Mena Trott and Ben Metcalfe Have it Out
Blog Herald’s in on it, so is The Register (UK), of course Ben Metcalfe is in on it, and Mena, herself, wrote a little piece on it. What in the world is it? No, it’s not eBay latest cheesy marketing ploy, it’s Mena and Ben’s little tete-a-tete in France.
On December 7th (or was it 6th), Mena Trott gave a nice little speech at the Les Blogs conference in Paris. Mena’s speech called for bloggers to be nicer to each other, kinder in commenting on various issues, and overall more civil in their approach to news and entry fodder. She commented that bloggers should think about the feelings of the person they are communicating with, or talking about.
Mena’s speech raised the hackles of many bloggers who were at the conference, including Ben Metcalfe. Ben, along with several others, voiced their opinions in the IRC-based back channel (designed to allow discussion about the speeches, as they were being given, without interrupting the speaker). The back-channel was being displayed on screens at the front of the auditorium, and at Ben’s comment of “Bullshit!” Mena lost her cool.
Mena asked for the chatter named “dotBen” to “…stand up and show yourself.” Who should stand up, but Q-list blogger (hey, he isn’t far enough down to be on the Z-list), Ben Metcalfe. A conference worker rushed over to Ben with a wireless microphone. Ben and Mena began to have it out. Ben describes it as “a brief by frank discourse between Mena at the lectern and me, with a radio mic, at the back of the hall.”
Ben was shocked that he was being singled out from a group of many users on the back channel who were all saying - essentially - the same thing. He was double shocked when Mena, who had been preaching about civility in the blogosphere, called him an ‘asshole’. He was shocked, yet again, when Mena used a derivative of the word “fuck” at a later point.
Keep in mind, folks, that Mena Trott is co-founder of blogging giant Six Apart, LTD (owners of MoveableType, Typepad.com, and LiveJournal.com).
It appears that Dive Winer had a little something to say, too. I especially enjoy his comment on that entry (first comment):
I still think you’re a coward, and now you’re making excuses for it, and doing the usual coward thing — trying to shift the attention on someone else. If you were the tough guy you said you were, you would have stood up to Mena and said it was bullshit to her face. Or you could have said you’re sorry (and you still could).
Dave then goes on (in the same comment) to say:
BTW, Mena used to trash me, in her own way. Now the shoe’s on the other foot and it’s gratifying to see her speaking out for civility.
Although Dave likes civility, and thinks it’s a good thing, it’s apparently not appropriate when dealing with Ben Metcalfe? Go figure.
Mena, however, completely skirted the issue in her post-conference post. She doesn’t even bring up the debaucle. Considering how bad this could be for Six Apart, perhaps this is a good thing. The thing I find funniest? The entire conference was organized by 6A’s european office.
Oh but it’s been a fun day on the blogosphere, today. I’m enjoyed reading, and a nice technorati seach on any of the related tags (see below) will yeild you hours of reading time. Personally, I’m going to put this one to bed (and wait until the major fall-out comes, if ever), and go to my local all-night diner for a cup of coffee and a long session of writing.
Before I go, though… What are your thoughts on this whole “civility in the blogosphere” issue?
Help spread the love and Share This
Related Posts:
