The Commentocracy rises online
By: Daniel Libit
The Politico
July 23, 2008
When Erick Erickson, editor in chief of the conservative Web site RedState.com, wrote a post that called Cindy Sheehan a “left-wing media whore,” he expected angry feedback.
He didn’t, though, expect commenters at Daily Kos to post his contact information, including his work phone number. Site moderators removed his information, but not before Erickson received a number of ominous phone calls and e-mail messages, including one from a writer who threatened to “rape my wife and unborn child.” He placed a call to the FBI in response, and nothing came of the threats.
“That was first time anything like that happened to me,” he says, “and I was really taken aback, but now it’s almost run of the mill.”
Behold the Commentocracy, where big ideas and rough remarks sit shoulder to shoulder, altogether transforming the nature of the Web and of journalism.
Two weeks ago, Daily Kos posted its 20 millionth comment, most of them, to be sure, at a considerably higher level of discourse than that aimed at Erickson. It is common for front-page posts and “diary” entries to receive hundreds of comments each.
(Continued here.)
The Politico
July 23, 2008
When Erick Erickson, editor in chief of the conservative Web site RedState.com, wrote a post that called Cindy Sheehan a “left-wing media whore,” he expected angry feedback.
He didn’t, though, expect commenters at Daily Kos to post his contact information, including his work phone number. Site moderators removed his information, but not before Erickson received a number of ominous phone calls and e-mail messages, including one from a writer who threatened to “rape my wife and unborn child.” He placed a call to the FBI in response, and nothing came of the threats.
“That was first time anything like that happened to me,” he says, “and I was really taken aback, but now it’s almost run of the mill.”
Behold the Commentocracy, where big ideas and rough remarks sit shoulder to shoulder, altogether transforming the nature of the Web and of journalism.
Two weeks ago, Daily Kos posted its 20 millionth comment, most of them, to be sure, at a considerably higher level of discourse than that aimed at Erickson. It is common for front-page posts and “diary” entries to receive hundreds of comments each.
(Continued here.)
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