Death Threats in the Blogosphere……What?!?

This is one of those things that makes you wonder what is going on and how in the world did it come to this?  Kathy Sierra is a well known tech blogger and her blog is one of my favorites.  Her writing is thought provoking and relevant and generally challenges your thinking.  She is a person that has a wealth of experience and is not afraid to speak her mind and her posts are usually longer and well thought out.

Over the last several weeks, the harrassment has escalated to the point of her receiving death threats.   That is very serious and it seems to be sinking in the more I think about it.  Some people have way too much time on their hands and the fact is that it’s still a crime to threaten to harm or kill someone, even on the internet.  Pray for Kathy and her family as they face this and all that they are going through.  

Her blog is fairly poplular and being so well known tends to attract all kinds.  I hope that once this blows over, Kathy will return and continue to inspire and stretch us but the reality is that this may be the last we hear from her and that’s understandable.

Blogging still fascinates me, it’s not something I started with goals and aspirations, it was just a passing thought.  Yet it has turned into so much more for me, with many relationships formed with all kinds of people both online and offline.  But I think what would I do if threats were being made against me like that and I really don’t know.  I don’t think that’s going to happen, for one thing, I’m nowhere near the level that Kathy’s at, as far as popularity and respect, but it’s not anything she anticipated having to deal with either, I’m sure.

Her latest post goes into great detail of what threats have been made and what is known about the people doing it.  If you are squeamish or easily offended, don’t go there.  Here’s a brief excerpt of what she says:

I do not want to be part of a culture where this is done not by some random person, but by some of the most respected people in the tech blogging world. People linked to by A-listers like Doc Searls, a co-author of Chris Locke. I do not want to be part of a culture of such hypocrisy where Jeneane Sessum can be a prominent member of blogher, a speaker at industry conferences, an outspoken advocate for women’s rights, and at the same time celebrate and encourage a site like meankids — where objectification of women is taken to a level that makes plain old porn seem quaintly sweet.

These are well known and supposedly professional people involved in these threats!  I agree, if this is what the culture is becoming out here, then I don’t want to be part of it either.  There is a definite line between confrontation/argumentative/disagreeing and threats of harm and death.  I don’t mind someone disagreeing with me and I welcome other perspectives, sometimes I even post something that I know is controversial just to stir things up.  But, it gets extremely personal when people begin threatening you.

I’m posting this to offer support and also so we can attempt to rally around her and be an encouragement during this time.

What can we do, whether you have a blog or not, to impact the blogsphere and the web in a positive way, and to not let this kind of thinking and mentality grow?