I Don't Mind at ALL.

Anna,

I hope you don't mind, but I wrote to Kathy Sierra to let her know what was going on with you.

Here is her response to me.

Take care,

R

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: kathy.sierra
Date: May 11, 2007 11:30 PM
Subject: Re: The Case Of Anna John

Hi,

Wow -- I really appreciate that you wrote to me with this. The part of all this that continues to confuse me the most is *why* people do this, and especially to people who aren't writing hateful or (in my case) even controversial/heated topics.

It really is sad.

I had no idea my story -- from the one blog post I made about it -- would spread so far and wide, but I'm pretty certain it's because so many others have experienced so much (usually anonymous) hate out there, and just wanted a chance to talk about it.

If there's any good to come of what's happening to me and Anna and others who share this experience, it's that people ARE talking about it. And simply thinking about it instead of just automatically ignoring it -- as the level of hostility and hateful comments continues to rise -- is a good thing.

Again, thanks for writing to me. I don't have a great deal of hope that things will improve, but a few weeks ago I had *none*... so there's an improvement : )

I hope things improve for Anna!

-- Kathy

.......................................................................

On May 10, 2007, at 7:24 AM:

Ms. Sierra,

I am a programmer and a blogger, and I was disgusted and saddened when I heard about what happened to you regarding the threats.

Now my friend Anna is going through a very similar experience, though not quite to the level you had to endure.  Anna helped found Sepia Mutiny (a blog and news aggregator for American-born Indians and Pakistanis) and she blogged at HERstory but she's taken it offline.  So have many of her friends, as they've come under attack from someone who set up a blog for the sole goal of attacking her.  The posts have been misogynistic, hateful, and have revealed personal information about her.

When the blog first surfaced I drew a comparison to you and I was mocked on the hate-blog.  Now Anna has shut down her blogs, as you did for a time, and is cancelling meetups, and again I'm reminded of you.

I'm really despondent over the whole affair.  I wish I had some magic wand I could wave that would let me fix the issue, both for you and for her.  And I don't have any real reason to share it with you.  I just wanted to be able to talk to someone else about it.

Anyway, thank you for your time, and thanks for listening.

Take care,

R

Comments

[yasmine]

I really don't have anything articulate to add to all this drama. But HIGHFIVE to you! I'm glad you're here to stay, rockstar!
The new banner is awesome.

[krustymol]

Ditto re: the banner.

And I love the revamp of your diary. Bright, fun, but straight to the point...like you :-)

[Rose]

hey anna...welcome back! am relieved to see that your diary is back up. ive been a reader since feb 2004, all i can say is, you have a great network of readers and friendly lurkers to support you. dont ever give up.

take care
rose

[Maus]

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYY!

[bmary]

:) i'm so glad you're back!
1 to ANNA, 0 to spineless haters.

[nina]

glad to see you back:)

[bengali chick]

Love the new colorful setup. I admire the "with *no* intention of quitting, bitches." Makes me feel like I punked out a bit quitting my blog. You're inspiration doll!

[fishy]

Anna, You are one of the strongest people i know and i dont even know you in real life. I dont know what happened, why you shut down, but i am very glad you're back!!
Have always been a lurker, but i had to say that you are awesome!

[Chaitan]

wow! looks like i missed some drama. glad you are back. Go ANNA!

[HAPPY]

so glad you're back!

[scorps1027]

love the new banner! i'd say welcome back, but you were just on a brief hiatus with no intention of going anywhere:)

[rekha]

Welcome back! We missed you!

[pink dog]

love the new banner.