On Death Threats and the Blogosphere

Kathy Sierra, a very popular blogger, has been receiving very serious and scary death threats over the last several weeks. The situation has gotten so bad she is afraid to leave her home. Allegedly other bloggers are behind the attacks.

Although startling and thoroughly condemnable, this situation - or God forbid worse - is bound to occur and it does all the time. Nobody should have to deal with such threats. However, the blogosphere is a community made up of human beings. Therefore, it's going to bring out all of the good in society and also the bad. Sometimes they converge and that's what is happening here. The bad are unjustly targeting someone good.

Most people who publish online are doing so for motivations that are positive and constructive. You always hope that the good will drown out the negative and that words won't come to actions. However, such behavior will never go away. We're humans and this is a human medium.

My thoughts are with Kathy and her family and my best goes out to her. Be strong. We're with you.