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Kathy did not close her Twitter account due to anything bad (unlike the unfortunate threats that coincided with her blog shutting down.) There are lots of ways

Kathy did not close her Twitter account due to anything bad (unlike the unfortunate threats that coincided with her blog shutting down.) There are lots of ways to participate in communities and conversations, and she wanted to step away from that one for a bit. I can't point to a public URL as I got this from private conversation, but there was a public Tweet from one of her friends on this as well. In any case, her work is GREAT and anybody from an engineer to a marketer would do well to absorb her customer-centric philosophies that make EVERYTHING clear ("your product doesn't kick ass... your product makes your CUSTOMERS kick ass...") Google and learn :D

cruise02 17y ago
Thanks. I'm a big fan of her books, blog, and philosophy in general. I hope she doesn't lay low for too long, but she's given so much to the programming/online community that I guess she deserves a break if she wants one.
- thesethings 17y ago
  I don't think she thinks of it as a break, but actually something that enables her to do MORE work :D As somebody who devoured her twitter, I do feel an absence. But I do think she's working on similar stuff/themes at the moment, as she was pre-Twitter break.
  - nailer 17y ago
    Do you know what she's working on now? I'd always been (stupidly) dismissive of Head First until I saw her speak at FOWA in 2008. Since then I've become incredibly impressed with her understanding of how people relate to computers.
runevault 17y ago
I've actually been meaning to go back through her passionate users blog and reread some of the entries, there was so much great content put up there before she closed it off due to threats.
- thesethings 17y ago
  Definitely do it. Also, there are at least 2 full length keynotes gave at different conferences around online (and many shorter videos as well).
- tankman 17y ago
  What kind of threats?
  - thesethings 17y ago
    Death threats. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6499095.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6499095.stm The whole situation was weird. Though she specifically was targeted, it seemed like the site the threats came out of was a group of generally angry, lame folks who lashed out in all directions constantly. I could barely understand it at the time (though I of course would have freaked out in her shoes, as the language was so specific and graphic.)
    - tankman 17y ago
      "While blogging feuds are common, she believes the campaign against her is more likely to be because she is a woman in the male-dominated technology world."
    - phaedrus 17y ago
      Doesn't this seem eerily similar to the way Steve Yegge suddenly stopped blogging/removed his public presence? And then _why (whytheluckystiff) also pulled down all his online presences. It makes me wonder if some group of kids is systematically threatening lots of top bloggers.
      - philwelch 17y ago
        There's "some group of kids" that acts like assholes in general, of course--"Anonymous". Not to blame them in particular, but it's not exactly difficult to get a vaguely-defined, poorly organized group of bored kids on the internet to hate you if you have any kind of notoriety.
dasil003 17y ago
More power to her. I was one of her followers on Twitter, and I am extremely selective about who I follow (eg. Tim O'Reilly got the boot a long time ago). I have missed her tweets, but Twitter is not a really high value channel for me because I'm not interested as much in what's hot as in true refinement of my craft. To that end I'd rather take the time to read what she has written in longer formats.

cruise02 17y ago

Thanks. I'm a big fan of her books, blog, and philosophy in general. I hope she doesn't lay low for too long, but she's given so much to the programming/online community that I guess she deserves a break if she wants one.

thesethings 17y ago
I don't think she thinks of it as a break, but actually something that enables her to do MORE work :D As somebody who devoured her twitter, I do feel an absence. But I do think she's working on similar stuff/themes at the moment, as she was pre-Twitter break.
- nailer 17y ago
  Do you know what she's working on now? I'd always been (stupidly) dismissive of Head First until I saw her speak at FOWA in 2008. Since then I've become incredibly impressed with her understanding of how people relate to computers.

runevault 17y ago

I've actually been meaning to go back through her passionate users blog and reread some of the entries, there was so much great content put up there before she closed it off due to threats.

thesethings 17y ago
Definitely do it. Also, there are at least 2 full length keynotes gave at different conferences around online (and many shorter videos as well).
tankman 17y ago
What kind of threats?
- thesethings 17y ago
  Death threats. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6499095.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6499095.stm The whole situation was weird. Though she specifically was targeted, it seemed like the site the threats came out of was a group of generally angry, lame folks who lashed out in all directions constantly. I could barely understand it at the time (though I of course would have freaked out in her shoes, as the language was so specific and graphic.)
  - tankman 17y ago
    "While blogging feuds are common, she believes the campaign against her is more likely to be because she is a woman in the male-dominated technology world."
  - phaedrus 17y ago
    Doesn't this seem eerily similar to the way Steve Yegge suddenly stopped blogging/removed his public presence? And then _why (whytheluckystiff) also pulled down all his online presences. It makes me wonder if some group of kids is systematically threatening lots of top bloggers.
    - philwelch 17y ago
      There's "some group of kids" that acts like assholes in general, of course--"Anonymous". Not to blame them in particular, but it's not exactly difficult to get a vaguely-defined, poorly organized group of bored kids on the internet to hate you if you have any kind of notoriety.

dasil003 17y ago

More power to her. I was one of her followers on Twitter, and I am extremely selective about who I follow (eg. Tim O'Reilly got the boot a long time ago). I have missed her tweets, but Twitter is not a really high value channel for me because I'm not interested as much in what's hot as in true refinement of my craft. To that end I'd rather take the time to read what she has written in longer formats.