A storm in a teacup

This is as big as a handshake between Israel and Palestinian leaders, or the reconciliation of an estranged couple on the Ricky Lake show. Or not. This morning, together for the first time: Kathy Sierra, a vulnerable marketing evangelist who said she was pulling out of public appearances after anonymous death threats; and Chris Locke, whom she blamed for publishing the attacks, looking nothing like his handle, Rageboy, would suggest. (The clip is below.) You see, the internet brings out the worst in people; and television brings them together. Online monsters, such as Locke, become human, shambling, sympathetic, pathetic. So is that it? A gigantic outpouring of recrimination and vitriol, since Sierra made her charge, followed by a stilted reconciliation, overseen by CNN, all in the space of a week. Sierra's distress was real, and justified. But the story has shown the worst of the bloggers: they came, with few exceptions, to a conclusion before they had the facts; substituted piety for any moral seriousness; volume for thought; and they're left without any clear narrative now that the heroine of the story has forgiven the villain. This was a classic storm in a blogosphere teacup. Except that would be insulting to the teacup. Here's the joint statement from the feuding bloggers. After the jump, a clip from the CNN segment.

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