Saturday, April 4, 2009

Anonymously Yours,


If you know me through this blog or other blogs I frequent, you probably already know how I feel about anonymous comments. I'm not a fan.

Actually, I should clarify my previous statement. I don't have a problem with Anonymous if that person is sharing something very personal or if they just don't happen to have an account from which to comment from. Really - no biggie. What I do take issue with are snarky, rude anonymous comments. Based upon some of the things I write about on this blog, I'm actually quite surprised that I have only ever had one truly snarky anonymous comment. But I did get one when I wrote a guest post on Stuff Christians Like about church planting.:

Anonymous said:
Don't constantly check your email and/or your blog: IMRELEVANTFAUXSHO.COM if you're sitting next to me at the conference like you did last year. And no, I don't want to see all the cool new apps on your i-touch. Go bother your lead pastor and leave me alone. I'm trying to hear Dr. Keller!

Fail. If you're 43 and don't understand the relevance of new media that's your problem, but don't hate on people who are utilizing it to reach people who are otherwise immune to your traditional means of outreach. Furthermore if someone on their "iTouch" (it is actually iPod Touch and not iTouch) bothers you then maybe you should consider taking the time to develop multi-tasking skills, so that people who already have them won't distract you.

To which I courteously replied:

Ah, yes...the bold yet mysterious "Anonymous".

For the record, I don't have a problem with people "multi-tasking" at a conference. Many were taking notes and/or updating their blogs live from the conference. I get that. I will most likely do the same this year. What I do have a problem with is some punk sitting next to me who thinks he knows all he ever needs to know about planting a church and chooses to text message snarky remarks about the worship team and the speakers to his equally snarky friend sitting 2 seats over. (Yeah, I looked. I'm nosy like that.)

And I know what they're called -- I have one.

Now if you'll excuse me, the lace collar on my full length, wool dress is beginning to chafe.

To which Anonymous replied:

That was such an incredible response that I renege my entire comment. I completely understand what you're saying now. I apologize.

Love, Anonymous

Clearly, I don't care for Mr. or Ms. Snarky Anonymous. Had that person left a comment under their profile, I would have contacted them personally, would have most likely been quite a bit nicer, and would not have publicly b**ch slapped them on SCL. But if you don't have the guts to leave your name when you're being nasty, don't expect me to bend over backward to be kind and understanding. (That goes quadruple if you do that to one of my friends.)

So why am I bringing any of this up? Because on tomorrow's post, and every other Sunday post for the foreseeable future, I am going to ask you to comment anonymously. Wha-huh?

Okay, here's a hint:

Matthew 6: 1-4

11 comments:

pete wilson said...

Couldn't agree more. Put a name on those comments. It's the least you can do. Amazing how brave people are behind a computer.

JML said...

I couldn't agree more either, strap a set on and take some responsibility for the garbage coming out of your mouth! What's that worst that could happen? You show up and kick someone's A**? I'd pay to watch that, but it seems unlikely

Billy Coffey said...

I would pay to watch that too, but I'm just like that.

This sort of thing has only happened to me once (thank you, Jesus), but it still caught me off guard. It was mean and nasty and so un-Jesusy that I didn't even know what to do with it. I couldn't let the comment go through, but I didn't want to ignore it either.

So I wrote a post about it. And at the time, that post got me more positive comments than I had ever had.

So up yours, anonymous. Just kidding.

Not really.

katdish said...

Pete - I can't even imagine the kind of stuff you must see on a regular basis as a pastor, let alone a blogger. You hang tough cowboy. You know I got your back. (Wow, that was kind of Chuck Norris-ey wasn't it?)

Jake - I hope for their sake it would never come to that, as I am freakishly strong for a girl...

Billy - Why in the heck would anyone have anything nasty to say about your writing? Which posts are you referring to? Inquiring minds want to know...

Wendy said...

I guess it's not called "Hey look, a chicken" for nothing. :D

Candy said...

Hey Wendy, good one! I hear clucking when I see "Anonymous." They're just begging for public argument since you can't answer them personally.

Ron Burgundy gets really nasty anonymous emails that are unbelievably personal and rude. He'd be able to Chuck Norris those hound dogs, though, if he could find them!

I'm sure Pete feels very safe now, katdish.

Beth said...

Is that really how you spell renege?
Dictionary.com says yes. Wow, who knew?

Anyway, there's that whole quick to listen, slow to speak thing...in James is it? I don't know how many times I write a comment and then totally erase it because I really want to build people up around here, not tear down. And I probably "talk" more on the computer than I do in person! I'm sure I drive people crazy because when they ask me a question it takes me awhile to answer. Yeah, I hear you, I'm just thinking about what I really want to say on that...
But I think it's more a personality thing with me rather than being all spiritual like! :) There's times when I'm too slow to speak or don't speak when I should which is an equally bad thing.

jasonS said...

I've never got an anonymous comment or a rude one. I'm not big like you yet! ;)

I don't know what I do if I get one... I put so much of myself in my blog. Ahh, I guess I'll deal with it if it comes (and then I'll probably blog about it).

BunBun said...

I don't like anonymous comments either. My friend Helen agrees with me.

Shark Bait said...

I would never leave an anonymous comment. I always bravely sign all my work with a fake name and a picture of a stuffed fish.

<-SB><

Annie K said...

I always pray I never receive a snarky anonymous comment on a bad day.

(and how come no one is posting anonymously?)