Angela, thanks for your comments. I appreciate hearing them. And yes, I quickly moved on from this incident. And for the record, to his credit, Engage did reveal his real name in this thread. It's Phil Tanny.Originally Posted by Angela Wills
Engage - what's your real name?
Just curious is all.
David Jackson
Last edited by David Jackson; June 17th, 2010 at 08:31 AM.
Well, you just aren't trying hard enough...Luckily I haven't come across it much (yet!)
Yes, and that's why David's thread is a good one, imho.but I'm sure when it comes I will need to brace myself and try to toughen up my skin too.
Whatever our niche, there are already hundreds or thousands of people writing on our topic. The information we are providing on our sites is usually easily available plenty of other places.
Let's take an example we're all familiar with.
Rock and roll bands. There are thousands of them. Half of them look an awful lot like Rolling Stones cover bands. They emerge enmasse, strike the same old pouty poses in vogue since 1963, and then vanish back in to well deserved obscurity.
If we want to launch our own new new rock and roll band, the most important thing we have to bring to the game is our unique sound, something new and different that will capture the interest of a highly jaded audience.
Check out Rickie Lee Jones. She plays in a number of genres from pop to rock to jazz, and she brings her own quite unique sound to them all.
She mumbles, slurrs her words, makes goofy songs with random abandon. You can instantly tell it's her. And how did she accomplish this?
She had the courage to be different.
This is the same challenge we face as web authors.
Everybody online has access to the same tools and information. If our sites are based on that, we're screwed.
If we steer right down the middle of the accepted safe group consensus, we're invisible.
If we come to forums like this and read, say and do the same things everybody else is reading, saying and doing, we'll be invisible.
Being invisible is not what publishing is all about.
By definition, having a unique voice requires departing somehow from the safe and comfortable middle of the road group consensus.
No, you don't have to be a fatheaded old blowharding diatriber like me, (STAY OUT OF MY TERRITORY!!) but you have to have the courage to do something different.
The best approach is usually to figure out who you really are. Most of us have no idea because we're so busy all the time trying to be what we think other people want us to be.
Find out who you really are, and then be it with brave abandon, warts and all.
If you do that, be assured somebody is going to yell at you, and tell you you suck.
That's their problem.
Don't make it yours.
Don't be afraid.
Don't be invisible.
Yes, my name is Phil Tanny, and I approved this diatribe.
Phil, you're so stubbornly intent on trying to prove your own point, you can't or won't accept the obvious. And that is internet trolls are sad, pathetic cowards who say vicious and nasty things, then hide behind their computer screens...period...end of story.
You're way out in left field screaming about being different, and not being invisible. Can't you see the irony in your statements? It's our visibility that makes us targets in the first place. Internet trolls don't discriminate. They attack you if you're different, and they attack you if you're the same as everyone else. It doesn't matter to them.
That's what trolls do. They spit their caustic venom, and quickly move on to the next site. Everyone who responded to this thread recognizes that fact.
Sadly, you're the only one who doesn't.
David Jackson
Last edited by David Jackson; June 17th, 2010 at 09:25 AM.
Stating this well known fact, and repeating it again and again, seems of limited value to us here. These people exist, and there's nothing we can do about it. I don't see the point in yelling at the weather.internet trolls are sad, pathetic cowards who say vicious and nasty things, then hide behind their computer screens...period...end of story.
Instead, I've been looking for ways to convert the experience you referred to in to something useful.
If I've failed in that in regards to you, ok fair enough, I'm glad you are reporting your honest reaction, that's good.
Useful to whom? I simply started this thread to vent a little. I vented, and quickly moved on from the incident. Let's not make this thing any more complicated than that. Because it isn't.
David Jackson
Elite Member
The moral of the story: Not everyone will like you. Not all of them will even have a reason...they just won't. Some will actually say something to that effect.
Giving attention to them is giving power to them. Ignore them and move on. Life's just too short...
Dan
Um, well, uh, I don't really see much evidence you've moved on from venting.
Is it reasonable to ask why this is important to you?Let's not make this thing any more complicated than that.
This forum is about publishing. You would prefer that I enter the thread and repeat what everyone else has already done a good job of expressing, thus contributing nothing?
That's easy enough to say, Dan. But we're all different, and we all react to situations differently. The fact of the matter is sometimes words hurt. They hurt deeply, even if those words are said anonymously.
That being said, generally, I do ignore those types of comments. I've received them before, and ignored them. But this particular comment was so racially tinged and hateful, it struck an emotional chord deep within me. I simply couldn't ignore it.
So, I started this thread to vent a little that's all. I vented, and quickly moved on.
David Jackson
Last edited by David Jackson; June 17th, 2010 at 10:56 AM.
Elite Member
David - sorry that happened to you.
I agree - anonymously slamming someone - ESPECIALLY when it becomes a personal attack - is NOT real. It is cowardly.
I am far more inclined to respect - and engage - with someone who addresses their concerns with me directly rather than hiding behind a cloak of secrecy.
Good for you for being able to brush it off and move on... well done!
... and Lynn - I agree with the rest. You've done so much for so many - without ever over-hyping - I can't imagine why anyone would target you - other than good old-fashioned jealousy!
Thank you, Trish. I appreciate you saying that.
Yeah, I've always been pretty resilient. I tend to bounce back quickly from negativity.
David Jackson
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