I should completely ignore this, right?

[Ereine]

I really hope that this is a proper place for this, I had hard time deciding but as it involves my blog I thought this might be a right place.

I have a fairly popular blog for its category and language. It's mostly a diary, I used to be quite open about all sorts of things, including my depression and lack of love life, lately I've been cencoring myself more because I have actually one now and I don't want to write anything revealing about my boyfriend. I recently received an anonymous comment that said that people were talking about me at a message board and gave a link to the discussion. The messages weren't too bad, though they said that I was cruel and passive-aggressive towards all men who were interested in me (I didn't even know that some men were interested in me), making me sound like some sort of nerdy femme fatale and making interesting assumptions about my boyfriend. My name or the name of my blog aren't mentioned but obviously at least someone recognized me from it (there are other details that make me quite certain that it is about me, I know one of the people involved in the discussion). It isn't really anything harmful for me or my boyfriend, so I guess I should just ignore it. But should I also ignore the anonynous comment (of course it was anonymous)? I sometimes don't reply to all comments, so it wouldn't be anything out of the ordinary.

[MariaE]

I'd ignore it. I'd probably even delete it. Since it was anonymous it was most likely somebody out to cause drama. The best response to that is to just ignore.

[katycoo]

I would probably thank them for the heads up.  Simply becuase I would want to know about it, especially if it was particularly nasty and I wouldn't want to discourage them from informing me next time.

[Cyradis]

I'd ignore it. I'd probably even delete it. Since it was anonymous it was most likely somebody out to cause drama. The best response to that is to just ignore.

This. You should ignore it.

[RosieRiveter]

I'd ignore it. I'd probably even delete it. Since it was anonymous it was most likely somebody out to cause drama. The best response to that is to just ignore.

I would ignore it, but not delete it.

People who post anonymous, insulting comments like that on blogs tend to watch to see if their comments are deleted - and then they'll just come back with something like "oooooh, only people who agree with you are allowed to post?", just to try to stir up more drama.

[Wavicle]

I would probably thank them for the heads up.  Simply because I would want to know about it, especially if it was particularly nasty and I wouldn't want to discourage them from informing me next time.

This. I would also go ahead and save the link and possibly the page itself, and then forget about it. People tend to let their stupid out all over the internet (which is why I love this forum, people are actually respectful!) so I would just brush it off as that. Sometimes things can escalate past that though, so I would want the record just for that very slim possibility considering they know who you are in real life.

[Nurvingiel]

I agree with keeping a record of it. Also, copy all the posts that you can see. Then file it somewhere on your computer and forget about it.

However, I would ratchet up the privacy/security on your blog.

[Ereine]

Thank you all for the advice, I ended up completely ignoring it. And saving the messages, that was a good idea.

After reading the messages again I realised that I had actually met both of the people involved, though I still don't know who the other one is. I suspect he's a man I wasn't at all interested in, who, when two years ago I was at my most depressed and angsty emailed me that if I wanted to talk about it I could tell him anything. I was getting all the help I needed and talking to him wouldn't have helped me at all, it would have just added to my stress so I sent him this message (translated, so it's possible that I missed some nuances):
"Thanks for you email, it didn't scare me. Writing emails is very hard and stressful for me at the moment so I'll decline your kind offer (but I do appreciate it), I have trouble replying to emails in a timely manner and that just causes me more anxiety ."
If the man really is the one on the message board, then I guess that that's an example of being rude and passive aggressive. Of course I might have overdone a bit, I didn't really appreciate his offer and maybe it shows  
       

[familyfun]

Nope if it is him, he's the one being rude and passive-aggressive.  Your email to him was fine.  He's the one who tried to trash someone who rejected his overture, which is what his offer for help may have been.  Glad to hear things are looking up for you and hope it continues!

[artk2002]

Ignore it.  If you're going to take on a public persona (popular blogger), you can expect to have people say bad things about you.  If they rise to the level of libel, then you take legal action.  Otherwise, you let it go -- engaging and "correcting" will only make the problem worse.

[Ereine]

Familyfun, thank you, I'm doing much better, and thankfully my depression was never really awful.

artk2002, that's good advice, I wasn't really that bothered by what they were saying, maybe slightly amused because I can't really see myself in the role they've given me. I think that very few people would recognise me from the messages, unless they were reading certain blogs in 2007.