Comments on: The Simple Dollar Weekly Roundup: Interesting Reader Emails Edition

By: Joan

Joan — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 21:12:11 +0000

Scary. I had no idea that you were getting stuff that bad. Please DO NOT PUBLISH any of that stuff. Have you ever noticed how when one person makes a negative comment, it is followed up with a lot of crap. You are doing the right thing just to ignore it. I second that you need to be careful. Just be sure to keep records of the bad threatening ones, so that if any thing does happen; it will help the police tract down the bad person.

By: J

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 02:42:30 +0000

I’d like to put in my vote as well. Please publish some of these emails…you could call it “best of the worst edition…”

By: Doug

Doug — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 23:09:52 +0000

I guess being a blogger who is rampantly enthusiastic about the Second Amendment has its perks. I haven’t received any threatening messages.

It’s either that or no one reads my blog.

I’m gonna say the former is more true . . . .

Cheers, Trent!

By: marta

marta — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 22:16:32 +0000

You know, after a two-seconds search, I think I have found the person who thinks you are an Aryan. I suspected it was because of the Scandinavian debacle, and that’s right.

Anyway, she posted about you on some weird website, and someone else seems to have posted your street address as well.

Gotta be careful, Trent.

By: chacha1

chacha1 — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 20:59:56 +0000

Johanna, all you have to do is read a TV program guide to see that a good 50% – maybe more – of all “entertainment” is based on trauma, grief, and pain.

This is why I mostly watch dance shows, HGTV and Food Network.

But as to Net stalkers in general … my own blog is only a year old, very tiny readership, and even I have gotten hate mail. I kind of hope there are just a few people out there so full of viciousness that they spew it everywhere, rather than a lot of people who do it once in a while when their oversensitive buttons get pushed.

By: Kris

Kris — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 20:29:42 +0000

I think he was being sarcastic about the entertaining part. Either that or he thinks threats to his family are also entertaining.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 19:02:57 +0000

Whoa – hold the phone.

“Long descriptions of horribly dysfunctional marriages.”

Other people’s cries for help are “entertaining”?

By: Johanna

Johanna — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 18:52:22 +0000

@todo: Well, I have heard of a case where a blogger and her very young daughter (descriptions and pictures of whom had appeared on the blog) was being stalked – in person – by a registered sex offender with a history of molesting children.

I guess that’s not a physical assault, but it’s a lot closer than I’d care to come.

By: todo es bien

todo es bien — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 18:39:46 +0000

well, you hear a lot about threats and such, but I have never heard of a blogger actually being physically assaulted as a result of their blog. (Not that it has never happened, but the chances have to be absolutely minuscule statistically). Some small consolation in probability, but nevertheless people who threaten your family are the lowest of the low. The good (bad?) news is the people doing the threatening seem like cowards of the first magnitude, so probably you are in more danger of stepping on a garden rake…

By: melanie

melanie — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 17:46:19 +0000

OMG, I wish you could post some of the freakiest emails. I bet it would be endlessly entertaining.

By: Gal @ Equally Happy

Gal @ Equally Happy — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 17:42:20 +0000

So you’re not going to show up for our “dinner date”? :)

Keep up the great work Trent. Those emails just mean you’re doing a good job and getting people’s attention.

By: Valerie

Valerie — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 16:54:19 +0000

Report threatening statements to the authorities! That is not okay.

By: Greg

Greg — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 16:36:25 +0000

Why Focus on the Numbers? Because you can enter the numbers in a spreadsheet and produce all sorts of graphs that visualize your progress towards your goal.

By: Crystal in Ft Worth

Crystal in Ft Worth — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 16:31:08 +0000

Trent-I would LOVE to read all of the crazy emails you get..really I had no idea. Thansk for a good laugh today
Body art is expensive-you ought to do a piece on the return for your $ on THAT. The entire lower 1/2 of my back is done with many colours and it cost $600. Love the tattoo, not sure now, today, if I would spend that kind of $ on it…but I have enjoyed it for 12 years now. Its a toss up

By: Johanna

Johanna — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 15:41:12 +0000

“that make the harshest comments here look like a tea party”

Heh. Poor choice of words there. Obviously, I meant a tea party, not a Tea Party.

By: marta

marta — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 15:32:13 +0000

“And I’ve seen some of the threats that female bloggers, in particular, can get for saying things that aren’t even that controversial.”

Oh yes, I have been gobsmacked at the reactions that bloggers like Melissa McEwan from Shakesville or Kate Harding from Shapely Prose get from some guys (yes, it’s mostly guys). And in Melissa’s case, she was actually threatened offline as well. Very scary.

I can’t blame people for not wanting to deal with that.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 15:02:27 +0000

Stuff like this is one of the biggest reasons why I’m hesitant to start a blog. I’ve gotten some really nasty personal attacks in the past (that make the harshest comments here look like a tea party) just in my participation in message boards and forums. And I’ve seen some of the threats that female bloggers, in particular, can get for saying things that aren’t even that controversial. And I’m not sure I want to deal with all that on a regular basis.

Sure, on one level it’s “entertaining” to see these people get all worked up in a way that’s completely out of proportion to reality. (I just had something like this happen recently with the writing I do for my job.) But at the same time, it’s hard not to take personal attacks personally. And it’s hard to know how worried to be about whether the truly unhinged people will actually follow through on their threats offline.

By: marta

marta — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 14:23:46 +0000

Yikes. What a bunch of freaks.

Don’t you ever worry about your family’s safety? Sometimes I can’t help feeling a bit concerned when you post pictures of your kids on this blog. You use your real name, and it’s not hard to find where you live.

Why take those risks at all?

By: Money Smarts

Money Smarts — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 14:19:28 +0000

As a blogger i can relate to the negative emails – even if I don’t receive nearly as many as you do. I do get them though – the unsolicited PR emails to shill a book or product. The stock emails with someone elses name posted in at the top. And of course the emails attacking you for no apparent reason. All in a day’s work!

By: Leah W.

Leah W. — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 14:17:22 +0000

I bet the offers for intimate “meetups” are pretty funny.

On another note, I commented on both posts Monday, and both comments are still in moderation. What gives?