“This cannot be happening,” I laughed as I poured another drink on Wednesday evening. It had been 24 hours and there was no sign of letting up.
Mistaken identity happens. You see someone wave in your direction and you wave back, then realize they weren’t waving at you. Awkward. The painful discomfort lasts for several moments, and then you move on with your day. My story is different.
Hello, my name is Ben Smith (Benjamin McNamee Smith), and I share a name with Buzzfeed’s editor-in-chief, Ben Smith (Benjamin Eli Smith).
Ever since I started in journalism a few years ago to my recent exit from the industry, I’ve shared a name with one of the top political reporters at one of the most-viewed publications in the United States. This week was an awkward, sometimes-hilarious and sometimes-irritating reminder.
On Tuesday night, Buzzfeed published it’s now infamous dossier of President-elect Trump. While I won’t speak to the question of the ethics behind posting the story, what I can tell you is that the reaction was severe.
Waking up Wednesday, my phone was abuzz with notifications. My Twitter account was lighting up. My handle, @BenSmithDC, was being tagged relentlessly, with each tweet mentioning me instead of BuzzFeed’s top editor at @BuzzFeedBen.
You’d think it wouldn’t be that hard to spot the difference. BuzzFeed’s Ben Smith lives in New York. My Twitter handle clearly shows that I live in Washington, D.C. BuzzFeed’s Ben Smith is verified and his Twitter bio says “BuzzFeed Editor-in-Chief.” My Twitter bio clearly states “Have never written at Buzzfeed.”
At first the tweets were 10-to-1 praise, mostly along the lines of, “Thanks for sharing the truth.” Only one mentioned disappointment. I simply sent them the other Ben Smith’s way, tagging him and saying either that I’m sure that he appreciates their nice words or gently clarifying that they need to take the issue up him.
Then the other Ben Smith did an interview with Chuck Todd and the tone of the Twitter mob flipped completely, going 10-to-1 negative.
“How dare you spread fake news.” “r u a traitor.” Several called me a “cuckservative.”
I knew I had to get ahead of this. I knew if I could turn this on the people mistakenly tweeting at me my night would change. After about 18 hours, with the last few being the worst, I sent out the tweet that made the difference.
Even though there were still hundreds of negative tweets, the tone balanced out.
Several people have been asking how I deal with people who mistake me for someone else, or asking how I handle all the abuse tweets. Before this week, I would have blocked, muted or ignored the misguided tweeters. But now I have a better answer: Humor.
Because if we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane.
Ben Smith is a digital communications consultant. Previously, he was a social media producer at the Washington Examiner. Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions.
