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Wednesday, May 28, 2008

The Internet Is Not a Speculum

posted by on May 28 at 10:56 AM

The Internet is a tool. It is not a speculum—you don’t need to show us everything. And if you do, you’ll probably regret it.

RSS icon Comments

1

There is no way I'm moving on to page 2.

Posted by Mr. Poe | May 28, 2008 11:14 AM
2

@1 I did the exact same thing.

Posted by el | May 28, 2008 11:21 AM
3

Don't worry Emily. Someone already called 9-1-1. The Waaaambulance is on its way.

Posted by Sir Learnsalot | May 28, 2008 11:32 AM
4

Right there with you, Poe and el.

I'm perfectly content not knowing the rest of the "story".

Posted by N in Seattle | May 28, 2008 11:36 AM
5

@1 & @2 Sensible, it gets worse. I read the whole thing last Friday when it was posted looking for the point because the NYT gave her a hell of a lot of "ink" so there had to be one, right? The point is she is self absorbed and not really repentent about it.

Though I have to give her props for breaking up with Gessen through Gawker and not in person.

Posted by PopTart | May 28, 2008 11:36 AM
6

Geez, she doesn't love the sound of her own voice, does she...? That whole (TEN pages? OMG!) article was an overshare. I guess she made her point.

Posted by DanFan | May 28, 2008 11:40 AM
7

what a narcissistic, attention-starved loser. 10 fucking pages whining about your private life being overexposed ...published in one of the most widely circulated newspapers in the country. i find it hard to believe she regrets any of this.

Posted by brandon | May 28, 2008 11:47 AM
8

Worth a laugh is the clip of her appearance on Larry King Live. That kind of made up for having trudged through that whole thing. Kind of.

Posted by matthew e | May 28, 2008 11:52 AM
9

Yes, annoying and loooong. But I'd hit that.

Posted by Greg | May 28, 2008 11:55 AM
10

Does *anyone* actually, really, genuinely give a shit about Emily Gould? Besides the NY publishing world...maybe? What were the NYTM editors thinking???

Posted by laterite | May 28, 2008 12:00 PM
11

10 pages? 10 pages!!! Good grief. Poe & El were smart. 10 loonnnggg pages, which can be summed up thusly: "I made an ass of myself online. I sorta regret it."

Posted by Reverse Polarity | May 28, 2008 12:17 PM
12

@10 I'm thinking they were thinking she would serve as a "cautionary tale" about blogging. They had to close comments on the article because their comments editors (WTF?) were needed elsewhere and couldn't handle the volume.

Posted by PopTart | May 28, 2008 12:19 PM
13

I feel violated. I read the whole ten pages. I want those 20 minutes of my life back. What an amazing case of self-indulgent emotional diarrhea. Wow. Seriously, just... wow.

Posted by scottjon | May 28, 2008 12:24 PM
14

I love the NYT but-

the other half of the sunday times magazine was this heartbreaking piece about a veteran who had been injured in iraq and lost most of his faculties and was being taken care of by his aged mother. this was the memorial day edition. and she was on the cover.

hm.

Posted by anonymous | May 28, 2008 12:44 PM
15

The internet is the greatest speculum ever invented.

Posted by JC | May 28, 2008 12:48 PM
16

sort of ironic, the reaction from regular commenters here, never mind the original post

Posted by Just Sayin' | May 28, 2008 12:49 PM
17

Emily Gould is a genuine internet rockstar. Admittedly I couldn't make it past page 2 either, but I'm sure many, many people did.

Posted by kid icarus | May 28, 2008 12:49 PM
18

I read the entire thing and I can't presume to judge her life, but I will make an observation. The lesson she wants to take to heart hasn't sunk in yet...maybe time will tell. *shrugs*

Posted by MattD | May 28, 2008 1:00 PM
19

@ 18, I totally agree.

I actually loved the article. I think she is smart, talented, and really, really, young.

And my heart kind of aches for her. Because, man is this crap going to be embarassing for her in ten years.

Posted by arduous | May 28, 2008 1:04 PM
20

I may be a little slower than the rest of you, as I got to page 3 before I decided to check the comments of the original post to see if there was going to end up being a point to reading this article, but I'm sure glad I did. Thanks for saving me the next 15 minutes of my life everyone.

Posted by Callie | May 28, 2008 1:28 PM
21

I had already had a lifetime supply of Emily before I started the article, with the endless navel-gazing at Gawker. I gather she had a boyfriend and wrote a blog. That's, uh, nice. Is the bar open?

Posted by Fnarf | May 28, 2008 1:59 PM
22

I don't visit gawker regularly so didn't know who she was. But I read the thing anyways since I'm slow at work. I learned nothing and am not a better person for having done so. Skip it.

Posted by Julie | May 28, 2008 2:15 PM
23

One only has so many flying fucks to go around.

Posted by Lloyd Clydesdale | May 28, 2008 2:37 PM
24

W a y t o o l o n g ....

Posted by Justin | May 28, 2008 2:41 PM
25

Greg @9 -

Yeah, like anyone cares what you'd hit.

Posted by Alvy | May 28, 2008 2:56 PM
26

Self absorbed little brat.

Posted by Vince | May 28, 2008 3:25 PM
27

Alvy@25, many times I'm in a situation, say performing brain surgery or fingering prayer beads, and I'll see something like a woman or a pit bull or a Lithuanian homophobe, and I'll ask myself "would Greg hit this?"

So thanks, Greg, for clearing up the confusion.

Posted by Big Sven | May 28, 2008 3:38 PM

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