I’ll admit that I was a little perplexed this morning when I received a pair of (presumably) unrelated negative responses on one of my older blog posts, The Myth of the Wellness Warrior. Although I wrote that post about eight months ago, it continues to bring in a fair amount of traffic, including about 150 views today that appear to be mostly sourced off of Facebook and a few Google searches. While I expected that piece to illicit some reactions, I felt that the information I presented spoke for itself fairly well, and irrefutably so. I only criticized claims that are demonstrably false and I included links to vetted sources to support my statements. Still, I am no stranger to quasi-anonymous Internet attacks.

For a long time, I moderated a political forum that had civility as one of its prime directives. My job, in no small part, was to ensure that conversations stayed focused and did not degenerate into name calling or worse. One way that we ensured this possibility was to remove anonymity as much as we could through a registration process. The other way was through constant moderation and guidance. Because of that experience, I had initially required specific site registration here in order for anyone to comment. The system in place, however, was not entirely functional and several people let me know that they could not log in to leave comments. At the behest of a friend, I relaxed the comment restrictions and readied myself for an onslaught of SPAM and Internet Trolls.

The good news for me was that the site’s built-in SPAM filters are mostly excellent. And although I set things up to require moderation of all new comments, I really have had very few visitors who needed censoring. I don’t mind constructive criticism at all, nor do I mind civil disagreement with my positions. But I find it oddly unsettling when I receive comments that are simply negative or, in some cases, outright hostile. Granted, I get more of the overtly hostile responses to some of my posts on Quora.com, such as my explanation as to why Laetrile does not work. The moderators at Quora actively delete abusive posts, but I am stunned by the name calling and hateful rhetoric used by people whose views are being challenged in an otherwise thoughtful environment.

So today I woke up to a pair of comments that primarily existed to disparage the content of my (admittedly critical) post, which I can accept on the basis that it challenges some deeply held convictions — but the comments both went the extra distance to attack my character, one even implying that it would serve me right if I suffered as a result of my choices. Now, I’m fairly charitable in my assessment of others. I assume that the writers of these comments have personal issues of their own that make them more passionate than reasonable. And cancer is a broad topic that is all but guaranteed to bring out emotional responses in most people — even those who are generally kind, thoughtful and intelligent.

I decided to give myself a little breathing room, approve the comments as they were made, and respond to them in an honest fashion. Needless to say, my replies to each comment may appear characteristically long-winded when compared to what my detractors wrote. Still, I hope that what I added is beneficial and offers some clarity as to why I take a stand the way I did on that particular post.

Over the years, I have found it greatly disheartening to deal with the negative energy brought on by anonymous commentators, hiding behind avatars and pseudonyms in order to give themselves the “power” to be vile, contentious, angry and mean. More than a few times, I’ve allowed myself to be sucked in by such trolls, engaging because I thought there might be a sensible person behind the façade. I have come to believe that there is little value in anonymous personae, which is why I chose to be very public about who I am as an author. It limits me, surely; I value my reputation, so I shy away from making cheap jokes online or evoking insults or generally being crass. And I find it very hard to consider that a bad thing. It does, however, leave me feeling a bit exposed, even vulnerable.

If I am going to be open about who I am, if I am going to stand behind my own statements and open myself up for public examination, should I not expect the same from those who wish to interact with me? But our culture is infused with Twitter wars, easy, thoughtless, knee-jerk attacks and responses. It’s a disappointing byproduct of our digital age, all-too-easy access and a whole lot of dumbing down. I get it. And I choose to do the best I can with the reality of this environment.

For me, right now, that means increasing my standards. For myself. To be a better online citizen. To ensure that my work actually meets the level of integrity to which I aspire. To respond as positively as I can to the negativity I receive.

And I can only see that as a good thing.

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If you feel so compelled, drop on over to The Myth of the Wellness Warrior post and let me know what you thought of it, or of my responses in the comments section at the bottom. Or comment here if you think I’ve completely over-thought this stuff and want to tell me where to shove it. I’d love to read your innermost thoughts and those dark, dark secrets you’ve been hoarding…up until this moment…  Leaving those comments is easy!