Internet Forum Bullying

[Bram]

Well, I haven't been here for awhile & it tells me so, right above this field
& furthermore, invites me to post. Since I am brushing myself off after having wandered off into snarkier nets, this topic came to mind.

I interjected myself into what I viewed as a forum bullying situation, the victim of which gives many clues that in all likelihood has some major mental/emotional/physical issues, as well as a probability of addiction to prescription pain meds. I can not claim any great success for my efforts. In fact, a new target was lined up (me). I now notice a few singed areas where by flame retardant suit must have failed me.

So anyway.....
•Have you ever been a target?
•Have you ever witnessed it?
•Have you ever been involved in some way?
•What are your thoughts on those who simply hang around (rubber necking) apparently just for the sport of it, or perhaps they are just thinking, "Thank God, it's not me they're picking on" ?

 

[loosechickens]

Yes, yes, and yes. It makes you doubly thankful for well moderated boards like this one, where things can get testy at times, but all out cyber bullying isn't allowed or tolerated.

What evil people are capable of when they feel anonymous and free to loose whatever thoughts are in their minds continues to amaze me. The general level of nastiness many people seem to feel inside must be considerable for that much venom to be unleashed.

Glad you stepped in to help, and sorry you're feeling a bit singed.....

LooseChickens

 

[Moemg]

The MSN Women in Red group was out of hand for awhile .I think they all had PMS at the same time.It was brutal !

 

[thefed]

Fighting/bullying on the internet is as dumb as it gets. I can see how someone would bully or BE bullied....its the internet....c'mon


I have a favortite picture and saying for when internet disagreementrs get outta control...but out of respect for those it makes light of, im not gonna post it. if youre thick skinned and dont care, pm me...it funny

 

[aenlighten]

Only once

Did I unwittingly become involved in a flame war. I had heard of them of course, but never thought I would ever become involved. A witty pointed reply unleashed such vitriol, somewhat made worse because I was on the daily mailing list and only saw the response to others after replying myself. There was nothing anonymous about it. A manager for a company P** and m** about a potential hire stalling and then declining an offer, and then attributed this to the entire group. After some people pointed out his problems and suggested alternatives, he went ballistic, foul mouthing and denigrating everyone. Certainly convinced everyone it was no place to work. The moderator put out a belated caution but by that time the damage had been done and some people were opting out.

 

[Nords]

The Navy's surface warfare officers have a forum called "Sailor Bob". You're expected to behave in a professional manner but it's understood that you're in a big Internet wardroom instead of onboard your ship's. No enlisted or civilians around to listen to your [-]constructive feedback[/-] p***ing and m***ing. Posters swap career advice, kvetch about the latest clueless policies, and comment on public events. Hugely informative and eye-opening. If you claim to be a flag officer then your membership is subject to verification but otherwise the truth is that just about anyone can join. Of course many in the Navy's upper echelons [-]have their staffs[/-] keep an eye on the conversations and occasionally [-]have their exec asst post their words of wisdom for them[/-] participate.

A couple years ago one of the admirals signed off the forum with a huge blast of flame that, even for a SWO flag, was impressively eyeball-searing. "Whiners" and "wimps" were the starting point for his catapults of invective hurled at the impressionable younger officers. This guy's command of vituperative Anglo-Saxon colloquial expressions would have brought even Salty Sam up short in admiration. It gave new depths of meaning to the expression "SWOs eat their young, but they barbeque them first."

Word came back that even though he'd retired he still bought himself a come-around with a four-star. At that year's annual flag conference, SailorBob was declared to be a BUPERS-sanctioned zone for free expression without reprisals from the chain of command...

 

[CuppaJoe]

I've been pretty much shunned on another site after I expressed my opinion that the late pope should not be sainted since he failed (IMO) to protect the children of his flock.

In an on-line class discussion section, several students dropped out suddenly after expressing their opinions about other people's taste in movies. Two of them had a definite flame out although I don't remember the details.

 

[megacorp-firee]

Not quite the same, but on most of the poker playing sites, where theoretically you are over 21, there is a lot of abusive language and bullying going on. It's the anonymity that allows some of these infantile trolls grow big brass ones. Not PC, but these 'kids' (of whatever age) should have had a few whacks on the fanny when they were growing up.

 

[W2R]

"Back in the day", when I first started posting on Usenet, I mistakenly aligned myself with a brilliant but evil troll who was a prolific poster and had been driving one particular Usenet group nuts for years. Naturally all the anger and vitriol that people were ready to vent on him, overflowed on me, and as a newbie I was utterly unprepared for that. It was absolutely awful, but I learned a lot:

1) Read and get the lay of the land, and understand who is allied with who and who not to ally with before you ever post the first time;

2) Try to sprinkle your statements with "in my opinion", "it seems to me", "what I have experienced is", and other such silliness so that people don't feel that you are nonconsensually shoving The Absolute Truth down their throats (and yes, I forget to do this all too often);

3) Try not to respond to inflammatory posts. In my opinion t's not worth it, and people don't seem to judge you by them. If you get a flamewar started, my experience was that they WILL judge you by that.

4) If things get unpleasant, it can be helpful to go and find another forum for a while.

5) If it's not fun, I would suggest that you don't waste your time on it. Life is too short!!!

 

[Martha]

I have been selling stuff on Craigslist and have on occasion read the rants and raves section. For some strange reason there has been a series of posts which belittle, curse, name call and lie about people in a particular area of our state (the iron range). Very unMinnesota like and embarrassing to even mention. I wonder if it is that animal tendency by some to group together and pick on a target perceived as weak. Or, it could be one or two guys who are just antisocial jerks hoping for a reaction.