Dear Editor:
I write this after having read a letter in a recent edition of The Secaucus Reporter from Alexis Elwell-Serringer. I cannot blame her for her words to those who wrote such offensive comments relating to her late brother. When having read those now deleted posts on the website referenced I knew then how hurtful they were intended to be to the Elwell family.
Please allow me to make several points. Alexis referred to these individuals as “bloggers” which is inaccurate. The portion of the site referenced is in fact a “message board.” A blog is, in most cases, the site of one individual. A blogger publishes items such as his or her opinion of issues in the news or matters of a more personal nature, though they might be larger more well read blogs such as The Drudge Report, Huffington Post etc. or one of many financial blogs.
The message board is a cyber place operated by some individual or group which makes available through registration a simple “board” to post comments upon. It is nothing more than a white washed wall in a public place where individuals might pin messages. And like any such wall it is a target of graffiti artists. The comments made in regard to the tragic death of Travis were simply that, graffiti.
Please don’t associate such individuals with “bloggers.” The individuals who posted those comments don’t possess the intellect to create a blog much less write anything worthy of a blog.
Everyone on a message board has the right to be heard however those individuals have the obligation to keep the level of comment civil. Those posts were clearly not only in bad taste, they in fact violated the rules of that message board.
But to suggest that these individuals be reined in is impossible as no one utilizing the service controls the actions of anyone else. In fact some more responsible individuals posting comments on that issue did criticize those comments as being completely out of order.
Any intelligent person reading posts on that message board understands that the individuals posting such disparaging words is only publicly declaring that the individual making such hurtful comments is an idiot. In effect they are declaring “look everyone, I am rude an idiot and a rotten egg.”
But thankfully our Constitution protects even the rights of rude idiot rotten eggs. If it didn’t we all would be in a bad place.
Alexis, I never knew your brother. However I have a good friend who went to High School with your brother and my friend has nothing but good things to say about Travis. And even though your father has his detractors on that message board he has many supporters as well.
Michael Seyfried