Why I’m Bothering With The Trolls

by Veronica on January 8, 2010

in Soapbox

Our catch cry in the blogosphere is don’t feed the trolls and normally, I subscribe to that school of thought, when it is a single drive by trolling.

However.

By ignoring ChickenLiver and her band of cronies, we are allowing them more power. The power to go about their nasty business unmolested. They feel safe over there, safe in their anonymity, knowing that all most bloggers will do is ignore them, delete comments, put fingers in our ears and sing LALALALA.

I’m saying that’s wrong. I’m standing up and saying that this time, for this group of women, it’s the wrong approach and it gives them power over us.

It’s like a schoolyard. We ignore the bully and the child he is punching, because we are grateful, that today, it isn’t us. We don’t want to be noticed, punched in the face and have our money stolen. We don’t want to be the butt of the jokes, to be tripped in the hallway and have our life made miserable.

It’s the same thing here in the blogosphere. We’ve got a bully. A fucking large one. She lives under a bridge with her minions and she spreads her poison pen about the place and we ignore her, hoping that today it won’t be us she notices.

Her poison and the fear of having that ire directed at us personally keeps us silent.

So I’m standing up and I’m shouting about it. I’m linking her. I’m dragging it out into the open. She shouldn’t be allowed to bully people unmolested. She shouldn’t be allowed to pick on us, one by one and make us feel small, sending her trolls over to comment nastily.

We need to stand together as bloggers and link our arms. We need to not be alone when she spreads her poison amongst us. We, as a community, we need to band together and laugh at her and her stupid commenters. We need to show them that really, their shit is petty and we don’t care anymore about being punched, because we’re all standing together and a bully can’t take on fifty/a hundred/a thousand of us at once.We need to let our community be strong for us and stop letting a small minority of bloggers carry the weight of the troll alone.

We need to stop letting her act the way she has been, living in the underground of the blogging community.
Lots of people seem to think that I should have left well enough alone, that I should have stayed silent, not fed the trolls and proceeded about my day. After all, she wasn’t picking on me.

‘All it takes for evil to flourish, is for good men to do nothing’

We’re a community. I think in this instance, we need to pull together and act like one and show the trolls how silly and petty their shit is.

***

Edited to add, with the benefit of hindsight

I don’t agree with everything written in the blogosphere, all of the time. I probably never will, I’m human after all. I subscribe to the school of thought that if you can’t say anything nicely, then don’t say it at all.

I’ve written about criticism in the blogosphere before.

I don’t think we should silence the critics or limit debate on topics with differing opinions, but I do think that the bullying mentality has to stop. Disagreeing with me, or with her is fine, but sometimes, it doesn’t stop at politely disagreeing.

When I talk about trolls I am talking about having your words twisted beyond belief. Having someone take something tiny that you said and take it out of context to make it into something else. Having someone dislike you so much that nothing you say is ever going to be okay in their eyes.

The nastiness, the bullying, the sending over of minions to comment nastily, that has to stop. On ALL sides.

You’ve also got to realise, that we’re not all going to agree, all of the time. And as long as the debate remains open, honest and doesn’t degenerate into name calling and comparisons to Nazis (yes, I was called a Nazi for doing something differently to another person), then debate is good. It’s when it falls into name calling, picking on someones hairstyle, or calling them ugly. When it is no better than schoolyard bullying, that’s when we have to step in and say enough.

We’re playing soccer here, with no referrees. We’ve got to referree this game ourselves, otherwise no one wins.

It’s fine to disagree with someone, but for gods sake, have some decency too.

***

This post was written after Chicken Liver wrote about Brenda having her cat put down. The debate in the comments there spiralled out of control and got downright horrible. The nastiness directed at Brenda was completely uncalled for and disgusted me beyond reason.

I don’t like what ChickenLiver does. I wonder what she gets out of it, to spend all her time finding fault with others. I wonder about the commenters too, some of whom agree with her as rabidly as the Dooce fans they claim to hate agree with Dooce.

I comment over there, often. Normally in defence of whoever she is picking on, because still, we’re keeping the silence and letting her get away with the bullying.

And I don’t think anyone should have to put up with bullying.

Leah January 8, 2010 at 11:11 am

Hmmm… I Just read the post about the cat thing.. and i agree with u 110% percent.. If a cat curled up into My son’s bed id throw it oustside also.. I had an aunt of mine have the same problem years and yeas ago (around 1985) with her little girl.. Unfortunatly she did lose her to having the cat sleep on her face.. she had the cat put down..it’s a sad situation for all involved really. and No ur not Ignorant Veronica, your just realistic, Unlike those people. 🙂

Clarissa January 8, 2010 at 11:14 am

Right on :)What can I do?

frogpondsrock January 8, 2010 at 11:18 am

*stands up and applauds*

Veronica January 8, 2010 at 11:21 am

Clarissa – You can post about it (but sometimes, the backlash is there and it’s scary) or you can simply stand with us and say, this isn’t acceptable and the people being bullied needn’t stand on their own anymore.

We don’t have to stay silent anymore because rather than taking her power away (like it does with a random drive by trolling), our silence is increasing it.

Sharnee January 8, 2010 at 12:11 pm

Yeah this ridiculous bullying that you’ve recently opened my eyes to is BULLSHIT. I’m so glad that you’ve dragged it out into the open for all to see, Veronica. Good on you.

Kathy January 8, 2010 at 2:40 pm

I dunno, V … I see what you’re saying, truly I do, but I just don’t know what it can possibly achieve. People of that ilk are notoriously unresponsive to reason or even tastes of their own medicine. I think they actually thrive on people biting back. The old adage applies – wrestle with a pig and you’ll both get dirty, the only difference is, the pig enjoys it.

Besides, you may call me a coward if you will, but I do not wish to draw the fire on my own quiet backwater of the Internet. My blog is a space for me to write about things to matter to me and I am happiest doing so without trolls making me feel horrible in my own place. But that’s just me.

(BTw, yes, she is a bully, Pure & simple).

Veronica January 8, 2010 at 2:43 pm

Kathy – Nope, not a coward at all and I can totally understand where you’re coming from. I don’t know why I responded to them in the first place, I knew what they were like.

But, now that I have, I’m refusing to say silent about the nastiness over there. I don’t think silence is acheiving anything tbh.

kys January 8, 2010 at 3:29 pm

Ok, I missed out on something again. Darn my real life. I’m going back to your older posts to get up to speed.

I love what you wrote and your stance on bullying.

Megan January 8, 2010 at 4:42 pm

It is so easy just to ignore the trolls but you are right in some cases that does not kill their power. I’ll post something about this on my blog, you don’t mind if I link your post, do you?

Jayne January 8, 2010 at 6:51 pm

Can I point to the silly girl and laugh like a loon at her miserable life that she’s allowed to get the better of her?
Oh and her so-called friends/followers/synophants (brown nosers desperately in need of a Kleenx) only share a savage hatred with her, not a friendship.
And, finally, she must have the saddest and lonliest life to spend her time trawling for blogs to bitch about, filling her time with bile and vile thoughts, getting a thrill when a Mummy blogger stuffs up virtual Manna falling into her lap a pseudo justification for her carping and bleating about others.
*waves to Chicken Liver* Yes, petal you are chopped liver and, snookums? It (and you) aren’t on my shopping list. Mwah 😛

Barbara January 8, 2010 at 8:03 pm

You’re right and I suspect that the reason you didn’t just pipe down and hide is that you’re a brave, decent, strong woman. Unlike the nest of vipers who probably wouldn’t have the balls to comment on other peoples blogs unless they knew they had backing.

I’m not sure if I have the guts to post about it, I’ll think about it. I am however, standing with you and saying that anyone being bullied does not have to stand on their own. In fact, I’m off to lob a few encouraging comments at people now.

Fe January 8, 2010 at 9:51 pm

I SO applaud this post, Veronica. It’s so terribly hard to see good and well-intentioned bloggers shot down for their honesty.

I just can’t stomach them. I followed your link, and honestly feel as though I’ve lost half an hour of my life that I will never get back… that that half an hour has been spent covered in the dirtiest of dirt. Ugggh.

I would love to be as brave as you, but I can’t stomach the research that I’d need to do.

Mind you, if she turned her attentions to one of mine (ie: YOU), I’d put my gloves on quick smart.

Kristy January 9, 2010 at 12:16 am

Veronica I agree with you 100% on the cat issue AND the bullying issue. That woman has some serious problems and I feel sorry for her. To be so nasty she must have some serious insecurities.

I have been reading your blog for over a year now and love it! Don’t stop anytime soon!!

nikki January 9, 2010 at 3:08 am

I love you even more for this.

Scout's Honor January 9, 2010 at 3:21 am

Good for you Veronica.

As for me, I totally, totally feed those trolls. I never delete. I respond and respond and respond until they’ve got nothing.

Usually by the end, they delete and then I repost everything they wrote again because you shit on my blog, I will bury you. Once on the internet, always on the internet.

I am a vengeful bitch. Heh! Honestly, I really am nice if you play nice. I love a spirited and respectful difference of opinion and encourage it on my blog, but sometimes there are people whose only joy in life is create havoc and misery. Life is too short to let them get away with it.

So? I’ve pinpointed where these trolls lived. Might have even posted WHERE they live last week with a certain troll.

OOOPS!

Next might be a Google image of their house. Double Heh!

Their fault. Don’t write anything on my blog or about me that you wouldn’t say to a stranger in the grocery store. Love the idea of banding together. It’s what I teach my kids all the time about standing up for victim at recess. We should practice what we preach.

So sign me up and please let me know next time someone needs back up, m’kay?

~Scout

Scout's Honor January 9, 2010 at 4:03 am

Ok yikes.

Ok, bear with me. I just read the Chicken Liver post and have to say with absolutely no disrespect to you that I agree with Chicken Liver a little bit on this one. I am a sucker when it comes to the warm and fuzzies. CL’s tone was way too harsh and a blog judging other blogs just seems wrong and definitely trollish and I know nothing about SAJ exceot her-might-have-been-a-little-bit-blase-toned post, but the basic tenet of the love of animals is mutual. (Don’t hurt me 🙂 )

So I have spent thousands of dollars we didn’t have to extend the life of a dog with terminal cancer for 18 months. She was my first baby who had been with me for over 14 years and peed countless times over the year and checked one of my shoes of every pair I had for the first three weeks I got her.

Was it worth it to go in debt for her? To me yes.

However I know other people have different sentiments and I can respect that. We all do the best we can. As for putting down a cat for throwing up, that does make me sad. We do have a no kill humane shelter here in Seattle where the cats are given entire rooms/not cages to roam, but I know every area is not as fortunate. That said, the comment attacks on the blogger’s site were not cool either.

In the end though, I still see huge value in your post. A simple disagreeing, but respectful comment would be way better than a blog that’s sole purpose it to criticize others anonymously. Seems cowardly and very trollish indeed. Sigh.

jean January 9, 2010 at 5:18 am

I agree with you. I wish she would just disappear. But the sad reality is that she and others like her, live for this kind of trashing/bullying. My mother would say to kill her with kindness. I’m not sure what the answer is.

Sonya January 9, 2010 at 6:56 am

To call her a Cyber bully is to give her too much credibility. She started her site because she could not get legitimate acceptance from the very mommyblog community she now shuns. Dooce was mean to her and didn’t respond to a nasty email. Chicken Poop is just a cast away. She is the angry goth girl that sits in the corner lobbing insults at the popular kids and wonders why everyone hates her. I agree that there needs to be an end to cyberbullying…I don’t see Chicken poop as a bully. I look at Michele as being someone to pity. Hopefully one day she will get the help she needs but until then the best course of action is to just stay away.

Sonya January 9, 2010 at 6:59 am

I would point you to this site to see what kind of person Michele really is:

http://fightinghypocrisy.wordpress.com

Scout's Honor January 9, 2010 at 7:51 am

Okay, wow did some research on this Chicken Liver/Michele McBee. Checked out Sonya’s link too.

What a waste of DNA.

She just wants attention and doesn’t seem to care how she gets it.

Too bad she breeds…

~Scout

Veronica January 9, 2010 at 8:02 am

Scouts Honour – In response to your previous comment – Yes and a lot of my ire comes from previous comment threads, not just this one. I came across as a little bit flippant over there, which my decision to put my cat down wasn’t flippant at all. I do agree that if you’ve got the money to spend on your pet, then do it. We had a dog when I was a kid and I suspect that my parents would have done everything to save her if that is what it had come to.

My biggest complaint is that they are complaining about a cat, that was put down HUMANELY. It wasn’t drugged and tossed in the bush, it wasn’t abused, it was put down humanely. That kind of decision is a personal one, to be made by the family involved and no one else. Apparently no kill shelters in her area aren’t fantastic and they don’t even exist where I am. Sad, but true.

Veronica January 9, 2010 at 8:13 am

Sonya – Thankyou for that link. Very interesting reading.

Veronica January 9, 2010 at 10:25 am

To be clear: I’m not asking anyone to ‘do’ anything about ChickenLiver, I’m simply wanting to lessen the silence around her and her blog. That’s why I linked her, so that people could head over and make up their own minds, not have me make it up for them.

I’ve been accused of lighting bonfires and getting my pitchforks ready, but to be honest, this isn’t a witch hunt. I don’t want you to troll her.

She claims to be keeping parenting bloggers accoutable for what they post. I’m saying that she needs to be held to those same rules. At the end of the day, her posts and (some, not all of) her commenters vitriol is aimed at regular people, like you, like me.

jw January 9, 2010 at 10:57 am

This is what I wrote as a comment on her blog, though she deemed it not fit to post, apparently….

Veronica,

“Really, all this brohaha over a cat, still? Hating me over a cat? Seriously? You’re all so high and mighty that you can’t see beyond yourselves and think about things from someone else’s perspective. Where is your empathy?”

Something you need to understand…they have none. Liberals view life here in no certain order, UNLESS it benefits their view.
Up is down, black is white, green is orange, and there are no shades of gray.

They hate because they can, Veronica. It’s good for them to do, but NOT good for others. Just the way it is here.

Give them good facts and anecdotal evidence and they will only reply, “Well, you should have it done it my way, because I know whats best in every and all circumstances!”

They have no empathy. They don’t even know the meaning.

Watch and see, Veronica, watch and see, and stand strong.

Veronica January 9, 2010 at 11:20 am

JW – I’ve found that she is moderating very carefully. I commented before, and 5 minutes after I’d pressed post, another 3-4 comments were through, but mine was not one of them. She is selective and she is controlling the flow of information very carefully. I know of at least one other comment that hasn’t gone through at all (I was emailed about it).

frogpondsrock January 9, 2010 at 11:31 am

The moderation of comments is one of the reasons that I am not going over there and playing her silly game. Chicken livers is controlling the flow of information to slant the so called debate in her favour.

I am very proud of you for standing up for what you believe in.

jw January 9, 2010 at 11:38 am

Yes, Veronica, I figured such as well.

Agree Frogpondsrock. Typical of their ilk, though.

Tanya January 9, 2010 at 11:40 am

it keeps going because everyone fuels the fire.

I didn’t see the posts as too bad and didn’t understand what you were talking about until I read the comments and tracked back through them. The discussion part is the biggest problem.

I think this person is very bored with their life and is trying to find ways of entertaining themselves. (herself? Its a chick right?)

But really, the internet is open and everyone can pretty much say what they want. She has a disclaimer that basically says she doesnt take responsibility for anything. I dont think it will stop unless everyone just ignores it.

Tanya January 9, 2010 at 11:44 am

p.s I’ll link to her, might not achieve a lot but I’ll still do it.

Veronica January 9, 2010 at 1:28 pm

My latest response to ChickenLiver hasn’t been moderated (despite the 3 comments before me and 2 comments after me getting through her filter), so I’m posting it here.


ChickenLiver – I’m not building a bonfire and sharpening my pitchfork. I’m standing up and saying that your form of bullying is not okay and that we as a community shouldn’t keep silent about it anymore.

Would you go up to a lady in the shopping centre and tell her she had too many children and that she couldn’t possibly have time for them all?

I can tell you that I have disagreed with large bloggers and lived to tell the tale. No nastiness, nothing. You know why? Because I disagreed with them politely. I stated my opinion without degenerating into wishing ill on them and their children, or making sweeping judgements about them and their family with no basis in fact.

You say that you won’t allow comments here that ‘cross the line’. What about Tori’s comment then? Don’t you think that was a little much?

As for you volunteering and adopting, fantastic. Do all your commenters on this little witch hunt of yours do the same thing?

Oh and at least I have the conviction to own my words and opinions, rather than hiding behind a veil of anonymity.

ETA: She’s moderated my comment now. Who knows, maybe it got lost amongst all her other comments?

Ireland January 9, 2010 at 2:20 pm

Holy mother of pearl, sister!!! Look at me living in my little bubble of nothingness. First I followed the link to ChickenLips, then I followed HER link to the Very Terrible Horrible Human Being, Brenda. What kills me is that none of ChickenLips’ readers seem to fathom is that cat was abandoned with Brenda, by her mother-in-law–yet they continued to berate her for “getting a cat and then failing the cat”. (I’d have to admit that honestly, if my MIL abandoned ANYTHING with me… it would be destined for the green needle, too.) The cat OBVIOUSLY had serious pet-owner-abandonment issues, along with health issues, and they all think that toting it off to a no-kill shelter (another crock of CRAP) was the humane answer? I’m agog at the venom these women have against other bloggers, and YOU, holy crap–they cannot take 13 seconds to read your blogs and they attack you. Yeah, Veronica, they’re rabid dogs, the whole lot of ’em. And HOW THE HELL DOES CHICKENLIPS HAVE TIME TO RAISE HUMAN CHILDREN WITH ALL THAT MODERATING?

I applaud you for standing up to the bullies.

I’m just glad they weren’t around my place when I had to put my cat to sleep last spring. Sheesh.

river January 9, 2010 at 6:14 pm

I sashayed over to those other blogs and read through them and some of the comments, but I wasn’t happy with what I was reading, so moved on. I won’t be going back there.

Kuky January 9, 2010 at 8:11 pm

I’m going to have to disagree with you. Don’t bother with trolls. Let them fester in their dark holes saying whatever nastiness they want. Because it doesn’t matter. She doesn’t matter. It’s just shit. Her blog is shit. I mean that’s what she’s named it. It’s pure shit.

I had never even heard of her until I read a comment and googled you and then saw your link to her craptastic site. And that’s why you ignore trolls like her. She has ads on her site. Visiting her site gives her traffic. Mentioning her gives her traffic. It’s to her advantage all the back and forth going on with all her crap posts. Ignore her and all trolls. They’re insignificant.

Kuky January 9, 2010 at 8:47 pm

And if you feel like you have to stand up to trolls maybe put up their email addresses or something, anything else. I just feel like giving them traffic is helping them.

waymorethan January 9, 2010 at 10:45 pm

They are way more than trolls.
They are being discussed in other places.
I read where they share:

your:
real name
address
phone number
employment location
childrens names
spouses name
the local parks you may play at
stores you may shop at
then they drive and check on you
if they don’t like what they see they call authorities

They simply go all over the web choosing their victims, then they go in for the kill.
I hear they are proud of the number of “hits” they have.
Sounds like a gang doesn’t it?

That Girl January 10, 2010 at 9:00 am

Ok here goes.

I post over at Poop on Peeps. I’ve in the past agreed with her. More than once. I have a really negative place in my heart for Dooce and have since before… well… forever. And to say that EVERYONE posting over there is some “rabid dog” is absolutely incorrect. Not all of us there constantly agree with every single thing. And it is nice to have a group who doesn’t worship all mommy bloggers. And there are incidents of mommy bloggers acting like the Mean Girls in high school – esp when they all get together (like at things like BlogHer).

Just because I read a blog doesn’t mean I agree with every word said. And Veronica, I like your blog, I’ll probably keep reading 🙂 I like Brenda’s too…

Oh and Waymorethan, you posted over at Brenda’s blog too I assume. You are a crazy of the highest degree. Please seek help.

Veronica January 10, 2010 at 9:18 am

That Girl – You’re absolutely right, not everyone over there is rabid and froth at the mouth, but a few are and they’re really very vicious (Tori comes to mind).

Kuky January 10, 2010 at 11:31 am

I’ve been blissfully unaware that sites like that existed. I knew there were troll commenters out there but actual sites where the sole purpose is to criticize others, I did not know. Talk about “throwing stones”.

And I figure if everyone ignores them, removes them from their sites, doesn’t mention them publicly, they are going to be all alone ranting with no one to notice.

Wish there was a troll filter out there like they have spam filters.

swan lake January 10, 2010 at 11:49 am

jw – you think the problem with chickenliver is that she is a LIBERAL? You are totally insane. She has lots of problems, but do not class liberals with that lady!

Brenda January 10, 2010 at 1:23 pm

Oh my Veronica, just been to your other site and they are NASTY bitches. Sign me up for the Troll Elimination Program please?!

posaid January 10, 2010 at 1:39 pm

That girl, I am just sharing what I was told. You can hate the messenger if you want.

This below the dotted line is a direct quote from 1,000.
However these groups are being discussed all over the place. They have infighting, splinter groups, ex hurt members, and all sorts of issues. They even publish private info on their own kind!
Every person that’s ever stood up to them was called mentally ill.
This gals post at 1000 really backed up what I heard.

They haven’t gotten to my blog but everyone is vulnerable to these bullies.
When they attack each mommy they are drawing more hits to their blogs. It’s free advertising.

Wonder who they will attack next? 🙁
There are too many to list but the main 3 sites I was shown this week were CL, Sybermoms, and Quiverfull of snark.

Ok here’s that quote from 1000:
—————————

please do be careful! I’m rather worried about you and your children (and your husband!!), though not for the reasons others seem to be. If you read around on these boards, it’s plain crazy. These people psycho-google-stalk you. They have your address and phone number and some have even driven by your home to “check things out.” Some have looked up playgrounds where your kids might play, and driven by them looking for you! Some have walked around the stores mentioned looking for you all. They have figured out which Church you go to and drive by that as well. They follow your husband on Facebook, which shows your city and personal pictures to everyone (it might be wise to change all of the facebook security settings so only friends can view the personal information). Maybe switching to a cell phone instead of a land line or calling your phone company and getting your number unlisted (so they can’t find your address through the online directories).

Please just be safe and be aware of your surroundings. I’m sure you already are when out and about, but these people are insane. If someone is insane enough to google-stalk someone and drive by their home and recreation places to catch a glimpse, they are crazy enough to become violent or a kidnapper. Sorry if I seem like I’m lecturing you about this. I’m not trying to belittle you, these wackos just have me genuinely concerned…

Veronica January 10, 2010 at 2:09 pm

Swan Lake – We don’t need to call JW insane here. I think calling CL a liberal was a big generalisation and probably offensive to some. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what her political preferences are.

Veronica January 10, 2010 at 2:13 pm

posaid – I’m going to assume that you are also waymorethan? Do you have any links to back this up? If you don’t want to comment, you’re more than welcome to email me. I don’t publish email addresses here if you’re worried about anonymity, nor do I share your IP address. Ever.

posaid January 10, 2010 at 2:39 pm

http://under1000permonth.blogspot.com/2010/01/this-is-my-blog.html?showComment=1262749893783#c5095296771308944834

and

Just
read Chicken Liver (pooponpeeps), Quiverfullofsnark, and Sybermoms (via in person, by google, or get an insider to fill you in) Google Chicken Liver , by her real name. All links are there, days and days worth.

As they attack each new person, I think we have an obligation to contact that blogger and warn them!

I have warned you, now let’s watch and see who they hit next.

posaid January 10, 2010 at 2:47 pm
posaid January 10, 2010 at 3:23 pm

Can you please remove my last 2 posts please?
Or at least edit out the link error info?
Thanks.

Veronica January 10, 2010 at 3:29 pm

Posaid – I didn’t get a link error at any point? It took me to a comment on the under1000 blog (thanks for that.) I’ll also be checking out the other places you mentioned.

Veronica January 10, 2010 at 3:35 pm

Oh and of course I’ll edit something if you want me to, I’m just not sure what you want removing (I tried to email you, it bounced.)

Kari C January 11, 2010 at 1:53 am

Wow…..I read a couple of CL’s posts, does she have any original thoughts of her own or does she always hack on everyone else’s blog?? I cannot imagine what she is like IRL, but sadly I think it must be misery at it’s best. I wondered why Sandi left a sad post, can’t blame her really.

But if you put yourself out there for all to read, then you have to be prepared for some uglies to come along, CL seems to be the queen of the uglies. I couldn’t read more than a couple of her posts, too negative.

Hurray to you Veronica for standing up to CL and calling her out. I hate bullies even now as a grown up. I call them out at my work all the time then just laugh because at the end of the night-they are the miserable ones and I don’t have to live with it!

I hope she figures it out and changes………but I doubt it.

Sonya January 19, 2010 at 9:39 am

just another resource on Michele McBee:

http://luckythirteenandcounting.com/2009/09/anonymous.html

Veronica January 19, 2010 at 9:43 am

Thanks Sonya, I’ve read that piece and now I’m rereading it.

unknowen January 19, 2010 at 3:21 pm

Oh wow.. Hun some of these people are just crazy. There are a number of studies that states some are true psychopaths.There is nothing you can do about that except call the police & have them locked up.cracked.com has an adult/male pretending to be people he seen online. He’s not any of these people. He reads everything they type about him also. He’s like just not a troll . Also a stalker. Most trolls can turn out to be stalkers. When we do the right thing. He does wrong. He can’t get it through his head of how wrong he is because he thinks he’s right & can’t be found. Oneday he will be. If you got a troll bothering you please report it to the FBI. That’s online stalking-harassment . They deal ith such things like that. There have been net laws since 1996. Remember they won’t stop till they had enough. Mine has been reported in the past by a me & a number of people it done no good. He is not scared. He gets a thrill from it in his sick mind . A part of him also don’t know this is wrong when you go that far. He stepped over the line long ago. I think he only way to stop him is by scaring him to the point where he’ll delete all accounts and not come back on websites or in chats etc stalking/trolling people like crazy. No threats though. Remember they also lie alot. So be careful & keep a close eye.

Leonie January 27, 2010 at 11:08 pm

I wrote a piece a while back, inspired by something written by the renegade moms about Dooce.

The reason I mention writing the blog post (here: http://www.smokshannerit.nl/missleonie/archives/436 ) is that I linked to a post I took offence too, and the response of the website owners was to delete the contact details I had filled out in earnest (email, website, the lot).

I never got a single hater comment on that post (which may be because no one got a chance to read it, but still). It seemed to me that a calm, well-argued (if I may so so myself) and polite post threatened them more than they dared to admit. Unlinking it to keep it from prying eyes was their response. There was nothing to ridicule or take offence from, because I wasn’t being mean or bitchy, just blatantly honest, and concerned. So they tried to make me disappear, and after leaving a few more comments, I got bored.

Maybe if we all take a stand, we won’t be unlinked and shoved into a back corner of the Internet so easily?

I do agree that standing there and doing nothing is not the way forward. Sure, rationality doesn’t seem to be a language spoken by some of the haters, and I’ve had perfectly polite comments not let through, but some idealistic part of me wants to keep trying. Because it is not OK. It just isn’t.

Veronica February 6, 2010 at 12:59 pm

Leonie – I have been terribly horribly slack and I am just reading your link now.

I have never had a problem with diagreeing, but you can see, the comments over at PoP degenerate into nastiness and vitriol quite often. Which I don’t agree with. For gods sake, disagree with me, or her or her, but to bitch about a hairstyle, or to pull things out and twist the words, that’s just shit.

Your link – definitely worth reading for anyone else possibly clicking through to here.

HappyCampers February 7, 2010 at 4:18 am

I couldn’t agree with you more. There is nothing redeeming about PoP site and the fact that it hides behind a veil of pointing out Mommy blogger errors because she is worried about the children? Puh-leeze.

Everything…and I mean EVERYTHING….is coated with the worst spin possible. For example…I had commented about a child’s mattress on the floor with the statement “My son sleeps on a mattress on our bedroom floor too.”

Lord help me…she jumped all over my ass for treating him like a 3rd world person. When I spent THREE comments defending myself (he WANTS to sleep on our bedroom floor and we are not forcing him to sleep on a BARE mattress nor are we poor) she said they “all went to spam.” Uh-huh. She did manage to get my 4th comment that didn’t go to spam. How interesting!

The comments are heavily moderated to show one point of view, letting a few dissenting points of view through but largely not accepting comments that she doesnt’ agree with.

She is disgusting…and hiding behind her anonymity is immature and downright a waste of energy. She seriously needs to get a life, along with all the other nit-picks around the internet. Gah.

troll -predator stopper March 9, 2010 at 6:47 pm

Some women & has been having issues with this person. It’s okay for him to be gay ! It’s not okay for us to speak out & telling him stop being racist & judging because were little , skinny, fat. By far he is stupid & annoying. I wear a size 5 ! I am not fat. Who cares what people look like. Were all different. Anyway this guy blogs-trolls under different accounts just to get angry responses on people’s pages. He lies so much we don’t know if he really likes to lie or he believes them like being delusional. He is knowen to stalk people & has in the past. The FBI & Police have done nothing about him. They got many reports on him from different people. Issue is they can’t find some of his ip’sbecause he blocks them. He’s a coward. Everyone be warned one e-mail of his is sordidguy@aol.com another sordidguys. He accuses people & parents of being child predators when they are not. We believe he might be one since he accuses people of so many false things on blogs. And we know he strechs the truth & even lies so much the police & fbi do not believe him because many reponses came out on him of lying & being an online troll. He says he’s not. Reality is this guy is a nutjob & A troll. Were not stupid & You think . We are watching you & Have you on a watch list !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Be warned if you see him on any blogs or sites. People’s caught him in many things. Only few believe him that’s because he has few online friends who’s dumb & sick as he is. We need to stop people like him & block him from writting on any site . Once is enough . Then block & report if you see him. He hates females & brought up people’s kids & stuff he should not have in the past. This person needs to be jailed & Not ever have kids. He comes on blogs mostly talking about kids or hate for certain people he don’t even know. This person gets stuff in his head and trolls for hours. Can you say psycho? Please be careful & be safe.

troll -predator stopper March 9, 2010 at 6:57 pm

Remember trolls go on a number of accounts it’s just one sometimes on a blog or website or chat room and so on. Don’t feed them. These people are mentally ill. I don’t let them get to me anymore after finding out most of them were mentally ill and serious issues not little. So I ignore & report. It is illegal to keep stalking and/or harassing via internet. You can sue or have them jailed. They will not . Only way to put a stop is report them & block ! Most trolls are knowen to do these things to try & get under your skin. In there mind it’s normal & no crime. They think nothing will ever happen. They don’t live in the real world like some of us do. They are cowards in real-life & When the police or fbi comes & takes there computer there even more of a coward they relize a big dose of reality then !

Hope this helped !

Signed Troll-Predator Stopper

Troll-Preadtor Stopper March 9, 2010 at 7:10 pm

This guy has been trolling-sending false info & messages over the net for 2 or 3 years ! He attacked me a few times ! I don’t even know him sorry for going into the chatroom you don’t own lol. This guy needs serious help. He’s spewed out many disgusting stuff and racial stuff in the past even went far as calling most women fat on blogs. sordidguy youtube & aol accounts. He stalked me for a month or more on mine till I told him go away or you’l be arrested he posted lol & Never bothered me again. Most stalkers don’t go. Few do because they are scared of jail & this coward is. He hides his ip’s and lies about information & stuff because he knows he’s in trouble by the authorities and people we caught him up in alot of things ! Most of these people have disorders . He goes by stacy & other names. We might be dealing with someone who is like sybil-personality disorder. He can accuse others all he wants reality is he’s already in trouble. sordidguys another account. RoleAwayTheStone is believed to be him also we believe he might be an online preadtor also because of some stuff he’s posted on blogs in the past. People’s caught him in a number of lies. No one can believe him since this crazy likes to lie so much.

unknown March 20, 2010 at 3:45 am

Some people are just not any ol troll or bully. People take things a little serious & Sometimes you should. Others times not. There are alot of warnings signs about people even on the net. Some are just simply crazies & people say troll !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And they have it written on them the word crazy. Please don’t mix a person up for a troll or bully etc. Because there/they maybe something else . Believe me they ain’t crying for help. Most of us are to stop & Get them away & locked up where they belong.

Here are a few warning sings :

Off Topic Issues All The Time #1

Ranting crazy stuff #2

Attacking you & other people #3 And remember you may not be the only person they attack,.

Catching them in alot of lies #4

Keep bothering you #5 This would be stalking and/or harassment. The law only does so much. If you are of age & no record etc. Get a permitfor a weapon or pepper spray & carry a phone at all times. Even keys can be used as a weapon in denfese you don’t know what these people are thinking & Most won’t care to show up uninvited to harm you and/or others.

unknown March 20, 2010 at 3:47 am

Trolls are crazy as well. Some people online who are mean may not be trolls. Please remember be safe !!!!!!!!!!!!!

unknown March 20, 2010 at 3:51 am

It’s best & normal to get shocked. Never let too much of it get to you. I am sometimes shocked by what people post esp. to strangers online. Like today over 10-20 people reported this guy on myspace for sending out e-mails w/ nasty/uncalled for messages. He could be arrested since so many came foward & did not keep it to themself. If so many does not come forward. It’s no use sometimes,. Either way police only do so little with people who pull this crap online.

unknown March 20, 2010 at 6:15 am

I also noticed how most whine about being hated. Uh there’s reasons why you get hated, low ranked & bashed back or even ignored. Some people are just psycho’s Here are other ways you can tell . If this happens. Please ignore it. Don’t say so or bash back. That is some people’s mistakes. Most of these trolls & psycho people like making people mad & some do not relize it.

They keep starting all kind of of “worst” lists and cannot stop hating

They keep insulting people.

The voices in their head ………… (no joke) some people who are mentally ill may really get voices or stuff in that head !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No one believes them .

They only get a few feedbacks

They’ll whine & cry for attention & how everyone hates them or other people. Even though people hate them but not the other person . They tend to twist around stuff.

unknown March 20, 2010 at 6:19 am

I hope some people’s advice helps. Esp. mine. Please don’t have sleepless nights. I did a few times over these trolls or crazy people. Some trolls are mentally ill. I ended up knowing more & more about people online like them etc. Believe me it’s not pretty these people/kids need help !!!!!!!!! How to deal with it: The best ways you can deal with it is don’t re-act, if they keep on bothering you let everyone know who they are because they’ll believe you for sure not the troll, And report it.

RenegadeMoms March 31, 2010 at 12:56 pm

Oh @Leonie dont flatter yourself and please my dear tell the WHOLE truth not just the part that suits you okay?

First of all Miss Leonie left several comments on our blog and we left her links intact. Then Leonie began to make it clear that she was baiting the topic and basically becoming annoying and just using our blog to move traffic to hers. We called her on it too, we didn’t just “unlink” her. We left her comments up. ALL of them. We didn’t censor her. We don’t censor anyone. You can come over to Renegade Moms and say whatever the fuck ya want and it’s fine by us but if your going to be a total asshole we will unlink your ass. Other bloggers do this too and some (Dooce) censor comments completely.
Now what Leonie has failed to mention in her comment is that she then came back and began to actually read the rest of our blog and began to actually participate in the discussions and guess what happened? Her comments remained fully linked. In fact she has SEVERAL comments on our site that are linked to hers. Additionally her most recent comment was critical of us and fully linked to her site. So Leonie what the fuck are you talking about? You ended up being fine with us and now your over here acting like you showed us a thing or two and totally misrepresenting the truth (and us) to suit yourself and to fit in with the “your mean” crowd.
Thanks for continuing to prove that Dooce fanatics are often full of shit. That you are full of shit. Oh and the “Renegade Moms were mean to me pity party” you just tried to throw for yourself needs a pinata stuffed with some truth.
~RM1

RenegadeMoms March 31, 2010 at 1:07 pm

oh an by the way Veronica despite the fact that I totally disagree with you on this post because I think that you and I see what Chick used to blog about differently… I like your blog and you have some seriously cute freakin’ kids. I don’t say that often to people so don’t tell on me okay? People might start thinking I’m nice and human and stuff. Thanks for letting me be a little bitchy in my previous comment and you are free to unlink me….I wont go complain about you on other sites and pretend you censored me.

😉

~RM1

Leonie March 31, 2010 at 5:54 pm

@Renegademoms

You *did* unlink the first two comments I left you. Fact. I never said that you took them down, and so contrary to what you are saying, I didn’t lie. Not a fan of lying, you see. I will, however, clarify what I said in my last paragraph about comments that were not let through. The comments I have tried to post that were not approved were not on RenegadeMoms, but on a different website no longer in existence, and I should have been more clear there. No malintent on my part, though.

The comments you unlinked was in no way part of the “fucking asshole” category, but you chose to unlink me anyway. I didn’t bait, I was part of a discussion, and I figured that people who agreed with me more than with you might be interested in reading what else i had to say. I never even mentioned or advertised the link – it was just in my name. That’s hardly a focused strategy to steal traffic, so perhaps you’re the one stretching the truth there. Now, unlinking me is fine, but it did make you look threatened somehow.

And no offense to your blog – like I’ve said in comments on your website, the non-bashy bits aren’t bad at all – but I haven’t really visited or commented much since, so you should perhaps take a bit of truth serum yourself as far as that goes. I’m sure there’s a few comments here and there, but I hardly participate. Not out of spite, but because I’m doing different things with my time, for the most part. That doesn’t mean I hate you, nor does it mean that I spend my days learning Dooce entries by heart (because I haven’t visited much there either). Enough is just enough – I said my bit, and I’m done.

Coincidentally, the comment I left here was about a different approach to arguments on the Internet, a more respectful one if you will. I don’t understand why it calls for “total asshole” and “full of shit”, but thankfully it won’t keep me awake at night.

unknown April 7, 2010 at 1:56 pm

I made it clear to my troll-stalker -coward if he came around he would be sorry. He was tracking me & other people online. I told him I had law enforcement in my family. He can talk all the crap he wants online about the law & my family. When they come to his house I doubt he will be talking crap then. That’s why he sits behind a computer and does it because he’s a coward. This stuff gets old. It’s like dealing with kiddie stuff. I wonder if these trolls do have minds a bit different just not mental illnesses. Maybe some might be kids but others are not. Adults do troll also. It’s bad because most don’t relize they are trolling unlike kids they know. Somehow I think some trolls like adults out there have a kids mind.

unknown June 3, 2010 at 7:19 am

I hate trolls ! I got a few bothering me & other people on a website. I done contacted the authroties. Hopefully they’ll get traced & head too jail where they belong. It’s just not bothering they actually come on & attack us & stalk.

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