The Sarah Lacy lynchmob in full cry....

Blimey - no sooner do I pontificate on Web 2.0's mean spirited evangelicals than a full lynch mob breaks out. I wasn't at the SXSW in that interview - and yes, I did see the Twitter stream - but there is a lesson here in the benefit of reflection.

In the cold light of 6,000 miles away, looking at the questions asked (see here on Centernetworks for eg) - they weren't that daft.

Granted, pimping your book is unforgivable (that's like presenters pimping their companies in sessions) but seems to me like C:Net probably had it down right - style rather than substance.

The reality is, I thought the substance of her interview was pretty strong. She asked a lot of good questions, including some that put Zuckerberg on the spot. He kept asking her how she had learned about certain points she was asking him about.

So in that regard, on paper, her interview would have been a success.

But it was her style that lost her the audience almost from the minute it started. She seemed flirty with him, trying to put on an air of being his buddy, when what the audience wanted was to listen to Zuckerberg talk.

Probably a good example of how the "wisdom" of a crowd can turn quickly to "madness" - especially if there was not a lot of sleep and quite a lot of alcohol etc to get over

(For the record I don't know Sarah Lacy, never even seen her, in fact my only recollection is that her website was pimping her book long before it was even written...but this all seems a little overblown, seems to me that "instant media" has a few downfalls)