How the fuck...

...does shit like this get published? Don't news sources have editors any more? Don't "stories" or columns get reviewed at all? Anyways, I just finished reading Helen A.S. Popkin's article "Watch out, the internet will cut you" ( link ) and just found myself thinking, this is why you get hate mail dumb ass.

She wrote an entire article about tech writers like herself receiving over the top threats of violence and rude, crude, and misogynistic comments. One example she cites again and again is a fellow writer, Michael Arrington, who had the unfortunate experience of having one reader spit in his face. Look Helen, these things are not equivocal. Having someone leave you a nasty email, even threaten you via email is one thing. Having someone actually attack you in real life is completely different.

See, there's this thing called anonymity that we all have here on the internet. You can't see me, you don't know me, you can't hear my voice or see my face as I write this. That separation affords me a certain amount of safety that allows me to say whatever the hell I want with little to no fear of any recourse. However, this man who attacked Arrington did it to his face. He went out into public and accosted him by spitting in his face. That man was willing to risk being known, retaliated against, yelled at, even arrested. That to me goes far beyond anything anyone can say or "do" online.

So I'm sorry if your sensitive feelers were hurt by having a few angry readers sending you threats or whatever, but really there's nothing anyone can do to you physically over the internet. It's when those people feel so strongly or are just so crazy that they're willing to confront you in public that you should start to worry. That's fucked up. But the two are not the same. So take your fuckin crybaby tears and woes about being a female tech writer and get back to doing your job.

Oh and if you really are confused about why people do these kinds of things in the first place I'd like to direct your attention here: PA's Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory

ATNN