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I need to apologize right off the bat for this post because frankly, I'm pissed off. If you have been reading this blog for awhile, I don't need to tell you how I feel about snarky anonymous commenters. Frankly, I think they're cowards. Leaving a snarky anonymous comment is akin to leaving a burning bag of dog crap on someone's front door, ringing the doorbell and running away to hide and snicker behind the bushes while you watch your unsuspecting victim stomp all over the crap you left.
I know I have a fair amount of readers who found their way over here from other blogs and from Twitter. But the vast majority of my readers are readers and fellow commenters on Jon Acuff's site Stuff Christians Like.
I consider Jon a friend. He has been incredibly generous to his readers and has helped build an online community that is worldwide. Jon Acuff is the reason I started blogging in the first place. (Please don't send him hate mail, I think he's had a hard week already). A few months ago, Jon scored a book deal based on his blog, and it seems that ever since then (or maybe it's just me), the anonymous comments have gone from bad to worse. I've seen some doosies on there, but yesterday's comment section just left me speechless. (No small feat, I can assure you.)
But rather than addressing this (word that rhymes with koosh tag) on Jon's site, I thought I would address it here instead of drawing more attention to their comment. Because, let's face it - isn't what these gutless wonders are looking for anyway? Attention? I could tell you what the post was about, but that's really not the point. If you want to read it, feel free to do so - it's really good. The following was not the only nasty comment he got, and I suspect the other one might be from the same author, but here's the one that set me off:
Anonymous said...
I bet there are other things on your list Jonathan that you wouldn't dare confess. Come on . Ecstasy is your big confession? Please. Enough of this false humility and empty confessions. The REAL power is when we admit how depraved we Christians actually are. Jonathan I am tired of your meaningless masturbatory banter. Yes we think you are a good writer. Is that what you are looking for? I think you should rename your blog THINGS CHRISTIANS HATE because it is becoming something I really hate. Stop preaching on facebook please.
August 26, 2009 10:33 AM
REALLY ANONYMOUS? Who peed in your corn flakes yesterday morning? And incidentally, if you hate SCL so much, then why not just stop reading it? At least have the common decency to write the man a private email instead of spewing your gutless diatribe for all the world to see. Oh, but wait...that would mean you would actually have to have an ounce of courage in you, which clearly - you do not.
UP YOURS, ANONYMOUS!
And yes, I realize that by writing this post I'm stooping to their level, but at least you know from whom these words are coming from. Besides, that's just how I roll sometimes...
End of rant...carry on.
34 comments:
Katdish, I wish you could learn to express how you really feel about this guy. Don't sugar-coat it. What do you really think?
I hope this made ya feel a tiny bit better. I can see why you'd be angry...anonymous comments like that are unnecessary and not productive in any way...nice response ;)
I'm pretty sure the reason I started reading your blog was because of your original diatribe towards anonymous commenters. It's always good stuff. This blog post falls into the "good stuff" category, as well.
By the way, I had someone anonymously hassle me about one of my sermons on Vimeo. I just deleted it instead of responding, and he made up an e-mail account just to e-mail me and tell me how lame it was for me to remove comments from my videos. I'm pretty sure he also hassled my good friend on his blog, either that or there are two anonymous Keiths that happen to be koosh tags. So here's the to the anonymous Keiths. Like Bob Hope, they can sit on it.
Okay, I admit it. I was the anonymous commenter! NOT!
Kat- I think you need to have your blood pressure taken. Then eat some chocolate.
These anonymous folks were my welcome into the blogosphere on SCL. Remember? I wonder if this person was ANONYMOUS @ 8:38 from the past?
Rude, mean and cowardly. Who wants to be known for this?
Don't fight diatribes with diatribes, send him/her a big red heart monkey butt!
Breathe, Katdish, breathe. Frankly anonymous commenters have little relevance in my book. If they have no face or no name, they are invisible to me [fingers in ears going WWAAAAAHHHH....]. There are too many real people giving real feedback that far overshadow "anons." That guy/girl obvious has blog envy.
Katdish, sometimes you just need to vent. And I agree with you. If you have something to say, say it loud and proud or shut up and keep it to yourself. You go girl
Ken Jackson
The good old anonymous person is what blogging is degrading to. Heck, even with picture and a name, who really knows us on the internet.
The key is that as we blog, may we all hope to garner enough attention to piss people off enough to have them be retards in the comments section. And not the disability kind, the stupid friggin' idiot kind.
These anonymous comments are like medals of honor. And you've addressed this one gloriously.
PUNCH THEM IN THE KIDNEYS!!! Good post. First, because you're entirely fine being mad, which I think more people need to be, and second, its really a righteous indignation. I bet this kind of person is frequently mad at even their own pastor, but can't and won't say a bloody word about anything, at least to his face. How unfortunate.
I don't agree with anonymous comments either. If you're gonna slam someone, man up and admit who you are. If you can't do that, shut the %^&* up.
I feel ya on this rant, I really do. People saying hurtful, unconstructive things to me is one of the easiest ways to send me into a downward spiral of self doubt and shame. If this is at all how Jon feels when he's attacked publically on his blog, then let's raise him up in prayer.
And then when we're calm and genuine, we can pray for the dead, cold, ice pack of a heart that belongs to anon.
Ugh! I must have read the comments before that person commented. There's nothing that irritates me more than a holier-than-thou attitude. Ugh...just, ugh!
What I hate about the anon comments is that the commenter wishes to become a nonentity so that they can forget that on the other side there is a person whom they are addressing.
If I address you as Helen (or my twitter name, Helenatrandom), I am coming to you as a person, and I have to remember your personhood. Even if I make up a cute name for myself, and consistently comment as cute name, I establish my personhood and must respect yours. But as any anon out there, it becomes easy to blend into all other anons and then forget that the blog writer is not a blended anon but an individual who put themself out there.
I know. My comment is long. I am making up for my long absence.
Helen is right. Especially in her cute name observation. Just saying....
And that isn't even the worst anonymous comment i've seen on SCL lately.
OK I have to admit, that was me. I can't help myself. I'd like to say that leaving anonymous comments is on my list.
Ok maybe not but lying about leaving anonymous comments because I think it is funny is on my list.
Hmmm, I wonder who that anonymous comment is from?
Also, they should not be allowed to give me two cups of morning buzz (with 2xs the caffeine as their normal coffee) within 2 minutes. Seriously, it only costs like $0.27 after tax for the refill and now I'm having a hard time typing and want to go for a run and I can't blink and ... wow I'm not use to this much caffeine since I usually have like 1 cup of coffee a week and like 1 Monster a week.
Nick - Put down the coffee and slowly step away.
And you probably shouldn't use any power tools today...
Dear Kat,
*snark*
Love,
Anonymous
p.s. Just kidding! I'm not Anonymous. It's really Me.
Go get 'em Katdish!
(Virtual high five)
katdish,
But Candy has tried cutting her finger off and I'm feeling like she is getting all the attention and I'm wanting some attention so I'm gonna play with sharp spinning/reciprocating things now.
When I'm in the mood for a good rant, I know just the blog to visit! Good one, katdish.
I think fame in others does funny things to some people. Since so much of the mean snark is really questioning the person's motives or otherwise telling them how they feel, I wonder if famous (or famouser-than-before-the-book-deal) people, with their actions so easy to scrutinize, get the brunt of these people's bitterness.
I work with someone relatively famous. And he often gets BEAT UP by commenters, most of them anonymous. And reading their comments, I can tell that they DON'T KNOW HIM AT ALL. But they sure think they do.
And I wrote all of that just so I could have a longer comment than Helen.
Wow.
I'm in agreement with everyone else, anonymous comments are the bane of the blogging world and the epitome of cowardice.
But I liked the way you said it better (koosh tag? Snort!)
Wow! Hmmm. Must we allow anonymous comments? That's worth a debate. I've never really understood the need for the ability to comment anonymously. I'll have to think about that one. I'm all for freedom of speech, but in my America people shouldn't be afraid to stand behind their words. If they are then the comment shouldn't be made.
Katdish,
First ... You GO girl!
second ... If had to re live childhood I would want you on my kickball team because I get the feeling you would always have my back.
third .... Anonymous commenter = Coward
fourth .... yes I realize this is cliche but in the vein of WWJD ... No, he wouldn't.
and lastly I had to lol because a few months ago someone left a weirdly snarky little anonymous comment on my blog. It was funny to me because at the time honestly about 4 people were even reading my blog. Seriously here I am trying to process this horrible trial I find myself in the middle of and someone feels the need to give me a swift lil kick while I'm down ... Geez. Good thing Jesus has my back. It's all good.
Did anyone think to head over to SCL and invite Anonymous to come over here and play? Cause THAT would make for a really good time.
And Steph, you almost name dropped.
Did someone say kickball?? I wanna playyyy....
And Steph, I think the famous person you work with was mentioned in my husband's seminary video last night! Yes, videos. Of lectures. He watches them, and I fall asleep to them.
Ho.ly.Crap.
Not that I get too many gutless anon comments, or even too many negative comments. But when I do, I find it amusing that some people have nothing better to do than tell a random person who they've never met (me) how much I suck. But I've certainly never gotten one like that. I don't know how Jon takes it in stride. I think that, yeah, once you hit the big time, you get a lot more criticism. So my relative lack of criticism is enough of a sign to me that I've not hit the big time. Some people would say that maybe I'm just awesome, but that can't be.
Anon comments are fun because they're usually full of logical holes that can only seem coherant to a raving lunatic. Like suggesting that his opinion should lead to the blog being renamed. Classic. 1 person hates a blog, so the blog should be renamed 'Stuff Christians Hate.' I love it.
I think there's a case to be made for anonymity...if someone really needed to open up about past or current abuse, for instance, but didn't want to reveal themselves, I think that's worth respecting.
What gets me is when people wrap themselves in a cloak of anonymity just so they can better attack other people. I like how Helen put it, of the setting aside the sense of personhood so that the commenter doesn't have to respect that of their victim.
Heather, I do know bloggers who block anonymous posts for just this reason. I don't think it's a bad idea at all...we have freedom of speech, not freedom of personal attack. ;)
1. I just read SCL for the first time ever and laughed out loud numerous times.
2. I hold you personally responsible for the increase in blogs added to my reader and the decrease in work productivity. Just saying.
3. Koosh tag = 50 points.
Jewda's comments on SCL were also hilarious, which means I will have to add his blog (or whatever media he's got going on) to my distraction file.
As for the koosh tag, I'll never understand humorless people. They really shouldn't read funny blogs, because they don't have the right filters in place. (How sad for them!)
Have a look at the crazy one on http://stufffchristianslike.blogspot.com/2009/08/320-making-purple-11-ways-to-stop-camp.html at August 16, 2009 12:46 AM
Joanna, wow. That dude was really angry. Had he not gone in attack mode at Jon, he may have had a sweet little story. I like hearing about people who fell in love young and stayed in love (even though I was in my mid twenties). His story would probably not have swayed me into thinking that kids should be allowed to make out at Bible Camp, but may have moved me a little closer to his way of thinking if he hadn't been mean to Jon. Now, I doubt he is YET mature enough at 21 to be in a relationship...(Not that I am saying 21 is too young...I am saying maturity doesn't necessarily come with age)
Some people just don't have the courage to put their name and face on their work.
Signed,
The little stuffed fish.
Sharkie, I don't think we think of people who consistently use a psuedonymn as Anonymous. I think of it as your "Pen Name"
Joanna,
In that anonymous comment you linked to, the guy said he met his wife when he was in sixth grade and he's now 21.
It was very noticable that he didn't say how old he was in sixth grade.... could it be that it was just a year or two ago?
Katdish... I'm not sure I understand this post. Are you trying to say you don't like this anonymous comment? I'm confused.
And no matter how I say it, whatever accent I put on, I can't make 'Koosh tag' rhyme with 'awesome guy' at all.
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