[msbarnett]

Jason Scott, the guy whose twitter account that is and the guy who called the police, evidently knows Mark Pilgrim well enough to verify that he was talking to Mark because they were discussing a matter "only the two of them knew about".

That doesn't sound like "creepy Internet people Mark barely knows" to me.

[saurik]

Firstly, let me point out that I am responding to jerrya, not Jason Scott (whom I have also interacted with on a few occasions, and is a friend-of-a-friend enough that when I heard about this mess I turned to someone else in the room and asked them about what was up).

"Mark is goddamn lucky and should be both embarrassed and grateful that he's enough of a character that a chunk of the internet cares about him"

I believe that statement belies a general mentality that I run into constantly: I myself have "disappeared" a few times, for less than 72 hours, because I decided to "take a weekend off" (attending a concert, for example), and I /did not appreciate/ that a ton of people on Twitter seemed to think that meant that I had "died", and insinuated calling the police to find me.

Regardless, to respond now to your comment regarding Jason: they apparently aren't close enough for Jason to a) call Mark directly, b) call someone in Mark's family, c) call any of Mark's friends, or d) have any clue what happened to Mark other than to "[call] his local PD for a welfare check", which to me indicates they aren't really close at all.

Seriously: having something "only the two of them knew about" isn't actually that rare: I've only talked with the man (Jason) a couple times, and yet I bet I could pass that test as well.

[textfiles]

How about you not decide you know everything, internet detective.

[Tichy]

Well if you disappeared for a serious reason, maybe you would appreciate people caring. Other than that, just tweet "taking a weekend off".

[areyoujoking]

oh right, because we're all married to the internet, and therefore should check in with them whenever we step out for a minute.

Seriously, take a step back and re-read what you just said.

[Tichy]

It seems the person in question is married enough to the internet for others to notice if he goes silent for two days.

[saurik]

I think a key issue here is: it isn't any of their business. I did not promise I would be around 24 hours a day, and they have no introspection into my life to know when something is normal behavior or not.

There are tons of people who do, though: my girlfriend, the people I hang out with at my office every day, and even a few "long term allies" (as it were) I've come to know only online (and talk with on IRC). Some (in fact, many) of these people even have access to my exact location at all times via Latitude.

But the people I meet at conferences, the people who follow me on Twitter, or even the people who lurk in IRC channels I'm in? It is simply not any of their business where I am or what I am doing, and it is absolutely silly for them to expect me to tell them how long I'm going to be gone.