"Internet bully" ruining thread after thread... and the forum!

[porchlight]

Originally Posted by Huckleberry3911948

that was really funny i will rep you asap.

There is one community/political forum that loves to attack posters, at least certain ones. They go so far as to call posters liars, murderers, frauds, grifters, multiple-personalities and worse. When I objected to these personal attacks, I was told that they were not personal attacks since no one said them "to my face"!!!! But these same people felt it was okay to post my address, phone number, tax records etc. Sigh! LOL! It made me want to cry and laugh at the same time. Netiquette is just beyond some people, it seems.

[renovating]

Originally Posted by porchlight

But these same people felt it was okay to post my address, phone number, tax records etc. Sigh! LOL! It made me want to cry and laugh at the same time. Netiquette is just beyond some people, it seems.

That is against the TOS....posters that do this type of thing should be bannned forever and I certainly wouldn't give out any personal info of any type.

There are forums on here where you can just see the fake posters...trolls, whatever you want to call them. This is a public forum and anyone is allowed to post. You get some nice people and you get a lot of weirdos. It is what it is. I think people get so sucked in sometimes they forget they are on a public free for all forum.

[nanannie]

Though I am a long time poster, it took me awhile to realize some people are just mean bullies and post to instigate with insults or amazing generalizations.
They are easy to see thru eventually, and it becomes obvious the deep seated issues involved. They are not the type of people one would want to associate with in person,ever, so why converse or try to make things clear? They want a reaction and will say what it takes.. I learned the Ignore button works very well.

[porchlight]

Originally Posted by rickers

Relax, be happy, helpful and don't worry about the trolls and bullies. Folks who are internet bullies may be bullies in real life and many could wind up in jail and they will get it in the end someday.

I figure people who attack others do not realize that their attacks reflect more on their characters than they do about the person they are attacking. Remember that old adage about when you point a finger at someone, you must remember that three fingers are pointing back at you?

Of course...this you is not YOU... Rickers! but the generic you. Gosh...english is complicated sometimes!

[porchlight]

Originally Posted by renovating

That is against the TOS....posters that do this type of thing should be bannned forever and I certainly wouldn't give out any personal info of any type.

There are forums on here where you can just see the fake posters...trolls, whatever you want to call them. This is a public forum and anyone is allowed to post. You get some nice people and you get a lot of weirdos. It is what it is. I think people get so sucked in sometimes they forget they are on a public free for all forum.

Yep, and I agree this sort of thing (personal address) would not go on here. but it has been happening to me for literally years actually. Unfortunately because of my work with missing persons for the last thirty years, my real name and phone number have long been known. (and sort of need to be known as family members of missing persons and LE often contact me for assistance) So it made me an easy target once the internet came to be. Small price to pay...

I always get a chuckle out of the TOS. I read them everywhere and almost all will have rules about flaming, attacking, trolling etc. But that only works if the owners/mods are fair. In the case of the political/community forum I am referring to, fairness is an unknown quantity...as even the board owner has accused me of ridiculous things. It doesn't matter, though, as I said on a previous post. Flamers and Trolls need to realize that their behavior reflects their own character...and not their victims.

[PITTSTON2SARASOTA]

Originally Posted by AK123

I don't know the correct wording, so I'll call them internet bullies.

They're kind of like trolls, except that they seem to have a history of being helpful in their local forums. However, when they get in the General US (and/or City vs City forum) it's a different story. Bashing, inflammatory comments, insults, baiting to get a response and then reporting the responses. Not just a few times, but constantly. All the time.

Threads are shut down. Informative posts started by someone will get turned into a fighting match. It brings the whole forum down.

It's really only a few people doing it. There's one that stands out in particular. I don't understand why it just continues seemingly unfettered.

I came to these forums in 2006, probably after a Google search on something, and have been trying to help others out with knowledge and facts on my areas ever since. Just the name City-Data seems to imply this is not a chat zone, not a place for a constant barrage of inflammatory comments and baiting to start fights. It's supposed to be a helpful site.

I got tired of it over and over, all of these ruined threads, and called it out. Of course she reported my post which then got deleted for being "off-topic." Looking at the TOS, it seems she could possibly be breaking these rules:

- Stay on topic. Attempts to hi-jack threads by switching topics or going off topic will be deleted and infractions issued. This is not a chat room - when people hi-jack threads by posting messages that are of interest to only few people, the threads often stop being useful discussions of initial topics.

- "Trolling" is prohibited.

The first one, she breaks constantly by posting inflammatory comments meant to be a jab at someone or somewhere. This rarely seems to be addressed, because the threads will go on for pages of fighting afterward until they're finally closed. She's quite careful not to do a real personal attack, so will instead attack where you are from or some such. We're then told to put her on "ignore." Well, that doesn't work so well, because apparently you can still see them all over on the threads... just can't read what they wrote. And like I said earlier, this is supposed to be an informative and helpful site, right? So why wouldn't we respond if someone is intentionally spreading misleading information over and over?

Can anyone tell me what can be done? I'm to the point of just not wanting to use the forum anymore (but that's probably her goal... like I said, an internet bully). I already know of a few people who were great, knowledgeable contributers who stopped using the forum because they felt every time they posted something useful about an area, the same one or two bashers would come in and basically hijack the thread. I hate to see the forum go down that way, and lose credibility...

I have the same problem with one poster who follows my threads...attempts to change the thread parameters, and simply ruins and disrupts the thread. Yes I reported "him"...but it is a subjective call since he does not directly insult posters...only antagonizes them for sport. And I have ignored him...Other posters have also had their threads ruined by this poster also. What to do...LOL..

[markablue]

Originally Posted by PITTSTON2SARASOTA

I have the same problem with one poster who follows my threads...attempts to change the thread parameters, and simply ruins and disrupts the thread. Yes I reported "him"...but it is a subjective call since he does not directly insult posters...only antagonizes them for sport. And I have ignored him...Other posters have also had their threads ruined by this poster also. What to do...LOL..

Try contacting your local moderator. If they know the person you're talking about, they will know better what to do with them. But, as you said, it is a subjective call. If nothing else works, DM Yac or me, please.

[Bowie]

Originally Posted by PITTSTON2SARASOTA

I have the same problem with one poster who follows my threads...attempts to change the thread parameters, and simply ruins and disrupts the thread. Yes I reported "him"...but it is a subjective call since he does not directly insult posters...only antagonizes them for sport. And I have ignored him...Other posters have also had their threads ruined by this poster also. What to do...LOL..

What you describe sounds like a thread hijack. Here's how the TOS describes that:

Stay on topic. Attempts to hi-jack threads by switching topics or going off topic will be deleted and infractions issued. This is not a chat room - when people hi-jack threads by posting messages that are of interest to only few people, the threads often stop being useful discussions of initial topics

It's definitely against the rules and should be reported.

[PITTSTON2SARASOTA]

Originally Posted by markablue

Try contacting your local moderator. If they know the person you're talking about, they will know better what to do with them. But, as you said, it is a subjective call. If nothing else works, DM Yac or me, please.

THANX...I will if the poster disrupts the thread .

[PITTSTON2SARASOTA]

Originally Posted by Bowie

What you describe sounds like a thread hijack. Here's how the TOS describes that:

It's definitely against the rules and should be reported.

I did report the poster...this was a while ago....it is subjective though... THANX .