Yesterday, Mayim told us that she was taking a break from Facebook because of all the negative comments she has to deal with. Today, Jordana Horn pleads with her to rethink that decision:

Dear Mayim,

And I do mean “dear”! I’ve interviewed you, I’ve argued with you, and I’ve learned from you. It’s a great honor being a Kveller contributing editor with you.

You are an awesome person. I’d go so far as to call you an aishet chayil–and have actually done so in print–which means a woman of valor, whose value is beyond rubies. We don’t agree on a lot, but you are a deep, kind, intelligent and thoughtful person and I feel so grateful and fortunate for our friendship. Read the rest of this entry →

• Posted in Parenting
• Tags: cyber bullying, Facebook, Mayim Bialik

Have you ever been bullied on the Internet? Thanks to a discussion about the horrible murders in Toulouse, I have.

I’m a journalist and writer, and my work often attracts comments online. Those comments are not always nice and fuzzy. But Facebook feels somehow more intimate, though, than comments after an article. I’d always thought that “friending” someone meant a sort of tacit agreement to have discourse in a way that could be acrimonious, but would always be mutually respectful. After all, according to Pirkei Avot (Ethics of our Fathers)–”Your friend’s dignity should be as precious to you as your own.”

I was very, very wrong. Read the rest of this entry →

• Posted in Parenting
• Tags: cyber bullying, Facebook, toulouse, tragedy