Boy, it must be hard for Mikey A these days. Trying to get some R ‘n R with the folks, all the while dealing with the fall out from Le Web 3, and now this. After less than two months with TechCrunch, Natali Del Conte is leaving the saint of start ups (at least, many of them pray to get crunched, anyway) for greener pastures. Mr. Arrington leaves few details on Crunchnotes, but he does allude to one of them:

It’s hard to explain how brutal user comments can be. And if you are a woman you often have to deal with sexism as well. Natali was dealing with both. She’s never had that kind of direct, anonymous feedback, and it’s clear it got to her to some extent. I’m very sorry for that.

While I have been blessed by generally courteous compliments on this blog, the very fact you’re on TC makes you a target; and to be honest, when I Googled “Natali Del Conte” when she was first hired, I was surprised to hear that she already had her share of anonymous detractors. One choice commenter on an episode of “Cranky Geeks” had these choice words about her:

Natali has her own show!?!
She barely fits in her role now with her mindless commentary and Dvorak-lite conspiracies … We’ve seen many quality female guests and Natali’s saving grace is her lifesavers … Natali is like the Jessica Simpson of the Tech world.

Now to be honest, this was the only negative comment on that site. On the other hand, the substance of the other comments are complimentary in so far as that they refer to how ‘hawt’ she is, and not about her journalistic prowress, her sharp insights, or other non-physical attributes.

Wonderful.

What I’ve noticed is that if you’ve developed to a blogger of any standing, the chances of you being targetted for flaming, or derogatory and personal (and anonymous) comments also rises.  Dramatically. And by being a female who is by no means un-attractive, in a predominantly male industry which has profoundly geeky roots, is like a double strike against her.

Having said that, even with the thickest skin, sometimes its a little hard to take (Diggers are especially loyal and vicious, for example).
No matter how far the interweb goes or how far this bubble will take us (even though its less frothy), I suspect that the tech industry will always have its share of boorish fratboys, who love the cloak of anonymity in all its forms, for no other reason than it will allow personal attacks at their convenience.

And with all due respect to female bloggers of any stripe, I just don’t think aren’t enough women in the tech industry to change the culture of a small vocal minority … yet.  But hopefully, one day there will be.  Because as the number of female tech bloggers increases, there will be a more vocal defense of this sexist nonsense, and proof that in the end the only thing that matters is what’s on the page, not who’s behind it.