Last week the story of death threats toward Kathy Sierra (Creating Passionate Users) exploded online and in the media.

It was shocking and painful for a lot of reasons - one of the key things to come out of her situation was the opportunity for others to begin to explore cyber-threats. Key people in the tech industry stunned by her story put aside competitiveness and differences, and began to post and comment about what they had experienced and what they believe should or could be done on individual and collective levels. Others who have been threatened joined in from all over the world and from all walks of life.

When Ms. Sierra initially posted the threats, she put the names of people she knew in her post, not knowing their level of involvement in the actual threats. Some responded quickly. She and Chris Locke (The Cluetrain Manifesto) published a joint statement yesterday before appearing on US cable TV news.

Have the perpetrator(s) been found? No.

When I was first bombarded by the media about this story, I refused to answer questions. Having no media experience, I found that when you don’t answer a reporter, they’ll tell your story without you, so I agreed to speak with a few. When I was asked for a short CNN interview, I said that I would do it only if they would let me invite Chris Locke as well. Needless to say, everyone including Chris was stunned to hear this.

But these stories should not be about me… I am simply one of a gazillion examples about what’s happening today both on and offline. Nor is it a simple Nice Vs. Bully story, and I thought having us come to an understanding would encourage others to stop fighting on either of our behalves and try to listen first, and then talk, and maybe something good and useful really will come of this.

Although I’ve learned a lot in the last few days, I still do not know who made the unclebobism photo post, or why, or whether that person is a real threat. That part of the story has continued to devolve in even scarier ways.