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Microsoft blogger Robert Scoble, whom I like a lot although I often disagree with him, writes that he is taking some time off from his blog because of recent personal attacks.
“These people would never say this kind of stuff face-to-face but because it’s on the Internet folks feel like they are allowed to be rude in ways they’d never think of being face-to-face….One thing I notice is that most of the rudest are anonymous.”
In my opinion, he fueled the fires by responding to these personal attacks post by post.
As other bloggers and journalists have pointed out, dealing with rude people comes with becoming highly visible. I try not to let it get me down when it happens to me.
However, I won’t publish comments from anyone who doesn’t have the balls to use their real name and a valid email address. Like grandma always told me, you can’t win an argument with an idiot.