If there was every a time to point out the disease of rampant elitism in the tech blogging community then this is it. It’s time that a greater light was shined on the mental sickness that is affecting certain A-list bloggers and their followers. There are three situations that highlight these problems and they’ve all occurred in the last few weeks.

The Blognation Debacle

This guy named Sam Sethi starts a network of blogs over the summer called Blognation. In the process he lies and cheats his way into having people work as editors for months on end. A number of people know the crap that’s going on but stay silent. Finally someone with guts named Oliver Starr shines a light on the many misgivings of Mr. Sethi. Two weeks later Blognation is done. And sadly in the process of this failed business venture a respected tech blogger and Blognation writer named Marc Orchant passed away.

Did it ever occur to anyone close to this situation to question why you need venture capital to start a blog network? Why didn’t more people question the actions of Mr. Sethi during this time or speak up earlier? What were they afraid of?

My belief is that everyone was afraid to question Sam Sethi because he was well known around the blogosphere. Sam was well known for having been the UK editor of TechCrunch, a very influential U.S. based blog network. And although Sam left TechCrunch under poor circumstances it was perceived by many that Sam was in the right. So Sam’s reputation and the fact that he previously worked for Microsoft convinced a lot of people that it was a bad idea to speak out against him.

And so there was silence until recently. And the final results were pretty horrible for those who had slaved away for this “classic confidence man.” The bloggers should have spoken up sooner.

The Seesmic Review

Many people know that Loren Feldman is the kind of guy who will go to the edge in his videos. I will never forget when he tore into Guy Kawasaki for making a questionable reference to Jewish people in his biography. Guy states, “From Nova, its CEO Marty Gruber, and my Jewish colleagues in the jewelry business, I learned how to sell.” Ugh! In any case, Loren is known for his biting commentary that takes comedy to the edge. Its not for everyone. And its not always funny. But Loren earned himself a moniker of “racist” from A-list blogger Loic Lemeur for giving a harshly negative review to Loic’s company Seesmic.

Most startups in the Web2.o space cover some pretty harsh ground in order to get noticed and accepted. But not Loic’s company. Having been a blog-star in Europe and friend to many and A-lister in San Francisco he gets a free pass. You couldn’t find anything remotely negative about Seesmic until Loren posted his video. Allen Stern tried to give Seesmic a poor review but really watered it down. In a space full of social video plays there was very little static coming Loic’s way prior to this video. And I think it really surprised Loic that anyone would have the guts to challenge him. The real debate started when Michael Arrington of TechCrunch fame, and a Seesmic investor, decided to highlight the review. Why would Loic’s buddy and business partner highlight such a bad review? I think that Arrington saw that someone needed to do something to get Seesmic back into the forefront of the blogosphere.

It seems that there’s no space for dissent in the world of Web2.o when it comes to startups founded by A-listers. If it weren’t for harsh reviews like Loren’s the founders of these services would never hear the things that really bother people about their services. Because few have the guts to speak up for fear of being shouted down or ostracized by the cool kids.

The Lane Hartwell Photograph

This was the issue that tipped it for me. A freelance photographer named Lane Hartwell objected to the use of one of her photographs in a parody video produced by a group called The Richter Scales. The video, Here Comes Another Bubble, included an image that was copyrighted by Ms. Hartwell. The group did not ask to use the photo. The video did not give credit to Lane or anyone else whose work appeared in the video. Lane saw her picture included and filed a request to have the video taken off of YouTube. Here’s where it got ugly.

You definitely don’t have to agree with Ms. Hartwell’s position. Some people thought her actions were not cool and certainly not hip to the free for all nature of the web. But she does have a right to make the request. Unfortunately, A-listers like Robert Scoble and Mike Arrington did not agree. Arrington goes so far as to call another woman “a fascist” in the conversation on someone else’s blog while lashing out at that blog’s author. Scoble is much more civil in his dismissal of Ms. Hartwell and compares himself to a professional photographer. What a stretch! In any case, Arrington’s comments are ignored by everyone but Eric Rice who takes offense at Arrington and has the guts to speak up about it. Arrington cries back and implies that Eric is trying to be famous by targeting Mr. A-lister. Of course, Once Mike Arrington starts getting his tail kicked in the comments, he shuts them off right after he states, “Honest opinions should be celebrated, not condemned.” What a hypocrite.

Shelley Powers gives her honest opinion and she’s a fascist. People give their honest opinions about Mike Arrington and he shuts down the comments. Just like an A-lister to dish it out and not be able to take it.

The Crux Of The Issue

The world of blogging has become like a cult in certain circles. People like Sam Sethi, Robert Scoble, Loic Lemeur and Mike Arrington are given free reign by the vast majority of people to do and say what they want. And there are very few questions asked or challenges made. The results can be physically, financially and emotionally devastating. People who they don’t like find themselves with anonymous comments on their blogs stating “pathetic”, “idiot”, “lame”, “get a life”, “worthless” and a whole lot more. People are out hard earned money when their ventures fail. And some people are even stressed to death.

People are genuinely afraid of having these kinds of things said about them by the masses of jerks following around some of the names I’ve mentioned here and others as well. Thank heavens we have people like Loren Feldman and Eric Rice to speak up. Lord knows you don’t see the a-listers helping anyone out. They’re only interested in solidifying their phony empires. Because when the bubble bursts, plenty of people will be forgotten just like after the first one. I’ll remember the people who had the guts to speak up for others to be treated decently. I’ll remember those who had the confidence to raise their hands and say, “hold on,” when someone is getting diced by the mindless wolf pack that trolls the blogosphere.

The sad thing is that it would be really easy for all of these people to say, “Cut the crap,” and make sure that even people they disagree with are respected. But ego is a destructive thing. And just like big egos can destroy other people they usually turn on the people who have big egos and lead to that person’s eventual downfall. Thank heaven’s for that.