Author of a report (.pdf) claiming that the controversial CBS News Texas Air National Guard memos could have been produced on a typewriter, the Utah State University associate professor of technical communications didn't know he had become fodder for vigilant political blogs and discussion boards. To liberals, the report was proof that CBS was in the clear -- making it another claim for conservatives to debunk.

But the debunking quickly turned into name-calling, with a guest blogger at Wizbang, a conservative political blog, leading his detailed critique with the since-retracted accusation that Hailey was a "liar, fraud and charlatan." It escalated as Hailey updated what he calls a work in progress and his critics declared a cover-up.

The result was what Howard Rheingold, author of Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution, calls "a semi-organized swarming." It is but one of a spate of recent incidents that underscores the power of a rapidly mobilized group online to accomplish a goal -- and the potential for harm when online mobs form.