not too late if we start to do something, one person and one comment at a time.
Just my 2 cents.
March 27th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
@Rachel …
thats a well reasoned response. And we should never censor … that would suggest comment edtinng and deletion.
Of course you can ignore the comment of this one person (me) but if the movement is enough to suggest that we should all alienate someone, that’s not censorship, that is self policing, something blogland does quite well (imho).
March 27th, 2007 at 2:29 pm
I was one of the cowards who stood by and watched the bad behaviour be justified. I was as bad as the perpetrators themselves.
Thank you for realizing this, and for openly stating it. Out of the entire blog firestorm to come from the Kathy Sierra incident, you are one of perhaps two people who actually, for lack of a better phrase, “get it.”
The only way to make this stop is to launch a universal campaign against it. Those who are willing to stand up against it must be willing to do so whether the blogger is A-list or Z-list, whether they get 500,000 hits per day or 5, whether male or female.
If this entire incident is quickly forgotten; if the next time someone asks for help in a similar situation and is ignored simply because they are male, or not popular enough; then that will be an even worse result than if nobody ever lifted a finger to help Kathy in the first place.
We are all cowards in this. In a lot of ways, we remain cowards even now for engaging in all this hand-wringing instead of trying to institute a plan to identify and shun all those who would attempt to scare other bloggers into refraining from participation in the public discourse.
March 27th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
tara, you’re willing to point out these comments, but not the rest? Can you not see how perhaps you had the conviction and went looking for evidence?
If this was all part of an investigation, then none of it should have been released. Yes?
March 27th, 2007 at 3:01 pm
I know Herrel’s picture was used as the avatar for the obscene posts, but there’s no sign of the IP address in the image Sierra posted.
In fact, you wouldn’t be able to see the commenter’s IP address unless you were an administrator of the site.
So I feel the jury is still out on whether Herrel was involved or not.
March 27th, 2007 at 3:08 pm
Satch —you’ve got it down cold.
Thank You!
But it is not just bloggers that get scared by these terror tactics. There are a lot of naive and innocent people that have been blind-sided by the darker side of the blogosphere. There has to be a code of ethics that stretches across the Internet and well into the blogosphere before this medium truly goes mainstream. A lot of decent people are terrified about what goes on here…and will not participate until there are certain guarantees that equate to responsible and ethical discourse. I don’t mean to imply “difference of opinion” and even justified “poking fun” and “sarcasm” are off limits; but when vitriolic diatribe and outright lying materially harms the innocent….well, something has to be done.
Just two cents from a Z-lister.
Kathy, be strong and get back to work. I made a comment on Jim Turner’s blog earlier that expresses my hopes for your healthy and happy transition to the work that you love, and from which you have enjoyed a well-deserved following. I guess you could say that I’m joining your community.
Sherry
March 27th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
Of course the law protects you. Talk to your local police. If a crime has been committed, they will investigate.
March 27th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
Kathy, I am appalled. I don’t know what else to say, as words seem to be part of the problem, at this point.
For my part, I’ve used it as a springboard to do a little consciousness raising with male colleagues, some of whom don’t seem to think this issue exists, or matters.
Peace
deb
March 27th, 2007 at 5:15 pm
Oh my god, you’re connected with mainewebreport?
I thought that the defamation lawsuit against that weblogger was dropped? Are you going to be doing one on behalf of your own family?
I remember that — nasty situation.
March 27th, 2007 at 9:16 pm
Tara,
I am in total agreement. Let’s all hope to see those responsible for making the threats caught and punished.
March 27th, 2007 at 9:16 pm
In reply to comment by Amie Gillingham:
‘” – Men are also targets. I think it would be short-sighted to be mainly about women being targeted.”
With all due respect, but men aren’t typically threatened with sexual violence or objectified the way women are. Calling one’s manhood into question is apple and oranges compared to what women have thrown at them (in some places, literally).’
The problem is the concept of preferential treatment conflicts with the quest for equality (since preferential treatment is unequal treatment.)
— Enric
March 28th, 2007 at 3:45 am
The campaign against Kathy Sierra is clearly disgusting and wrong. In a rational world no one would even have to point this out. It’s just obvious. However your attempt to compare this horrible string of abusive attacks to Ben Metcalfe’s disagreement with Mena Trott is very ill judged. There is absolutely no valid comparison. The worst you could reasonably say about Ben’s comment was that it was rude. It was in no way a threat. It was in no way sexist. Neither was it racist, hateful or even personal. It was an opinion of the content of a speech. That is all.
I think you’re doing Ben, yourself and the blogging community as a whole a disservice here. Slinging mud in all directions is not an effective way to keep the blogging community safe. Please let’s not start a witch hunt.
March 28th, 2007 at 4:03 am
How is threatening women with sexual violence even remotely equivalent to how men typically bully each other? Now, if throwing around comments threatening sodomy or physically emasculating men were de rigeuer…
March 28th, 2007 at 4:10 am
Good one Kathy and Tara, with everything good there is always a tiny portion that, well… isn’t.
But the attacks on you both are just not called for, I mean, don’t they have anything better to do with their time?
All the best,
John.
March 28th, 2007 at 5:22 am
Dan, you might want to go lookup mainewebreport. The webloggers ’swarmed’ in support of this person that Sherry is discussing, and there was a lawsuit brought against him at one time by the Maine Board of Tourism board, as well a major NY ad firm.
Sherry, I think putting a face to the name is a good idea, but I think going into people’s comments like this and trying to gather up a posse to go against this weblogger will not serve you well in the end.
Just write about yourself–let people get to know you. The rest will follow.
March 28th, 2007 at 5:46 am
Tara,
the event around Mena was not simply the interaction you described in here, and if this is your only conclusion out of this, I feel sorry for you.
It was a combination of things, which also build up in topic, and yes in part you did play an active role in it. As did Ben. As did Mena. As did other people.
But saying here you have changed by 180 degree will get you into fire the next time you even remotly attend a chatroom where anything in this regard is said if you do not speak up as you said here. Or say something like this yourself.
Rightfully so.
As for me, I find that there was to be learned something from *both* sides of the story.
March 28th, 2007 at 9:36 am
I was just reading through all of the comments on http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2007/03/as_i_type_this_.html#comments
Seeing good, trusting, open minded, kind people get picked on like this really truly pisses me off.
I had no idea this sick bullshit was going on, and affecting so many people. Why the hell are these little weenies trying to terrorize good folks like Kathy Sierra, Tantek Çelik, Tara Hunt, or Mena Trott? What did they ever do to you people who are threatening and harrassing them?
Nothing. They didn’t do anything to deserve this. Claiming that they should expect it because they’ve put themselves in front of the public is absolute 100% garbage, so don’t even try to use that argument.
There are too many real problems in this world to be trying to bring agony and strife to people who are actually trying to do something about it.
These people making these threats are people who feel small and insignificant inside of their own minds. They can’t resolve their own shortcomings, so they take the route of lashing out at people who they obviously regard with great envy. With these harrassing actions, they are expecting people to be silenced, to feel hurt and victimized. So, every time someone responds by standing up to them, and showing them that you are not afraid of them, it disempowers their sick little game more, and more. Sure, you are taking the risk that someone is a crazy wacko who will actually follow through with their threats. But, in my opinion, you are taking that risk no matter how you respond.
Better IMO to let them know that you will continue to be exactly who you are, that you will *never* admit defeat, or be intimidated.
March 28th, 2007 at 10:04 am
Tara: if you are still here at ETech, I’ve proposed a Birds of a Feather session to discuss How can we support Kathy Sierra (and other women in our “community”)? in Gregory A from 9-10pm tonight. Even if you could only stop by for a bit, your perspective would be invaluable to the discussion(s). Thanks!
Joe.
March 28th, 2007 at 3:01 pm
For your consideration:
“Recognizing that this is not just a problem of anti-woman hatefulness, though it is is specific, and that it represents a general feature of human character is important to actually dealing with the problem as a systemic thing.“
March 28th, 2007 at 3:08 pm
Thanks Lloyd…
I actually had a chance to speak with Ben Trott about this last night. Unfortunately Mena wasn’t here for me to apologize to her directly. I hope he’ll carry the message.
March 28th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
“While Mena Trott’s Les Blogs 2, talk on blogging civility appears related. But, it’s different to criticize someone’s ideas by saying “Bullshit!” than threatening a person sexually and physically. And it would be a shame to not be able to again use the Bullshit Cards that were at Vloggercon 2006. When an audience member disagreed with the speaker they could put it up.”
Absolutely. But that wasn’t the comparison I was making. Mena HAD been physically threatened and that was what she was speaking about that day. Calling ‘bullshit’ was a dismissal of that very real situation and it was mean.
“Details need to be clear and correctly assigned to those perpetrating with guilt by association only going so far. The rights of undue attack apply to both sides.”
Well, let’s make something clear: the death threats on Kathy’s site (in her comments) were not by the same people who created those sites (Bobisms and MeanKids). However, both of those sites had sexually violent imagery and veiled threats throughout…written by those who have been indicated (the only one I know for sure is Chris Locke, who has confessed to being involved, and all signs point to Head Lemur as commenting…although he has claimed an identity theft…of several months back that he wasn’t aware of…even though his identity theif interacted with people who knew him…I won’t make any conclusions, but I have these sites saved in my personal cache…I know what they said).
March 28th, 2007 at 3:15 pm
Sherry, this is horrific. I’ve actually heard some similar stories. You may want to contact Lisa Stone at Blogher who may have more information for you. In the meantime, I will publish your story to my links.
March 28th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
Further to my earlier plea against a witch hunt, anyone following this with even a passing interest in fairness will want to read the “email from Alan Herrell” posted on Doc Searl’s Weblog.
I can’t vouch for its truth or authenticity but I hope it encourages some pause for thought before any more careers or reputations are damaged by what increasingly looks like an ugly trial by mob.
Tara, I have no doubt your concern is genuine. I’m sure you believe you are acting for the best. But what about innocent til proven guilty? Are you really sure that, a year from now, condemning these people will still seem like it was the right thing to do? I’ve got a feeling this’ll all look very different when the dust settles.
Love and best wishes to all, Steven
March 29th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
I don’t read much from Kathy’s blog but I follow Tara’s. I must also confess that I don’t take much time reading all the comments so I’m pretty clueless about how things got to this point.
How is it possible that just by expressing a thought, an idea, or just a stand you get people to react with so much hatred and lunacy? This is beyond my understanding. I’ve never seen at least on Tara’s blog justification for anybody to accumulate such hatred.
Tara you are my hero and I admire you so much for the professional you are. I hope you never quit giving us your opinions. I hope Kathy overcomes, because if she is a model for you it must be darn good one.
April 1st, 2007 at 3:11 am
Why does this post exist verbatim at other websites?
http://jabancroft.tumblr.com/post/386401 for example.
April 15th, 2007 at 7:34 am
Excellent post, Tara. Thank you.
April 24th, 2007 at 2:41 pm
I have to admit that I I felt a littel bit scoffish when I read Kathy Sierra’s story.
But I realize now that she must have gone through hell.
Still, compared to what Dann and Sherry Lewis have gone though, Kathy’s tale is a walk in the park.
http://dannstory.wordpress.com
Thanks.
April 24th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
I have to admit that I I felt a little bit scoffish when I read Kathy Sierra’s story.
But I realize now that she must have gone through hell.
Still, compared to what Dann and Sherry Lewis have gone though, Kathy’s tale is a walk in the park. This was the real thing.
http://dannstory.wordpress.com
Thanks.