Blogs don’t kill people…

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Paul Tilley, the creative director for DDB Chicago, tragically took his life last month and it has been said by many in the blogosphere that nasty bloggers were the cause. Nina DiSesa, chairwoman of McCann-Erickson, went on record as saying that the cowardly acts of anonymous bloggers in the ad biz taking pot shots at public figures has to stop.
 
I like Ms. DiSesa, I do. When my father passed away, Nina wrote me a long note, both warm and touching. She was the creative director at McCann at the time, I an account geek. Big hearts make big ads and that is why Nina has been so successful over the years, but I’m not sure I completely agree with her on this blogger thing. Creative people need to vent. It’s their release. They vent positively and they vent negatively. Paul Tilley knew this.  I’ll bet even he was a venter.
 
Mean people suck. Sticks and stones. The fact is Mr. Tilley and other people for whom suicide is the only option, will do what they do. Nina is right that we need to be less mean to one another. We need to vent in more constructive ways. But let’s not blame some anonymous mean-spirited rants for Mr. Tilley’s death.