Oh, Just Like SERMO.

As you know very well, I spend a lot of my time going to cultural events.  I went to one two days ago, four days ago, and five days ago.  The weekend before that, I went to one Saturday, Friday, and Thursday.  The Thursday one was "The Moth."  If you listen to public radio, you know all about "The Moth."  It's story telling.  You can sign up to tell a story about the topic identified in advance, there's a time limit, the story has to be true, and it has to be "your story" (about you).  The topic resonated, and I told a story.  I didn't win, but I made some nice friends.  One -- the woman who did win -- was a writer who had told "Moth" stories several times before, this was her first time winning, and she gave me some tips.

Anyway, the story I told was about my experience with a doctor's website called SERMO, the people who involve themselves in it (by writing posts or commenting on other people's posts), and specifically, a woman (as it turned out) I met on SERMO.  (I've met a few people on SERMO.  Some are local.  One became a patient.  Now, his wife is.)  Most people use aliases, so you can't tell anything about them (gender, where -- in the world -- they live, or anything).  You just read what they write, even if it's a comment to someone else's post, and at least you get an idea if their comments are intelligent.  (If you suppose doctors' comments are all intelligent, you're badly kidding yourself.)

Once it became clear that most SERMO members used aliases, and wrote stupid comments, I wrote a post about why SERMO members -- medical doctors -- would hide behind aliases.  And that post got more comments than any other post I ever wrote.  One doctor made the most important comment of all: s/he said that if s/he had to use her or his real name, s/he wouldn't leave a comment.  This commenter wouldn't go public if anyone could know who s/he really was.  S/he was hiding behind an alias in order to say things s/he wouldn't publicly say if s/he could be identified.  I replied to this comment, and I said that if this doctor would be too embarrassed or ashamed to make a comment if s/he could be identified, then s/he shouldn't make the comment at all.

Well, if you're wondering if I ever, even once, got a proposed blog comment from "Anonymous," now that we're in the new regime where I get to monitor all comments in advance, and won't publish one from someone who is unacceptably anonymous, no, I did not.  If "Anonymous" can't be anonymous, then s/he doesn't want to run her or his mouth.  It's just like SERMO.  It's the same stupid garbage cracks, made only on condition that the child who makes them doesn't have to take responsibility.

I take responsibility.  You know who I am.  You probably know me.  You might well know precisely where I live.  You can agree with me, disagree with me, think I'm an idiot, or whatever you want.  That's the risk I take, the risk I'm willing to take, and the risk I owe you, if I want to express my opinion about something.  If I'm not willing to take that risk, then I have to keep my opinions to myself.  And when "Anonymous" found out the risk-free party was over, s/he realized that she or he had to keep her or his opinions to her- or himself.   Works for me.

Now, to be entirely fair to "Anonymous," one of my BP friends told me yesterday he actually sort of misses the idiotic circus of "Anonymous'" dumb cracks.  He wanted to know if I had, in fact, any idea who "Anonymous" is.  No, I don't.  Nor do I care, now that I, this blog, and you, are relieved of the nonsense, weirdly entertaining as it may have been for the occasional BPer.