What was that about how people are emotional about the social software they use? Today was a pretty rough day, with a long painful downtime for TypePad, and I spent all day talking to people and the press about it. Until this afternoon, the only bright light was that no data has been lost and the service is back up and running.

But then the best part of the day: Steve Rubel’s post.

Six Apart will get it right. As one of TypePad’s most popular bloggers, I proudly remain loyal to their service. I know that history repeats itself all the time and that they will thrive. Now back to our regular scheduled blogging.

It’s an incredibly thoughtful post, and the kind of supportive voice that I’ve come to realize is common, if not necessarily loudest, in the blogosphere.

Thanks, Steve for helping turn a terrible day around and for trusting me and all of us on the team at Six Apart to get things right in the long run. It’s that sense that makes a lot of our work with bloggers feel like I’m working with family and friends. This was reinforced when I saw Brent’s post as well.

Which, by the way, is what I meant with my inscrutable quote in this Forbes story. I’m quoted as not being worried about angry users, but what I meant is that people only get angry with those they value or care about, and it’s flattering that TypePad users care that much about the service and their blogs.

The joke about the holiday season is just me trying to have some fun on a really shitty day for our customers. It’s funny because it’s true!