I've been stalked online, and it sucks. A couple of times, people who have verbally assaulted me online have gone out of their way to track me down at conferences just to confront me in person. They weren't even registered - they just came to confront me. These have been some of the rare occasions in my life I'd wished I were armed.
Meanwhile, someone didn't like something geopolitical I wrote online years ago, and began sending me hate mail. Others had done the same but had never been persistent. I tried reasoning with him and it got nowhere, so I started ignoring him. And then he started hacking. He defaced my website and broke into my Yahoo account, taunting me on how he could use it to ruin me. He'd then give me my account back, go away, and do it again. Meanwhile, Yahoo was totally unresponsive to my pleas and wouldn't let me change the details of certain security features that were locked down, allowing the guy to keep breaking in. And then one day the guy got bored, said he'd leave me alone and never bothered me again. It was scary as hell. ac --- In videoblogging@yahoogroups.com, "Heath" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Discussion is good, venting can be good, bullying is bad, no matter > how it is done. I think the thing that people forget very easily in > cyber space is that words can hurt. Whether it's from someone > sitting next to you or some person half a world away sitting at a > computer screen typing a message. > > Now I am not some "hippie, let's all get together and hug and why do > we have to hurt each other" person. But speaking from personal > experiance, not only can sticks and stones hurt but words often hurt > the worst. Because the scars can last a long time. > > It't interesting that you mention Evilvlog, because on occasion I > have read some of the "discussion" taking place and to be honest > sometimes I feel it crosses a line. Sometimes it just seems mean for > no other reason than to be mean. Again, that is my impression and > since I have never participated in the discussion, you can take that > with a grain of salt if you wish. But know, I only speak as someone > who just "happens" by...sometimes when we are in groups we forget, > that while we may know the broader or deeper meaning, to a passer by > it can look completly different. > > And if someone doesn't know that you are actually praising them, is > it really a praise? It's a fine line I know. I really do, because I > love dialogue, real dialogue, but I find all to often our own ego's > get in the way of allowing true dialogue to actually happen. Heck I > know a few times I have wanted to take some of the "old school" > vloggers to task for some things, but I have often asked myself, "why > am I doing this, what is my motive?" > > I do think we all need a "safe" place where we can express ourselves, > but I would hope that we all can remember that there is usally a real > person behind the screen name or blog/vlog....and wheter we agree > with them or not, they are still a human being, unless they are just > evil hippie democrats.... ;) > > Heath > http://batmangeek7.blogspot.com
