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A comment on When anonymous attackers went after two Yale law students, they struck back. Parent comment

Re:When anonymous attackers went after two Yale law students... by russell on Wednesday February 18, 2009 @06:04PM (#486381)
The legal profession, medicine, and a host of others depend on personal reputation. I can see an employer, recognizing that it is all baseless, passing because he doesn't want to explain to clients or colleagues that it is all baseless, particularly when there are plenty of other candidates. Suppose you or your SO were Googling a potential pediatrician and got pages of molestation accusations?
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Re:When anonymous attackers went after two Yale law students... by prospero on Wednesday February 18, 2009 @06:42PM (#486421)
Are these molestation charges backed by the names of real families, or are they anonymous? There's a world of difference between the two. There's also a clear distinction calling someone a child molester and calling someone "cheerful and big-titted".

If a person isn't willing to put their name behind a statement, then we shouldn't lend it any credence. As lurid as the statements were, I don't think its any different from what went on behind closed doors fifty years ago. Barring wishful thinking, people didn't really believe third-hand rumors, so why should it be any different now?

I wonder, though, if this story would even be a blip on the radar if the two girls' names were replaced by some pop star. Maybe it's just that the bar for celebrity has been lowered to the point that all it takes is to be an attractive girl at a prestigious law school.

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Re:When anonymous attackers went after two Yale law students... by spc476 on Wednesday February 18, 2009 @08:47PM (#486556)
How anonymous are you talking? Libelous remarks from someone calling themselves DeathFscker are bad, but can probably be isgnored. But what about the same libelous remarks coming from Wyatt Rupert Byrd, a name I just randomly generated? Those might be taken more seriously if found in the context of a Google search.
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Re:When anonymous attackers went after two Yale law students... by jacquesm on Wednesday February 18, 2009 @07:07PM (#486435)
That's all very true, but it won't help you one bit in the court of public opinion. People will take the path of the least resistance they're not going to go and look for a balanced weighing of all the pros and cons, they're going to go for a snap judgement and they'll be looking for negative stuff, not for positive stuff.
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