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Is commenting on news articles a new form of entertainment? Apparently.

One thing that has never ceased to amaze me in Social Media is the way people comment on blogs, stories, news articles. It truly is “new media” — blog comments as entertainment. What a fascinating way to watch what people really think.

Early on in my foray into Social Media, my friend Tim Brunelle said “Public conversations are not for the squeamish.” Which is  exactly why I like to have them so much. Talking about your ideas, insights, beliefs and having people question, hate, attack what you say — there’s something liberating and humbling and downright awe-inspiring. “OH. THAT’S  what people think. And guess what — It’s not always what *I* think.” I’m not always right. I admit it. But how on earth will I ever find out without putting it out there and inviting commentary? I will always be proud to say something interesting enough to get people talking.

Here’s what sparked this particular post: The Globe ran a story about The Good Men Project Magazine, a magazine I’ve started with Tom Matlack and Benoit Denizet-Lewis. We got attacked in the comment section. (Note: I, personally, got off relatively unscathed, short of the guy who accused me of being involved in a “nefarious polyamorous incident”. Tom and Benoit got called to task for everything from having a hyphenated name to not having their shirts tucked in.). All in all, it was another great day at the office in the ongoing quest to do what we set out to do from day one — “spark a national discussion about what it means to be a good man.”  The fact that sometimes the conversation turns ugly? Hey, that’s the way the world works sometimes.

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Read Tom Matlack’s rebuttal to the Globe article here.

Advice Goddess Amy Alkon joins in the fray with a passionate rant against the ranters: “You want something manly to rail against, rail against the way men are victims of paternity fraud and get a raw deal in custody battles all too often. Then again, no, don’t just rail. Do something about it — do what Tom Matlack is doing…taking an issue he cares about and getting a conversation going, and getting people to take action to be better men.” (and ends up talkin’ porn with the guys, to boot).

Read the original Globe article, complete with comments here.

And shoutouts to my friends Erik Proulx and Mark St. Amant who stepped up to comment back to the naysayers:

eproulx wrote:

Men want to write and read about their feelings? Ooooh, call the gay police. Isn’t it possible that guys can love MMA and self-exploration at the same time? Can’t a man still be a man while writing about how much he loves his kids or what it was like to grow up without a dad?

I think instead of writing for the GMP, I’ll submit exclusively to Penthouse Forum and Fantasy Football Weekly from now on. Maybe then I’ll finally be accepted into the League of Penises.

msaint wrote:
Half the negative comments here are borderline illiterate (”…lost there masculine fighting spirit”), half are playground-level unfunny (”short the company stock”) and half express a bizarre fear of hyphenated names (allrightythen, did your mom dump your dad and abandon your family after banging Daniel Day-Lewis? Clearly, some unresolved baggage there you might want a team of psychiatrists to probe.) Yes, I realize that adds up to three halves — about as logical as those who just can’t accept that there can be man-centric magazines/newspapers/e-zines that ARE entertaining and insightful, AREN’T exclusively about rating the ten best non-augmented racks in Hollywood or debating the evils of the designated hitter rule, and yet, at the same time, AREN’T, as you seem to suggest, just cleverly disguised propaganda rags to estrogen-ify an entire generation of men. Bottom line: lighten up, naysayers, and don’t read it if you fear that it’ll make you suddenly want to go shopping for dust ruffles.