Even if you were just “joking around” when making fun of the CIL game night and me as one of its hosts (a premise I have doubts about), you were still making jokes at the expense of others and that’s not nice. Your comments likely
weren’t offensive to most people because most people weren’t the targets. You were targeting Jenny and me by generally being negative and calling our pursuits childish.

###quote###
actually. you have to be over 21 to drink. the video gamers wouldnt be allowesd at the bar anyways. lol

i see your point. Still not going to give the video game librarians a pass thoiugh. sorry.

really? Levine and schmidt will be playing beer pong at CIL?

shouldn’t the gamers be going to bed early anyway. it will be a school night, right?
###unquote###

And here’s an all to familiar non-gaming related “joke.”

###quote###
oh, then at the bar, we’ll talk about being transparent. yay
###unquote###

You’re not the victim here. You made mean spirited “jokes” and got called out. Then you chose to take a break from Twitter instead of rectifying your behavior.

In the past you’ve not handled yourself well regarding aspects of the profession with which you take issue. You admitted to being a jerk about it and apologized.

http://www.librarystuff.net/2006/03/30/steven-20-an-apology
http://www.librarystuff.net/2006/05/28/librarycrunch-does-goodvery-good

I don’t see much of a difference here, except that you’ve been mean via Twitter instead of your blog.

That being said, I enjoy the verbal jousting with you and miss that. I see a lot more acidic jabs between people in other communities on Twitter (some of the locals here are wicked nasty with each other) but they know it is all in good fun. I feel I’ve gotten to know you a bit better, almost as if we were working in the same office and chatting by the coffee pot periodically. Nothing deep, but trading info about each other. That’s the part I like about Twitter–makes me feel connected to all of you.

Anyway, stay cool. We can still find you here and via email.

Cheers,
Connie

I think my story is a bit different than yours, although I don’t know exactly what happened in your case because you deleted your post. I can only read about what others said about your post. I wish you would have kept it online.

As far as I know everyone except one person on Twitter knew that I was joking and, as you can see by the comments here (as well as many e-mails that I have received that you can’t see), I’m not being “Twitterpated” at all. This was one person who took offense to something I said on Twitter.

I will miss Twitter, but I think it’s for the best that I not go on for a while.

Perhaps we need to write something together about the perils of online communication, how the flaming can get out of hand, etc.

Maybe we should call it “Web rage”
Dean

I have maintained that view for many years although text remains my primary mode of communication. Oh well, come back soon.