Blogging getting ugly, says Chris Mellor. I agree

Chris Mellor, writing at The Register has commented on a spat between two EMC bloggers and an analyst.

It seems to me that good technology companies should have more ~positive~ things to talk about than throwing FUD against competitors. It also seems to me that tech vendor bloggers that are willing to hop into the mud and roll with the pigs might not have enough positive things to do with their time in the first place. Are they pundits, or simply the corporate equivalent of a hockey enforcer?

Were Hollis or Burke out of line? Was Krischer?  It doesn’t matter!

There are ways to deal with trolls (or alleged trolls), anyone who has run or participated in online communities over the past decade(s) should know that feeding the trolls is a bad thing.   In my opinion, corporate blogging as well as participation by outsiders on corporate blogs should be done professionally:  Don’t say things that you wouldn’t say with your bosses standing in the same room. If it’s not appropriate to slug it out and be defensive (or offensive!) face-to-face in front of bosses, peers, and customers, why in the world would it be OK to do so online?

Just my two cents…  comments, anyone? Are corporate blogs (or any blog for that matter) the place for virtual mud wrestling?