Fair enough. We'll agree to disagree and that's fine. It's one of the things that I love about the 'net - encountering varied and different opinions and very passionate and well-educated people. You are certainly that! :)
One thing really troubles me, though. You said, "The joy about commenting about an industry with which I have no contact--and whose participants are public figures--is I don't have to hold my tongue or censor my opinions. They harm none. The players never see them, and I'll never meet the players. It's a get out of jail free card for everybody."
Honestly, I'm not sure how you can say that. We both have, as far as I know, no idea whether someone like Reeves (or any other public figure, for that matter) surfs online and looks for comments. On top of it, Google Alerts alone can simply inform someone when any public discussion is occuring. Just for curiosity's sake, I did a site search on your blog - sure enough, this recent post on Reeves does show up. Which means that it's out there, online, for anyone to come across. Including Reeves or someone close to him.
So, when you say that "the players never see them" I have no idea what you're basing this on. While I think it's a guess (and probably a fair guess, too), we'll honestly never know. Reeves may have seen it already. Or maybe never will. Who knows? I don't think anyone can say what you're saying with absolute certainty, however. Broadly speaking, this is one of the things that troubles me about the internet. There's a lack of discourse and civility - people will say things to or about someone else that, in a face to face context, they probably never would. I don't believe and will never believe that just because someone is a public figure that means all gloves are off. Comments, especially off the cuff comments, can and do hurt.
If we think about it for a sec, you are a public figure, too. You have a public online presence. You're also a published author. While I don't think you're as rich as someone like Reeves undoubtably is (and if you are, can I have a grant?!) and while I don't think you have as high of a public profile as Reeves does, that doesn't mean you aren't a public figure and that you don't have a public profile. You do. Don't believe me? Well, I took a quick peek at your Flickr photostream. Here you're on a public panel. And here you're on another one. If all this isn't a public profile, I have no idea what is.
Ack! I've hit LJ's comment limit. More in just a sec!
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My answer - Part 1
Date: 2008-12-21 06:17 pm (UTC)One thing really troubles me, though. You said, "The joy about commenting about an industry with which I have no contact--and whose participants are public figures--is I don't have to hold my tongue or censor my opinions. They harm none. The players never see them, and I'll never meet the players. It's a get out of jail free card for everybody."
Honestly, I'm not sure how you can say that. We both have, as far as I know, no idea whether someone like Reeves (or any other public figure, for that matter) surfs online and looks for comments. On top of it, Google Alerts alone can simply inform someone when any public discussion is occuring. Just for curiosity's sake, I did a site search on your blog - sure enough, this recent post on Reeves does show up. Which means that it's out there, online, for anyone to come across. Including Reeves or someone close to him.
So, when you say that "the players never see them" I have no idea what you're basing this on. While I think it's a guess (and probably a fair guess, too), we'll honestly never know. Reeves may have seen it already. Or maybe never will. Who knows? I don't think anyone can say what you're saying with absolute certainty, however. Broadly speaking, this is one of the things that troubles me about the internet. There's a lack of discourse and civility - people will say things to or about someone else that, in a face to face context, they probably never would. I don't believe and will never believe that just because someone is a public figure that means all gloves are off. Comments, especially off the cuff comments, can and do hurt.
If we think about it for a sec, you are a public figure, too. You have a public online presence. You're also a published author. While I don't think you're as rich as someone like Reeves undoubtably is (and if you are, can I have a grant?!) and while I don't think you have as high of a public profile as Reeves does, that doesn't mean you aren't a public figure and that you don't have a public profile. You do. Don't believe me? Well, I took a quick peek at your Flickr photostream. Here you're on a public panel. And here you're on another one. If all this isn't a public profile, I have no idea what is.
Ack! I've hit LJ's comment limit. More in just a sec!