How to Respond to a Blog Attack

Perhaps your picture has just appeared in the paper, and that picture (and the accompanying article) has made its way to a handful of blogs, to be commented on viciously by virtual strangers. Or perhaps you’ve just written an article yourself, for a local paper, and your contribution has become a subject of (mostly negative) discussion in the blogosphere. It’s even possible to be plucked out of obscurity (say, by an old high-school classmate looking to settle a grudge) and attacked online. What do you do?

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Find the offending blogs. As search engines like Google become more comprehensive, it has become increasingly easy to plug in your name and a few identifying details (the name of the paper you appeared in, a snippet of text) into the search field and locate blogs on which you’ve been attacked. Although there are millions of blogs nowadays, it’s unlikely you’ll pop up in more than 2 or 3 (unless your name happens to be Dick Cheney).
2. Look at what people are saying. It can be dispiriting to read negative comments about yourself, but it’s a task that has to be faced squarely. Generally, the article you wrote/appeared in will be reprinted on the blog, followed by a “post a comment” section where you’ll find most of the discussion. It’s also possible that the blogger has written about you in his daily entry, which you can easily scroll through and search.
3. Decide on the nature of the transgression. Blogs being what they are, the tenor of the online discussion will often be about how you’re a “dork” or a “jerk” (remember, these folks aren’t young Spinozas). As disturbing as this can be, it’s relatively harmless in the scheme of things. However, if people are saying inaccurate things about you that can damage your reputation (you’re mentally ill, you’ve been in prison, that article you wrote was plagiarized), that qualifies as a major offense.
4. Set the record straight. It’s not advisable to post a message in the “comments” section pointing out that, in fact, you are not a dork and/or jerk—the blogging community lives for this kind of thing, and you will only be flamed at a higher temperature. However, it is okay to set the record straight about major misrepresentations. Include as much detail as possible in your rebuttal post, including your name, since search engines may pick your comment up along with the unfavorable ones (just in case you’re Googled by a girlfriend or employer).
5. Chalk it up to experience. One less-than-positive byproduct of blogging is that it has become easy for people to say trashy things in cyberspace that they would never, ever utter to a person’s face (or even zap over in an email). Fortunately, the average attention span of bloggers is incredibly short, so by the time you’ve taken offense they’ll likely have moved on to a new target. Be grateful to be out of the crosshairs, and get on with your life.