p2pnet news | P2P:- "Valleywag is making a business out of digging into people’s personal lives and publishing it for all to see," says Michael Arrington on TechCrunch, noting he, too, is among the chosen.

Certainly, Rachel Marsden, Wikiemedia founder Jimbo Wales’ ex-girlfriend, would agree, having seen her break-up with Wales splashed on both the Wikipedia and on Valleywag.

She responded by washing Wales’s dirty linen online via eBay.

But where does it end?

"Paul L. Tilley, 40, managing director of creative at advertising agency DDB, died Friday, Feb. 22," said the Chicago Tribune, going on:

"The Wilmette resident apparently jumped from the upper floors of the Fairmont Chicago Hotel early Friday evening, and his death was ruled a suicide by the Cook County medical examiner’s office."

Says the New York Times:

Visitors to AgencySpy and AdScam, two sharp-tongued blogs written by advertising industry insiders, posted comments blaming the sites for contributing to the suicide late last month of Paul Tilley, 40, the creative director of DDB Chicago.

In so doing, bloggers and their readers added another chapter in a long debate about how, or whether, to manage anonymous posts that seem aimed at shredding a person’s reputation.

And says Arrington:

"The New York Times today is reporting about the suicide of advertising exec Paul Tilley, saying that it that might be linked to heavy criticisms about the person on a blog. The blogger, an anonymous woman, takes no responsibility. She says ‘I’m saddened by Paul Tilley’s death, but I do not feel that my blog postings contributed to the events that occurred’ and boasted about the sites traffic growth since the incident. The blog in question is owned by JupiterMedia and counts IAC and the Wall Street Journal as advertisers.

"So how long will it be before Valleywag drives someone in our community to suicide? My fear is that it isn’t a matter of if it will happen, but when. Valleywag and Nick Denton, though, will likely look forward to the event, and the great traffic growth that will surely follow."

In the background are the deaths of Megan Meier, 13, who hanged herself because of something said by Josh Evans, a fake MySpace user, and seven UK teenagers whose deaths were linked to the social networking site Bebo.

[NOTE - p2pnet is running a special reader’s survey. It only takes a minute - literally. Please click here. Cheers! And thanks … Jon]

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Also See:
TechCrunch, - When Will We Have Our First Valleywag Suicide?, March 2, 2008
would agree - Rachel Marsden sells Jimbo Wales’ dirty linen, March 3, 2008
Chicago Tribune - Top Chicago ad exec Paul Tilley, 40, dies apparently of suicide, February 26, 2008
New York Times - After Suicide, Blog Insults Are Debated, March 3, 2008
hanged herself - Megan Meier ‘Net suicide’ case revived, January 9, 2008
seven UK teenagers - Surge of UK ‘online’ teen suicides, January 23, 2008

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