3 Rules for Handling the Online Trolls, Bullies, and Crackpots
#3 – Are You Being Served?
Law suits. They’re what we got when we stupidly made dueling illegal.
(At least with dueling, when the shootout was over, the world was down one useless idiot…)
Along with a bunch of other Canadian bloggers — including my husband — I’m being sued for writing about our “Human Rights” Commissions.
There isn’t a lot I can say about this for obvious reasons, so I’ll let Mark Steyn tell you about it here and here.
(The video above has more.)
Encouraged by other great folks like Michelle Malkin, my blog readers have paid all our legal bills.
In the meantime, Arnie and I got married. We’ve been invited to Israel and Washington, D.C., and other places simply because we’re now “famous” bloggers. We’ve made friends we’d never have met otherwise.
Our employment has been utterly unaffected. In fact, we’re both busier than ever.
Because the second worse thing you can do if you get sued is let it take over and ruin your life.
No, not everyone is as well-connected as we are. Then again, not everyone is as “controversial” as we are, either, but bloggers get sued for writing apolitical stuff, too.
If you’re online, no matter how careful you are, you too could be targeted.
I still wish I’d gotten libel insurance when it was offered to me over twenty years ago. If you blog or write anything, get libel insurance. Now. It’s the cost of doing business, just like your internet connection, dedicated server, and so forth.
So what’s THE worst thing you can do?
Can’t remember which ball player said it, but they don’t boo nobodies.
And quite honestly, basing an employment decision on anonymous blog comments is very short sighted. I might base it on public facebook pictures (and thank God there were no digital cameras when I was in college). Now holding a beer and making a silly face while on spring break in Cancun isn’t enough, but don’t have too many of them. And if they’re a few years old, take them down.
“Fans don’t boo nobodies.” — Reggie Jackson
We used to boo Mark Hardy every chance we had.
He was a defenseman for the LA Kings in the mid late ’80′s ( before Gretzky).
We would often sit near where the players would exit the ice as for better access. One night after a rough few periods he left the ice ( probably for a major [penalty]. On his way out, before I could say anything, he looked right at me & said ” yea, yea, I know I suck” and walked off the ice. I guess he was quite familiar with my buddy & me harassing him.
Sure, he sucked, but nearly 30 years later I remember that moment like it was 10 mins ago.
Oh, you don’t know who he is…?
I first went online in 1994, when it was a wide-open Wild West, and for some time I have regretted not getting into blogging way back then, when I could be online-famous now and be friends with interesting, exciting people like you, Kathy. Then I read this, and thanked G-d for my somewhat cautious and retiring nature. Especially since I look like a hobbit with little feet and have a skin approximately the thickness of Saran Wrap.
The Phantom’s Paranoid Survival Tips.
1. Don’t write anything on the Internet you don’t want some guy named Jeffrey Dahmer to know about. Because that guy is out there someplace and reading your blog. And be damn good and ready for Jeffrey if he comes to your house, because he might. In that regard, I understand that the Siega semi-auto mag-fed shotgun is now available in 20 gauge.
2. Be anonymous! I’ve been The Phantom on the web since 1994. It helps me tremendously that The Phantom Of The Opera has the first four pages of Google, and then there’s DC Comics and a few other things in there to muddy the waters.
3. Don’t comment on the blogs of assholes. Because when you do, they know your IP address. Unless you do it from McDonald’s. Then you can go for it and burn ‘em like a house on fire.
4. Don’t write people’s names on your blog. If you don’t write Lucy’s real name, Lucy can’t sue you. Just stick to quoting news items and if you must, mocking them mercilessly. Personally I don’t write people’s names even in comments on other people’s blogs. It isn’t paranoia when lawfare warriors like Lucy and The Lying Jackal really are out there trying to get you.
5. Learn from Kathy’s example! Just watch what she does, and every time she gets in trouble, don’t do that. ~:D
Do all of these things and you will be able to remain a shadowy figure hiding in the undergrowth, making the bad people worry and look over their shoulders. You won’t be famous, but I have it on good authority that being famous sucks after the novelty wears off. Best part, the only time you’ll need that shotgun if for skeet.
Good suggestions, Phantom
Or, simply don’t give a damn. If I am sued, I have all my assets protected and they cannot collect in a hundred years. I have been sued more than once and once I proved they could not collect their own lawyers usually dropped the case as they would not be paid. They were crap nuisance lawsuits anyway. They hope it will cost me enough so that I’ll stop to keep from paying legal fees. I don’t pay them, I do not hire a lawyer. Truth is absolute defense, anyhow. I have been sued 4 times and none of them have ever made it to court, nor have I paid a dime in settlements or legal fees.
War Pig….. great song
Of course, I don’t live in socialist/communist Canada or Britain, either.
Do you by chance live in the Socialist States of America?
Don’t take anything a Troll says personally. It provides great peace of mind, I’ve found.
Always respond sanely and sensibly, no matter what is said to you. Trolls hate that; their purpose is to get you to descend to their level. When you don’t, they inevitably spontaneously self-combust.
These two simple guidelines worked well for me for six years as a Moderator at the now-defunct Space Dot Com message board.
???? /scratching head/
I admit to perhaps having insufficient information to reasonably form an opinion, since all I have to go on is that picture you’ve posted on PJM, but I sure don’t see any shortcomings.
That should be:
More… THAN. Not more… AS.
That should be:
“Was” is past tense. “Were” is used for hypotheticals.
Gaaaahhh! /shudder/ That should be:
Hope that helps!
I find this interesting in some pointers. But what is this?
“#2 – No Comment(s)”
Really,no wonder I have never heard of you before, why would I care to go to a blog that stopped discourse of what is blogged in it’s tracks? Seriously, I know you own your blog, but any conversation/idea exchange has two(or more) voices. Why would I care to only listen?
The single most powerful tool is called “ignore”. It’s not a button, it’s a mindset. It makes them barking mad I tell you.
Ignore the breakfast of Champions it’s always better to eliminate God’s special people and save time
And to paraphrase what Dave Swindle wrote here last year, keep in mind that the person you’re arguing with may be only 17 years old.
(or less)
Or drunk, or drugged-out, or a pervert, or bat$#!+ insane.
Never mud-wrestle with a pig. You both get dirty, and the pig likes it.
+1 on Fantam’s comment above. Configuring a blog so comments are moderated is easy. Turning off comments altogether sends the message that you are not interested in what your readers think.
On my blog I have comments turned on, and I use the “you are a moron” comments as kind of a drinking game.
“Turning off comments altogether sends the message that you are not interested in what your readers think.”
It’s not that simple. If you allow comments, you have to police them, deleting the worst ones (obscenities, spam, personal attacks, libel) and banning repeat offenders. That takes time and energy. If your blog becomes really popular, you will end up spending all your free time doing this. Your alternatives are to shut off comments or to simply give up blogging (which is what the trolls want, of course).
Virtually all bloggers are interested in what their readers think, but they also have lives outside of blogging. If allowing comments means becoming a slave to your blog, shutting off the comments is the right thing to do. Some bloggers (such as Glenn Reynolds) still accept feedback via e-mail, although that can also become overwhelming. If the blogger doesn’t accept e-mail, you can always start your own blog and post your rebuttals there.
Kathy, I was with you up to the point where you advocated vandalizing articles on Wikipedia.
Editing the Wikipedia article that is about you is strongly discouraged, because it violates the Wikipedia policy against conflict of interest edits.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Conflict_of_interest
That doesn’t mean you have to put up with inaccurate or malicious statements about you in Wikipedia articles, just that it’s not appropriate for you to make the corrections yourself. The approved way of dealing with that situation is to post on the article’s Talk Page, pointing out the problems and requesting a correction. Use the {{requested edit}} template to flag the Talk page so that no one can miss the existence of a problem.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Request_edit
The suggestion to “keep it pristine” is also inappropriate; it risks violating the policy against asserting ownership of an article.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Ownership_of_articles
Requesting corrections is fine, but trying to make yourself the gatekeeper for all changes to an article is not. When it doubt, raise the issue on the Talk page.
Wikipedia is trash. By definition, it’s not possible to vandalize trash.
Really? Lessons in objectivity and propriety from a wikipediwonk?
“Type in your FIRSTNAME and LASTNAME — without quotation marks”
Top 100 results were for totally different mass-murders.
I guess if I ever get fired I’m totally screwed!
I just googled myself and nothing came up, so that’s good.
I’ve been a member of a lot of forums over the years and the first thing you DON’T DO is fill out the user profile. I sometimes put some generic things in like my decadal age or geographical region, sometimes not even that. I don’t ever say names, like my employer, family, friends, or even the mayor. I don’t even tell people my job title or exactly what business I do. And lastly, I have different pseudonyms for different sites, so that people I pi$$ off don’t chase me across the blogosphere.
Femi-journo alert…
The Internet is a great opportunity for gubmint to do the two things it does best. Regulating it would let it limit free speech, an inherent urge of all rulers. Second, it would take many building full of bureaucrats to police, a terribly expensive proposition which, as asserted by Ivy League Man Prez Barack Hussein, would stimulate the economy up to $1.40 for every dollar spent, and he has economists (aka Kenyesian professors) to prove that. So you get civilized behavior and prosperity in one new, neat, high tech package.
This article is *soooo* Canadian. Obviously written by someone (1) without a Wild West history of pushing into and taming the wilderness, (2) access to a handgun, (3) born and raised in a litigeous society, and (4) a nuclear option.
Push-back does *not* mean to ignore them. Because if you do, they’ll just breed and over-run everything. Push-back means bringing a gun to a knife fight and fighting back. Because if you’re not smarter than a unemployed pimply-faced Occupier posting from his mother’s basement, then you need to STFU your very own self. Mark Steyn fought back and brought at least one of Canada’s bureaucracies under control, not to mention pesky little Muslims who think they can use the West’s court system against us.
I totally disagree with pretty much every single word of this article. And snort in derision.
The part about setting up a google red herring was kind of useful. I agree about the trolls and bullies. With trolls, you should consider the situation as to whether it’s worth your time to get into what will ultimately be a long drawn out flame war.
Forum bullies, or as I call them “Resident Trolls”, are a different matter. They should always be taken head on. A bully is someone who thinks they have special privilege in the forum because of longevity, number of posts, etc. IMO they are worse than true trolls. At some point you’ll probably step on their toes. If you don’t bow to their grace, you’ll have a flame out for sure.
I always go right back at them. The longer the battle, the less time the bully has to wander the rest of his domain. Inevitably he’ll start belittling and brow beating. Just let him, but keep up the rebuttals. He WILL ALWAYS get the last word in – it’s a compulsion for them. However, like any bully, they move on to easier pickings. He probably won’t flame you again, unless you directly provoke him.
Doesn’t take that much effort or time to be a grammar Nazi. Just start editing their comments for spelling and punctuation, and the logic and facts (and lack of facts or logic) follow with stunning obviousness. That’s when I’m feeling lazy or rushed. Makes ‘em froth-up pretty much immediately.
If Kathy Shaidle is classed as a coward or a wimp, those terms no longer have any meaning.
That’s for sure!
As an old pro from the Usenet groups, I have learned much of this the hard way. Do not use your real name. Hide IP addresses.
Had people come after my job, emailing my employer for example. I learned to use sockpuppets (pen names). Learned to ID other individuals writing styles in order to track them. Invested in software that gives me the ability track down the idiots and put them out of business. And when people go over the line, being able to get the information into hands of their local police.
What we have is a bunch of angry old guys (mostly libertarians and anarchists) who hide behind their computer and screen name (or sockpuppet) like a school girl throwing taunts while hiding behind the teacher. Old men acting like brain dead teenagers. Surprising how many folks never get over high school….
A leftist George Sorrows sponsored site called BusinessGreen is trying to file a complaint about my conservative views.- On their website called BusinessGreen , they are asking other leftists the following “:Fill in this form to register a complaint about the comment ‘http:// cybercorrespondent.wordpress.com’ by cybercorrespondent. Please enter your email address …” If they manage to shut down my website, I will just speak up even lauder on a new one. “Never give up or give in to intimidation”
http://youtu.be/P_9yq8IP68g
“Who is John Galt?”
Different rules work for people in different circumstances (or different countries). I’m one of two admins for a counterjihad blog. Here’s how we handle the situation:
1. We keep our blog entirely separate from our real-world lives. We admins don’t reveal our names or personal information online, nor do we reveal our blogging activities to people in the real world. (Other contributors may choose to use their real names, or not, as they prefer.) We admins have never been on Facebook, neither under our real names nor under our Internet noms de guerre. Yes, the blog has its own email address, entirely distinct from ours. I also maintain a Twitter account as blog admin, but I don’t tweet personal information on it.
2. We post and enforce a comment policy that indicates what we will and will not accept on the blog. All comments are moderated. Comments that disagree with us, without violating anything in the comment policy, are posted in a timely manner. When we have time (which we often don’t), we answer some of them. Comments that violate the comment policy are either edited before being published or are deleted entirely with no further thought on our part.
3. Persistent trolls, bullies, and crackpots are banned permanently, and that’s that. We’re bloggers, not psychiatrists!
Sweets, the comments above are pretty good and your troll concerns are not completely frivolous. However, if you can’t restrain your urge to insult rude people, you may be the problem. As one wise commenter said, just ignore them. Or, as I sometimes do, thank them for their opinions and calmly explain why your opinion is valid. Then, thank them in advance for any following comments. I have actually altered opinions (Sandmonkey) using this technique. It’s a little bit like dialog. Try it. It’s also similar to killing them with kindness. Don’t worry, you don’t REALLY need to like them. As for the lawsuits, can you please explain in detail how you managed to get sued for expressing your opinions? I would love to be sued, so I need to know. Thank you for in advance for your idiotic reply. Smirk and chuckle.