TechWag

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It is an interesting premise, and not one far from thinking could happen, but what if an A list blogger decided they wanted to take someone out. Personally I think that the A Lister would have to be very careful about this one, as the loss of stature and reputation on the part of the A Lister would probably kill them.

The one good thing about blogging and the internet is that people like to root around to find out the real story. When things went south for Kathy Sierra, or Think Secret, or other bloggers the true story came out in the end. How it ended was up to the people involved in the process. For an A List blogger to take on someone for any reason (this is one of the reasons that blog fights are so interesting) the rest of us are going to want to know what is going on. The best thing and the usual thing that happens is that people talk, and through talking find out the best story that they can find out.

Social Media is a tough business, and you do need a very thick skin to survive at anything above the 200 people per day level. On my professional blog over at toolbox, I have been called everything under the sun, and have lost a potential job because of what I have written. That is ok, because in the longer run it is the people who make decisions based on what they read, or based on what I think, and go for revenge first or the scorched earth approach to getting along with people are the ones in the longer run that suffer the reputational loss, not the person being attacked.

We all rallied around Kathy Sierra, and we all rallied around Think Secret, the blogosphere loves the underdog in an argument. A Listers are very aware of the influence they have, even when they screw up (and they do, this happens on a regular basis). The good part about the screw up is the conversation that happens later on. When I tangled with an A List blogger, the e-mails back and forth were interesting, and while I saw a dip in traffic, in the longer run it cost me nothing. I am still blogging, I am still stating my opinion on a great many things and I still have a pile of great friends.

Blogging has its good bits, when you are talking, having interesting conversations, and are hanging out with really cool people, either on your blog or on other systems like FriendFeed. Blogging also has always had its downside, and while blog fights usually tend to happen between people of similar stature, it does not mean that you will not tick off someone with a lot more clout than you have.

The other good part is that these things pass fairly quickly, the blogosphere on the surface forgets this kind of thing fairly quickly.

If you tangle with an A lister, there is no sense in holding a grudge, or getting overly upset about it, people will pass it by once the controversy is over with.

The one thing you want to do though is remain the adult in the room, never put anything on your blog, in an e-mail that someone could cut and paste into a blog, or otherwise get so stabby about something that you do damage to yourself. You have to keep calm, relaxed, and keep your public face as nice as possible. If you go off the deep end and start doing tit-for-tat kind of retaliation, then you will lose and validate whatever the A Lister is saying about you. If you remain the adult in the room, and you keep your emotions in check, you will in the longer run come out of the event stronger, better, and with a bigger audience share than you had in the first place.

Big things to remember, but if an A lister decides to go nuts, then you have to make sure that your public image stays the best it can be. If you get really angry, make sure you never ever let that go public.