Internet drama, and big balls that jangle like a lot of keys

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The internet is full of larger-than-life personalities. Most of these big personalities are a lot of fun-- they provide thought-provoking content and I enjoy exchanging words with them. But on the flipside of that is internet drama. I know about this all too well because I somehow keep ending up in the midst of some crazy computer-based beef with people I've never met in real life, and probably wouldn't want to know in real life if I had the choice. Stacey and I were talking about this and I expressed to her my concern about this predicament, why I keep finding myself in these faceless dramas. "Eh, you don't find it, it finds you. You have an opinion and people are insecure. They have to take it out on people, and apparently they think you're a good target," is what Stacey had to say.

I'm not going to toot my own horn, but I'm really not afraid to disagree with anyone or stand up for myself if I feel strongly enough. Of course, some people are not worth the time or effort to engage in debate because they are not capable of having a civil discussion. When I wrote that post the other day about blogging and narcissism, I wrongfully assumed that the person I was writing about would be adult enough to exchange arguments without resorting to name-calling.

Here are some things I learned about the internet the other day, after I published the narcissism post:

- Most bloggers, and people in general, are humble and have no problem laughing at themselves.

- Egotists will say anything to make themselves sound better than they actually are.

- Super self-absorbed people have a hard time taking a good look at their own reflection, oddly enough, and seeing themselves for who they truly are.

- A true narcissist will track down your blog if you happen to quote their silly hypocritical statements and then get angry when you don't "cite" their blog as a source. [It was almost like an intentional trap-- to get the narcissist to publicly display her narcissism-- though unfortunately I didn't plan it out that way. She felt her ears tingling and came over here to bitch.]

- You have to know when not to engage someone if they're ranting. The best thing to do is just step away and let them continue to make themselves look stupid.

- If an egomaniac disagrees with your opinion, they will delete your comments, no matter how level-headed you were in your post. It's their way or the highway-- either you agree with their opinion or you have no opinion at all-- which only serves to make them look like an even bigger egotist.

- When someone starts making personal attacks and false and outlandish claims you know they've run out of intelligent things to say and are grasping at straws.


Those were just some of the internet-life lessons I realized the other day. The biggest one is knowing when you should engage in discussion and when you should walk away. Because I had already made my opinion known a week ago, I found no need to return to the narcissist's blog. Some of my friends, however, wanted to read this piece-of-work's post for themselves so they could fully understand where I was coming from. They were just as disgusted as I was by this girl who felt the need to put other people down just so she could feel better about her own particular level of writing. They left comments that were completely sane, and she responded by lashing out and discounting any of the plainly spoken points they made. I didn't even know that my friends went over there, and I didn't know of this response, until another friend emailed it to me. I was honestly shocked and sick to my stomach by the vitriol that came out of this girl. Who the fuck does she think she is? Here's what I got in the email:



A few things: I've never in my life stalked this girl (or anyone, really), unless you count leaving comments as stalking. I am a former reader of her blog, which I stumbled upon one day last year while browsing through websites. I have left comments on some of her posts. She used to comment on my blog, too. Accusing me of trying to use her to boost my own fame? Seriously? How much more narcissistic could she possibly make herself sound? I'll bet she thinks anyone who looks at her once is obsessed with her. What's laughable about her comment is that she calls my friends "brats" and tells them to grow up, but uses name-calling and childish insults in the same breath. There really is no hope for this hypocrite. Even funnier, she deleted this insulting comment (which she wrote on her own blog) when because she realized how stupid she was making herself look. I guess I really got to her, eh?

Maybe this drama finds me because I'm outspoken? Do you ever find yourself surrounded in controversy? I'd like to hear your insights on the topic. To conclude this post, I'll leave you with something kind Stacey said to me: "For real, though. You're clearly secure with yourself and when insecure people see that, they get jealous. They want it, too." Some people need to bring other people down in order to feel good about themselves. That sounds like such a sad existence. I'm sorry you're so insecure, "Indy" person, but it has nothing to do with me. Keep the rancor to yourself.