Trolling The Blogosphere

I've been blogging for two-and-a-half years.

And I just got my first troll. Squee!

For those not familiar with the term, a troll is someone who roams around the blogosphere, spreading disdain and drama under the name "anonymous". Generally unhappy souls, they thrive on flitting in and out of blogs, dropping ridiculous comments with the intent of getting the blogger all riled up. And we bloggers? We collect them, and brag about them with glee!

Honestly? I'm tickled to have my first troll. Just think...someone who doesn't even like me takes time out of their day to read my blog (and my twitter stream from the likes of their comment), then takes even more time from their day to leave a comment. I must be pretty high on their priority list for them to spend so much time and effort and thought on me, no?

Listen, here's the thing. Why bother? None of you get any tangible benefit by coming here (except those of you who win my giveaways, heh!). Nobody forces you to come here. I'd like to think you visit because you enjoy my wit and sardonic sense of humor. But if you don't like me, why bother reading what I write? Personally I find it darn near impossible to read all the blogs I want to read. I certainly don't have time to read anything published by someone I don't care for.

And further...when you read a blog, you're visiting someone's home in a sense. Bloggers put a lot of effort into designing their blog, and we take pride in what we've established and built. Our blogs are a reflection of us, much as our real life homes are. If you wouldn't waltz into my real home and make snarky comments to me, why do it in my online home? It reeks of no class, frankly. And at a time when ISP numbers are so easy to track and follow, it's really pretty silly to think you can hide behind an "anonymous" comment.

Ahem.

As exciting as it was to find my first troll, I really want to use this as an opportunity to encourage ALL comments here. Whether you agree or disagree with me, comment away...and comment openly. As my regular commenters know, I follow up and respond to what you have to say (as long as you give me a way to do so!). I enjoy the dialogue and interaction that springs from comments, so keep them coming! And no, if you're mean, snarky, and just plain rude...it won't get published. Sorry, but I don't like to display crap in my home.