Where's the line?

After my spam comment yesterday, I got to thinking about where the line is between disagreement and bullying, interest and stalking.

Here are my thoughts.

I know Jeanne's last name, but I don't share it.  I assume she's a real person and I think a certain amount of privacy is fair.

I don't know where Jeanne works, or where she lives.  I do know where she's gone to school, only because she talked about it on her blog.

I don't know a thing about her husband, other than what she's posted, and I don't know his name.

I don't know these things for two reasons.  1) I don't care.  I respond to an online persona and writings.  That's it.  2) I don't look for these things.  To me, that crosses the line between interest in what a person has said in a very public sphere (like the internet) and stalking.  I am not a stalker.

I don't tell Jeanne not to write her blog, though I have questioned why she does.

I don't tell her what she can and cannot talk about.

I've never told her that I'm going to take any action against her, despite a few rather nasty run-ins.  Though some of her comments to me on a message board were reported which resulted in her being banned from the site.  That, however, is not my fault.  The terms of service there are pretty strict.

I don't do these things because 1) I don't know the "real" Jeanne.  I know an online persona.  2) I don't wish anything bad on anyone.  Even if Jeanne is, in real life, exactly who she appears to be online, I wouldn't wish anything bad on her.  She's a human being.  She's someone I can disagree with, and not think about how I can sue her, or make her real life difficult.  To me, that crosses the line between disagreement and bullying.  And I am not a bully.  An opinionated bitch?  Sometimes.  But not a bully.  Jeanne has every right to her opinion and her blog as I do.

The views stated here are my opinions.  No more.  No less.  While I am not a bully or a stalker, I equally am not someone likely to be easily bullied, or put up with stalking.

Since starting this blog, I've had threats of legal action, threats that I will be reported to Blogger, someone trying to hack my Google account, and the posting of my personal information (albeit much of it incorrect or not completely accurate) in a public space.

Who ever that is, I believe it crosses the line into bullying and stalking.  And I hope you're not doing it for Jeanne.  Even I think she deserves better than that.  And I'm going to choose to think it's not Jeanne.  Because while I find her online demeanor to be all kinds of wonky, I'd like to think she knows where the lines are, and that I have certainly not crossed them.

Besides, this blog, with it's few opinions and few posts, can't possibly rate that much work and ire, right?