David vs. the Google Goliath

We all love fighting a good moral brawl.  When Slide stole 3,000 fake money coins from me in April of 2009, I was livid and I wrote about it in the early morning hours of the 23rd:

I enjoy playing Slide.com’s SuperPoke Pets and I’ve raved about SuperPoke Pets and ranted about SuperPoke Pets. Today, I am enraged — not by the game I have come to love — but rather by the lack of an artful and loving Slide.com technical response to what should have been a simple problem to solve.  This is the story of a false accusation — an unfair incarceration of character if you will — and its ultimate unraveling in the light of indisputable, human, facts.

After I wrote my article, Google bought Slide for $200 million and recently decided to close down all the Slide games.  There is now no more SuperPoke Pets.  The game is over. People are furious.  I was intrigued that I was mentioned last week in a Facebook comments stream where people are trying to save the game:

Here’s the full text of the mention from a Facebook email notification sent to me:

Hi David,

Mary Meine mentioned you in a comment.

Mary wrote: “I agree with Rosie, I cannot see myself ‘hating’ someone who stepped foreword to take on a huge giant like Google. That takes guts and a lot of courage!! You are our “David” and we stand behind you all the way!!! Go get em!!!”

I have no idea if that mention was on purpose or a mistake, but my ego certainly likes to believe Mary appreciated my article taking on Slide.com as well as the 140 comments that bit of writing spawned over the last couple of years.

Writing can have a power beyond the single mind.  If others read your words and if they are inspired to comment and take action, then the world becomes a better, and easier, place to live.