As everyone knows, LJDrama is, shall we say, the Jerry Springer Show of the ‘net. If you want quick and dirty, low-brow comedy at the expense of LJ’ers (often perceived as the low-end untouchables of the blogging caste system) who want to air out their dirty laundry for all to see, that’s the site to go to.
But for those of us who prefer high-brow, sophisticated bitch-slapping, we need only to look in the direction of weblogs.com.
Early this week, I commented on the the sudden disappearance of 3,000 or so weblogs when blogging pioneer-turned-apparent-kook Dave Winer decided he was unwilling or unable to host them all any further. Originally a semi-civilized chain of events, things have gotten really ugly. Since my last post on the issue:
– Others in the blogging community have taken up the slack, and Winer has transferred the blogs to a new service. An orderly transition plan appears to be in place.
– In spite of what seems like an orderly end to the situation that (hopefully) will result in everyone getting their stuff back, a barrage of drama, nasty comments and even death threats have been slung around to those who would dare criticize the father of blogging for his actions. Death threats! To quote a blogger who’s been mudslinged in all of this, “People, WTF?!”
And so now I must issue yet more advice to bloggers. My first bit of advice was to back up your shit. Now the second bit, and I think this is more pressing under the circumstances: show some maturity. I’ll be the first to admit that we get very attached to our blogs and sites and photos albums and interactions with the “community,” and that’s healthy… to a point. And granted, people who make this their lives take other people’s slights, criticisms and even insults seriously, sometimes a little too seriously. But, goddamn! A death threat?!.
Remember folks, this is just the internet. When you get down to it, it’s just bits and pixels. But beware: if you act like an ass, if you threaten people, if you take it too personally, then the selective memory of the ‘net will not work in your favor. Those words will be a lot more permanent than any and all things positive you might have contributed… the good will be forgotten, but the bad will bite you in the ass for decades.
Well, as the recipient of the death-threat, let me just put your mind ease: I was neither for, or against, Dave. I was just foolish enough to stick my nose in the middle of it all.
Have fun with this, though. It’ll undoubtedly become a ‘moment in time’ snapshot of who I am, justly or unjustly.
Eh, I wouldn’t say it’s about having fun. Originally it was… amusing, though of course I can say that not being one of the weblogs.com folks who had their stuff in limbo. But now, the situation is just saddening, really.