Rusty of the Jawa Report has the latest word on how the viscious and irrational rush to judgement against Jill Carroll by some members of the blogosphere has hurt us all.
Joe Gandelman also weighs in and rightly pegs the guilty parties (Stand up and take a bow, Debbie Schlussel et al.) as blogging trolls:
Weblogs have always had "trolls" who hurl insulting adjectives around as they lurk beneath the posts in blog comments sections. They rant and make wild charges. But the only point a blog "troll" often makes is that he/she/it is starved for attention and somehow thinks being insulting or going on the offensive equals being intelligent, thoughtful or delivering some revelation (except for that writer's own IQ).
Now, more than ever, "trolls" are the ones who seemingly write blog posts on some blogs.
They've moved up in the world from the comments in the basement to the posts on the first floor.
It gets readership (with some readers) and is much easier to do than analyses or Google searches to confirm whether an assertion stated as fact is more a feeling someone may have in their gut (or in their fanny, where some of the thought processes for these vitriolic posts apparently originate).
The most vexing part of this whole thing is that for the first time in 30 years I've been forced to agree with columnist Ellen Goodman on something. A lovely streak broken.
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Previous postings:
Lunatic Fringe Pt. II