there is a breaking point…

i’ve mentioned NiT here before. it’s the place where many of the local bloggers hang out. it has been run by brittney… well, since it’s inception. brittney is a wonderful, caring, obstinate, opinionated, witty, stubborn, wickedly smart, young lady. she’s done a stunning and incredible job running a site that brings together local bloggers from all over the political, religious, ethical, philosophical, and cultural spectrum. it’s a hard job. there have been some seriously heated “debates” over there. there’s been name calling, hair pulling, and mud-slinging.

but there’s also been a real sense of community. the NiT group has become a place where, for the most part, people treat each other with respect and dignity even if they don’t see eye to eye. it’s dysfunctional, sure… but it’s a family.

unfortunately, there’s always the trolls… the people who, for some reason get their kicks by saying stupid shit and pissing people off and threatening people’s jobs and being general, all-around asses in order to make themselves feel like big men and women. on NiT, these sub-humans have decided that, rather than target the blogs that brit links to, they’ll target brittney herself. in the last two years, she has taken so much crap from people who don’t take the time to gain perspective and who are incapable of understanding that disagreement doesn’t need to lead to disrespect, that she’s decided to throw in the towel.

and i don’t blame her. i really don’t. nobody deserves that level of dehumanizing and abuse. for some people, technology becomes a filter through which they no longer need to behave themselves according the social rules and standards of civilized society. i get this at work all the time… and so does brittney… only for her the attacks are truly personal on a level that i rarely get through my headset because her life is shared online, whereas, at work, people’s knowledge of me is limited to my name and place of business.

i’m very upset by brittney’s leaving. not with her… with the morons that have brought her to this. the more i think about it, the angrier i get. this is so very messed up. it’s wrong that someone who does their best to tie the internet into a community and give air to local bloggers who are trying to air serious social issues within our city, state, region, country and world (or just trying to give air to their opinions) should be treated with such disregard and disrespect.

and now, thanks to these soulless trolls, she’s leaving us. i’m sorry, brittney, that i haven’t stood up for you more than i have. i’m sorry that the internet is filled with the lowest forms of humanity. i’m sorry that you weren’t treated with the respect you were due.

i’m sorry that you feel the need to distance yourself from the abuse…

but i don’t blame you. not one bit.