Summer 2008; Words by Jordyn Diaz

There’s always trouble when a blogger is involved…

I was in a state of shock as I watched this altercation unfold as I sat in an office reading the screen of my laptop. I can honestly say I’ve never seen anything of this magnitude in black blogging.

Initially, I didn’t understand why this turned into the spectacle that it turned into until I saw the numerous comments. Though I can’t justify or defend the actions of local Atlanta gossip blogger Sandra Rose and SOHH blogger Lloyd “Gyant” Dinwiddie, I can put myself into the mind-sets of troublemakers from DMX to Bobby Brown.

I understand what they were going through after an emotional gossip article-based fight. These ‘journalists’ were already emotionally charged and then they were faced with the indefensible actions of the readers. Their continued involvement proved to be the X factor that caused the incident to escalate.

This all started with Dinwiddie’s comments made regarding Rose’s sexuality and personal lifestyle. Rose wasn’t reacting to the accusation but rather to the fact that Dinwiddie had the nerve to reference physical harm during his rant. He was more aggressive and had taken the ‘issue’ right to her and she reacted by exploiting Dinwiddie’s criminal past.

That said, bloggers starting trouble is something that happens all the time. It’s not a surprise to see bloggers get heated with each other and respond wrongly and badly to a situation that can be handled with a simple instant message in private or an e-mail. What was surprising was the fans’ involvement in the situation. Usually the bloggers are able to sort out and deal with the situation, given they have an understanding of the ‘field’ they are in. This day was different because the bloggers crossed the line and the readers continued the situation by encouraging both parties to respond to each other’s public ‘diss’ posts.

In the end, I feel sorry for the casual people who log on to read every now and then and had to witness this unfortunate situation, and I’m sorry for the upcoming urban journalists who will read this terrible incident on their respective websites and will be afraid to become affiliated with journalism geared towards the black community in the future. I know if my sister attending college for journalism saw this or was close to the situation she’d be scared to become associated with any urban affiliated outlet.

There’s no doubt that scrutiny will escalate for this incident. The reputations will no doubt be weighted because readers were involved, but I believe that shouldn’t be an aggravating factor. When readers get involved, they get what they deserve.

Rose will probably receive the brunt of the scrutiny from this situation because she’s a lightning rod for controversy. Whatever her responsibility in the incident, it will be overblown because of this recent controversy.

Jordyn Diaz is a regular contributor to Avenue 1.