Thursday, January 10, 2008

Memo to anonymous commenters

I've gotten a spate of anonymous comments of late.  Either lots of anonymous people are hitting my blog, or someone with a lot of time and no identity is working through the archive.  I thought I'd respond to all 4 in one post.  So here goes.

Steve Baugh anonymous #1:  I am going to assume that that was a complement.  JM Bell wasn't so gracious.  You'll need to keep an eye on him, he's not playing Mr. Happy Blogger anymore.

Steve Baugh anonymous #2: I am happy to know that you don't think I have same political views as you do. 

Orwellian Solution anonymous:  Wow! Great catch!  I first read 1984 and Brave New World at about the same time, so I get them mixed up.  Your education level, well, the fact that you can and do read, suggests that you aren't Steve Baugh Anonymous #2. 

Nice Work Robert Gherke anonymous:  Let it go.  Just let it go.  But thanks for reading and I hope my cheekiness doesn't annoy to much.  I like being cheeky in a blog format.  You got me on that one.  I am not a journalist and I do not hold myself to journalist standards.  I don't have a press pass, I am not a credentialed reporter and I didn't go to j-school. If you are this like real news, such as a newspaper, then you are going to live a life full of disappointment and sadness.  My perception is that when someone says "that's off the record" then it should not show up in print.  If real journalists have different rules of engagement, then they need to work to correct public perception (and commit fewer ethics violations in general). 

4 comments:

Anthony Barney said...

Way to distinguish yourself from what Gherke Anonymous here accurately reveals as a great problem. Only he fails to realize that the problems is multidirectional: Yes, some bloggers erroneously believe themselves to be journalists, which is unfair to journalists. But some journalists write (and research their topics) no better than a common blogger, which is unfair to everyone else, because there is an inherent trust in a journalist as being a researcher, someone who has already filtered out the facts from the hype. But we are learning more and more that such is not true, and so we may as well read the blogosphere instead, since we at least know to not fully trust it.

By the way Mike, check out this article at Deseret News: Better Duck - If You're a Mormon, http://deseretnews.com/article/content/mobile/0,5223,695242228,00.html
I think it deserves some comment.

JM Bell said...

It just makes me mad when people are rude, yet, chicken and hide behind anonymity.

That's the reason my blog is so narcissistic: I own everything I say, even when I'm wrong, or rude.

I figure that if a person is going to pop in and prick off, they ought to own up to it.

Jesse Harris said...

I have a big issue with anonymous cowards. It seems that most of them abuse their anonymous status to be mean, vulgar, condescending and so forth rather than use it to post information that, if attached to them, would cause serious repercussions. At the least, they should pick a pseudonym and stick with it.

Obi wan liberali said...

I hate anonymous posters as well. Oh yeah, never mind.