Abstract
This essay addresses a recent media controversy. Two journalists actively questioned the appropriateness of a popular blog that chronicles a young woman's fight with cancer. Elaine Replogle () unfolds the facts of this case and discusses the role of fame and status in understanding the journalists' response to the blog. Here, I extend that conversation, exploring how our culture's optimism bias, as well as the increasing importance of our technological ties, informs our understanding of both the blog and its critics.