Casey Serin - Blog and Media Attention

Blog and Media Attention

In September 2006, Serin started the blog IamFacingForeclosure describing his situation, with the idea of both soliciting advice and warning others how to avoid the mistakes he had made. Interest in the blog first developed among readers of other blogs devoted to the United States housing bubble. His story was featured in numerous media outlets—among them, USA Today, National Public Radio, New York magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Economist, The Suze Orman Show, and ABC's Nightline. When Serin first started the blog, commenters were generally supportive, hoping that Serin would make a good faith effort to avoid foreclosure and pay back any remaining debts by looking for work. The initial media exposure largely lauded Serin as an example of forthright blogging, without delving very deeply into the origin of his debts. Also, in 2006 Casey Serin appeared on "Rich Dad's Online Business School" where Casey Serin told his story to Robert Kiyosaki and the members of his audience.

During the ensuing 9 months that the blog was updated, Serin generally let his problems stagnate—urgent mail went unopened, the houses went into foreclosure one by one, and Serin did not actively look for work. The overall tone of the blog's comments gradually went from encouraging Serin to openly deriding him for his inaction, his apparent nonchalant attitude towards his financial issues, and his role in the then-emerging subprime mortgage crisis. In May 2007, CNET.com writer Declan McCullagh published an article about Serin's story and the largely negative reactions Serin's blog was garnering from commenters, referring to Serin as "the world's most hated blogger" and describing his blog as "irritainment." McCullagh wrote that "Casey's blog has an enthusiastic – if unrelentingly critical – audience known as 'haterz'." Serin acknowledged that he began to purposely anger readers in an effort to drive further traffic to the blog. In time, the blog developed a cult status, as Serin began writing about the toll his actions were taking on his personal life. The spectre of legal ramifications also factored heavily into the blog. Many commenters stated that they were attracted to the increasingly "soap opera"-like nature of Serin's story, and the blog was featured on a number of sites devoted to so-called "trainwreck watching."