Just thinking…
Thank you to everyone who’s left a comment at my Utterly ridiculous post. On a related note, Katie wrote about receiving her first nasty comment at her blog A Byootaful Life. She reflects on the different ways bloggers respond to nasty comments. I like to analyse and rip the comment to shreds, and if ridicule happens to be a natural component of this – once I’ve exposed the commenter’s “argument” as flawed, unnecessarily mean-spirited or “utterly ridiculous” (what else can you do but ridicule the ridiculous?!) – so be it. And yes, it can generate a lot of great discussion at your blog. But as satisfying it it might be, I never resort to name-calling (even if the names would be accurate!). I figure my response will be stronger, and more compelling and eloquent if it’s calm and well-argued. Hey, if someone’s going to pick a (verbal) fight with me, I like to let them know I can bite back (also verbally!) with a vengeance. These people hide behind the internet – they would never have the guts to say such things to anyone’s face in real life – so I think they do deserve to be ridiculed.
As chef biatch summed up in her comment: “Note to self: Never piss TFP off” (don’t worry everyone, I’m pretty easy-going most of the time). :) The thing is, I only do this for comments that really REALLY get to me. A certain percentage of nasty comments I receive are from plain old trolls – people who just want to upset or offend people because they can do so without being identified – those never make it past moderation.
Sorry you had that nasty comment, Katie. I’ve found as my readership has grown, the number of comments I receive has grown too – including the really nasty ones. But the pleasure I get from blogging is much more powerful than any of the nastiness that comes from the crackpots and cowards anyway.
Moving onto to nicer things, if any of you still haven’t checked out my oilcloth lunch bag giveaway, enter the draw by the 4th October for a chance to win. To enter, just join in the fun – leave a comment at the giveaway post and tell me about the most exotic or unusual thing you’ve eaten. Let’s see if we can hit a triple-figure record for total comments for a single post! After reading the comments so far, Jac has declared she’d pretty much try anything once – most things you guys have named sound great to her! – but you know what she really liked the sound of? Nalinee’s mum’s monitor lizard cooked Indian masala-style! :)
I do intend to respond to comments soon, and I still have a number of emails to get through. Thank you for all your support and interest – you guys make me feel really good. I reckon the best part of blogging is the connection we have. That’s the best part for me, anyway – for you it may be drooling over photos of food. :)