I partially agree with the commenter Hmnnn, who says the people who launch sites like meankids should be ready to take some abuse, if they want to dish it out. But that doesn’t mean it’s open season on them.

The backlash against them reminds me a bit of the backlash against anyone who criticized the Bush administration post-9/11: Vehement, emotional, more interested in doing what feels right than examining the nuances of the situation.

Very well put and I agree re the mob. It got even uglier than it needed to be. And, I’m not happy that I too have to agree with Malkin on this one.

The best thing we all can do is to keep blogging, be aware, and not act like victims. (Hmmm…sounds a lot like that killer self-defense class for women I once took.) And, I’m going to also do an ongoing self-check that I don’t go over the line in my own writing.

(Starbuck wouldn’t tolerate a frakkin’ troll, now would she?)

Except – and I may be wrong – but isn’t this also a case of those behind meankids being able to dish it out but not being able to take it? They created a site around the idea of provocation and risk and being “mean” (however you define it), they made a point of not moderating it until someone complained. They didn’t take this risky stand in a locked, secret community, they did it on the World Wide Web and suprise, it’s full of people who might get offended and overreact. The world turns and it can turn on you. They took a risk and this time it went bad.

I find it interesting that those who “do it for the lulz”, who engage in mockery, who talk about “you own your own words”, are often ready to come down hard on anyone who reacts in a self-righteous or defensive way, with an equally self-righteous and defensive assertions of freedom, anarchy, lulz and not caring.

And they get REALLY self-righteous if the chaos of the very medium they’ve been defending is turned on them. The trolls who posted her SSN and home address have been especially self-righteous about it.

It’s not just about owning your words, it’s owning the consequences of those words. It’s also about owning your actions and the consequences including what you associate your identity with.

If you are connected to a website which does something which inspires wrath, one has to be ready for the blowback even if it’s not your fault. This isn’t fair, it’s unreasonable, it’s mob rule, but guess what? If one can say “the internet has bullies, get over it.” one has to accept “the internet has a mob mentality, get over it.”

The meankids site was at least in part an expression of smug superiority. In my view, they kind of got PWND by Kathy Seirra in a form of unintentional reverse trolling which may indicate she does understand net dynamics on some level as well if not better than they.

Doesn’t make it right or fair, but doesn’t give them the ability to scold from some superior level either.

Your synposis here is even-tempered, fair and on-the-level. Great job!

Yes, some degree of deleterious garbage comes with being a blogger but, you’re right…we can only control HOW we respond to it.

*sigh* One step forward…