Alternet reprints an interview with danah boyd about kids on MySpace, and the dreaded Alternet comment trolls come out to trash her. She writes on her blog:
Still, the comments on Alternet make me sad. I’m called “barely articulate” and a “typical talking head” (and my age is brought into the discussion as a way to dismiss me). It’s always peculiar to see my speaking style in written form; i feel far more coherent when i control the written form. That said, those labels sting.
I’m also accused of being too blase about the safety issues. As with all interviews, i gloss over a lot of details to get general ideas across but it is driving me nuts that everyone assumes that because i think we’ve gone too far in the direction of moral panics and culture of fear that i don’t care about safety or teenagers or rape. I find myself wanting to scream. I spent five years working on the issues of rape, domestic violence, and other violence against women; safety is a very real concern of mine, but reality is far more nuanced than the sky is falling perspective seems to convey.
She goes on to ask for advice on how to combat “extreme media positions” (like the MySpace panic) without sounding like an extremist in the opposite direction. Lots of good advice in her comments, such as “Just keep defending your side as politely as you can, and never stoop to their level.” (As well as one or two somewhat blowhardy guys who tell her to simplify her speaking style and be less “loosey-goosey,” whatever that means.)