I Should Not Have Done It
I recently wrote a post here at Wealthy Affiliate and almost immediately became the victim of a cyber bully.
Website Backup and Migration (Caution, it's a bit of a Rant)
There's over 30 comments by one "new" member, most of which are personal and racial attacks.
At first I didn't know who this "new" person was but a friend sent me a private message giving me some irrefutable clues to his identity. A person named Bob had left WA at the same time as this "new" person arrived. And my friend linked to some comments made by Bob which matched some of the comment's the "new" person had made on my post.
So I outed him by saying "Welcome back Bob".
I should have stopped there but I was angry. So I copied and pasted the same message in reply to all his comments.
Today I deleted almost all of them. I overreacted and for this I apologize.
Should we let cyber bullies get away with it? How can we stop them?
Recent Comments
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Marion, A lot of nice things grow at WA so I don't think you need to apologize for removing the weeds. Looks like everyone wants to forgive you for being a good gardener so all you need to do is to forgive yourself if you feel you need to. Bob will never get to enjoy the flowers in full bloom.
No worries Mate. It's a shame what some people will do just to mess with you. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. I don't think you overreacted at all. In all honesty, I think it was a pretty sane reaction to a very undesirable situation. You've helped a lot of people here and from the responses you're getting, you're well loved. So, no apologies needed, besides no matter how hard you try you can't fix stupid! Right?
Don
Hey Marion :). If the great Dale Carnegie were alive he would remind you about the principle of living in "day-tight compartments". Don't let regrets or what you may perceive were mistakes of yesterday affect you today. There is no point wasting energy contemplating various scenarios that could have rendered a better result. Rid yourself of that worry and use that energy for today.
That being said I also don't think you have anything to apologize for. I'm new here and your lessons have been a great help to me. You are helping people change their lives with the information you provide. Don't let something as trivial as an internet troll bring you down on your journey along the rocky road of life. It's a drop in the ocean. Keep up the good work ;)
I'm kind of torn on this Marion. On one hand I can understand the urge to fight back against cyber bullies. On the other hand, they generally do what they do in a effort to get attention and it is usually best not to give them any.
I guess my approach would be to ignore all their comments completely but report them for inappropriate behavior.
It is a tough situation though and I am very sorry you had this encounter.
Tom
I don't know how to stop it, Marion, but my money is on you to figure it out. I haven't seen anything from you that wasn't well meant and helpful.
This character may be someone that Kyle and Carson will not allow to remain a member. We can hope he's booted out of WA very quickly.
I'm sorry this happened to you Marion. No one deserves to be bullied, but it's especially disturbing when it happens to someone who is always eager to help others. I hope Kyle/Carson can get to the bottom of this.
Meanwhile, know you have a Whole Lot More people who wish you well.
Thabo
I am sorry to hear this Marion. I am not sure how we can stop cyberbullying, this is one thing that I do worry about sometimes but, try not to think about it too much.
I find all your training and tutorials really helpful. I trust your judgment and find you very knowledgeable. I hope the bullying is done and over with as you did not deserve that. Keep up the awesome work. As your responses and training helps, people like me who are still learning...
Sorry to hear that Marion! When you step out and offer assistance here at WA, even though it is not a requirement of being a member, but out of a desire to help others, some people just get jealous and they have to tear you down.
It's human nature for some and fortunately not very common here in WA! They get called out quickly and go away in shame.
He will do the same, and if not, we know the owners, right?
Don't let it bother you! You just keep doing what you are doing and we thank you for it!!
Sorry you had to experience this Marion. There is no escaping bullying it seems. What it points out to me though, is how rare that is inside Wealthy Affiliate. I mean, I see it almost daily on FB, in comments, on info sites and other places. But in WA it so stands out as other than the norm. Its a lousy thing to happen, but it gives me pause to be thankful for how little of that we have to deal with here.
You are so right Doc. It is rare inside WA. That's something we should all be grateful for.
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Not everyone wants to see other people become successful which is the real downfall of our society. But I also believe it makes no sense to waste our time acknowledging the people of the world who continually show off their nonsense because we are only giving them the attention the are desperately craving. I guess its all relative to what you want to deal with.