But sometimes you just have to point it out, you know?
Someone purporting to be Robert Scoble left a comment on my Techwhahuh? post. While the IP resolves to a Comcast address near Half Moon Bay, CA, and Robert has mentioned that he lives there in his blog before, I can’t help but think I’ve been trolled by someone impersonating Robert.
I did have a pretty snarky comment in my post about the blogs on Techmeme being sound and fury and signifying nothing. I get to say that pot/kettle/black, because my own blog is pretty much that (well at least the fury and nothing part). I tend to write when I get frustrated, rather than when I’m documenting a problem solved. And while occasionally borderline witty and funny, I’m nowhere near as good at the frustrated-post-with-a-point as say, Mark Pilgrim. I’m not even creative enough to keep the comic going (which is arguably funnier than me writing a long post about things, but only marginally).
So Robert, or Robert’s impersonator may have taken some umbrage about that. But the comment is absurd (that’s why I’m hoping it isn’t Robert). You don’t have to click the link — here’s the best part pulled out — the commenter states that:
”..I almost put your post on my link blog, but thought that you really wouldn’t have liked that cause people might actually read your blog then.”
(and you’d think after 15 or so years of this, from Usenet to blogs, I’d have learned to not respond to trolling, but nooooo….).
So the couple of dozen of you that do read this blog? Those of you that I work with? The ones of you I know, and whose blogs I read if you have them? Those that are actually in my social network — or just hoping I post something vaguely funny or useful again? I guess the implication of the commenter is that you don’t read. Or don’t matter. Don’t worry, you can bet your sweet bippy that I’m pretty damn annoyed. (Actually, I’ve gone from annoyance to head shaking, I wonder if there is a “stages of troll response” pyschology?)
Robert, or whoever you are, if this is about the techmeme comment, thank you for proving my point, and the echo chamber point of a lot of us in the so-called long tail.
I blog as an outlet. To connect, with friend and family. To converse. To ask questions, to maybe entertain, hopefully at times to inform (which I don’t do enough of the latter). To occasionally virtually meet new people that land here from search. To give voice to ideas and links that I can point people to. To provide a glimpse (albeit an naturally filtered one) of my (mostly) working life. And because I’m too verbose for 140 character limits
I don’t write to earn revenue. I don’t write to sell product (or even sell myself). I’m not monetizing anything. I don’t write to grow an audience. I don’t care about that. If people read, great. Welcome. I’m not so naive and non-self aware to know that what I do here isn’t at least subconsciously an attempt to influence the thoughts and ideas of those that read. But whether that’s 5, 50, or 50,000 — it would be the same words.
So commenter, I don’t need your links for people to read this blog. And it’s incredibly arrogant (yes, I know, it takes one to know one) to feel that Robert linking to me would bring people that might “actually read” what is written here.
The people that matter do already. And others that matter will find their way here just fine on their own.