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26
Online death threats are still death threats
Filed under: Uncategorized. Tags: community, psychos, thoughts.
I just found out via a Twitter post that Kathy Sierra, the author of the Creating Passionate Users blog, which I read religiously, has been receiving a series of threats. Cyberbullying, even death threats. Threats of violence. To the point that she had to back out of presenting a session at the ETech conference, and is canceling all public engagements.
[ED - I removed a paragraph that could be perceived as inflammatory. I wasn't trying to imply that any specific individual(s) made a death threat, only that some had been named in Kathy's post.]
This is seriously not cool. I don't have the entire story, but from Kathy's post, a group of people self-organized to inflict threats on her and a few other people online. She suggests that some of this goes with the territory. I disagree. This is not acceptable.
[ED - I removed another potentially inflammatory paragraph that didn't add to anything]
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15 Responses to “Online death threats are still death threats”
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Just not right. I have nothing other to say other than I am so sorry for Kathy.
I can only echo your thoughts - it is not acceptable.
I concur, and posted the same at Kathy’s site. Those who have integrity will always win. I only hope that the authorities are able to convict these individuals for what is truly, to my mind, evil.
How did someone with such a mind contribute to something as cool as cluetrain?? Unforgivable, so sorry for her she was a victim of this
Agree that Chris Locke is sad and unhinged. But as far as I can tell he wasn’t the author of the death threats. That’s a very serious accusation of a crime, and I think your post may imply that he is the author.
He may well be complicit, at some level, from what I understand of the situation. I’m not defending him.
The amount of abuse that A-list bloggers get is enormous, and it is part of the territory. If you put yourself out there and are successful, you’re going to get slammed both by people who rudely disagree with you, and by trolls who revel in the attention. That’s free speech, and people have the right to be utterly repugnant. I think Chris Locke’s participation may fall into this category.
In this case someone else’s verbal abuse went beyond what is acceptable free speech however, and it’s so sad that Kathy Sierra has been hurt by it. Everyone is feeling very emotional about the situation, and there is a bit of a mob mentality now in the blogosphere, as our rightious indignation neurons fire away. Things will be clearer in a few days, and it’ll be interesting to see how this whole sad affair plays out.
Cleve - good point. I certainly don't have all of the information, and wasn't meaning to imply that Chris was the one making the death threats. He may be, or he may not be. I don't know. But Kathy did implicate him by name as one of her assailants. I'm hoping we get more info about the situation from all sides of it. Chris has posted his side of things at http://www.rageboy.com/2007/03/re-kathy-sierras-allegations.html saying he didn't intend to threaten Kathy. And, on further poking around on his blog, the one post I had found disturbing (where he fires a shot at someone he suggests was a former client), turns out to be a hoax. The client is a PR fabrication (I just saw the same photo of her in the stairwell of my building - obviously stock photography). Still, an odd thing to say, but not exactly worrisome.
You’re right that he’s a total creep - his post defending himself as a victim of all this is pretty ironic given the trademark, look-at-me-please verbal aggression that he uses as his blogging voice.
Aggression and creepiness, also using marketing tactics is not all that worrisome — free speech is free speech. But the moment you start accusing him of being responsible for death treats, without proof, that’s approaching defamation… Just saying. But I do think it rather sad that this type of behavior occurs. But it occurs in real life, it is what it is… You can take it seriously, or you can ignore it until something happens. There are quite a few trolls that like playing with people, that wouldn’t touch a soul, there are also people who have gone astray but will be back some day, but then there are mental patients with nothing to live for… You never quite know which one is picking on you.
Sami, to be clear, I never suggested that Chris was the one uttering death threats, only that he was mentioned on Kathy Sierra’s blog post as being a participant in some of the bs she had to endure.
I think this goes far, far beyond trolling or playing. Read through Kathy’s post, follow some links, google some names. This is not just a tongue-in-cheek “it’s all done in fun” type of thing. This was an extended, directed, graphic series of attacks on an individual.
Ignoring this is exactly what lets it propagate in the first place. Bullies are able to exist because we allow them to. It only stops if we all say enough.
hmmm… re-re-reading my post, it does come across as though I’m saying Chris was the one making death threats. That’s not what I meant to say. That’s the problem of writing in the moment. I’ll think of a better way to reword it, and edit the post appropriately.
Good call about editing the post. As for letting it go on, I think, that it’s a police matter… If they can track the guy down, they can ascertain as to the state of his mind and whether or not he’s a real threat to her. The whole thing just seems to me to be some mean-spirited fun gone wrong. Reading it from my end, it does seem far over the line, but not yet in danger to her life territory, despite what she might feel.
Your wording still sounds like it was Chris that sent the threats…
OK. How’s this: It wasn’t Chris that sent the death threats. I don’t know who it was. Talk to Kathy Sierra.
Good enough?
I don’t really understand much of this, but i have even recieved death threats by someone online. I don’t even know them. They just laughed when i said it was serious and i should be telling someone. It is a dangerous world now.
I have been receiving death threats online here recently an i don’t know how to go about all this. It stated in an online mmorpg. online game. this person has found where i am from. phone number add. how i do not know i have none of that posted online. or saved in my computer.