What is stalking on the internet?

Wed, 2008-08-13 11:46

#2

N.Beltov

I'm wondering if I've been victimized in this way. How do I know?

Wed, 2008-08-13 12:20

#3

Maysie

My glib answer is if it's happened to you, you know it. It's unpleasant and works like IRL harassment.

For the not-so-glib answer I need to ask a whole bunch of questions:

For where you are anonymous:
*Do you use the same "handle" wherever you go, including chat rooms, discussion boards, blog comments, anywhere else like that, so that you are identifiable?
*Have you found someone deliberately speaking to you/addressing you, whether positively or negatively, in ways that you find unwelcome?
* Do they persist (either in the moment or over time) when you ask them to stop?

For when you are not anonymous:
* Is this someone you know IRL who knows your email address, etc?
* Is their attention, positive or negative, unwelcome for you?
* Have you tried to block this person and they keep trying to find ways to contact you through email/Facebook/Myspace/etc?
* Do they persist when you ask them to stop?

* Is this someone you don't know IRL, but who somehow knows you?
* Do they look for you on listserves, etc. and comment when you post to them, etc?
* Do they persist when you ask them to stop?

This is as thorough as I can be to answer your question, and of course I don't expect a response to the questions, think of them like a checklist. If you need other resources let me know and I'll post them.

Wed, 2008-08-13 12:21

#4

Maysie

N. Beltov, a meta-question: is this about rabble/babble? If not I think it should be moved to babblers helping babblers.

Wed, 2008-08-13 12:28

#5

N.Beltov

Thanks. "babblers helping babblers" is fine and might, in any case, be useful for others.

Wed, 2008-08-13 12:29

#6

Maysie

Okay, moving it.

Wed, 2008-08-13 12:33

#7

oldgoat

I guess my simple answer to a simple question would be no.

Generally, I will say that if someone has a concern about another babbler they should email a moderator about it.

Thu, 2008-08-14 13:32

#8

Doug

quote:

Originally posted by N.Beltov:
[b]I'm wondering if I've been victimized in this way. How do I know?[/b]

I'd think it would usually - but not necessarily - be pretty obvious. If someone's contacting you far too often and you have to block them...if they take on a new ID to get around the block and contact you again...if they follow you to different networks...if they start trying to meet you in person - and so on.

Fri, 2008-08-15 12:49

#9

wwSwimming

quote:

Originally posted by N.Beltov:
[b]I'm wondering if I've been victimized in this way. How do I know?[/b]

You would have more than an uneasy feeling.

Also, not to be glib, not wanting to say anything that is hurtful ... it does depend on what you mean by stalking & victimized.

I have a friend who is brilliant at computer forensics. That includes knowing who his visiting his website, for example, writing a program to convert a server log (which can be quite abstract) to an Excel spreadsheet, where it's all laid out who visited his website & when.

It is possible for you to leave 'traps' for who it is you think is harassing you.

For example, if it's someone that flames you when you post somewhere, if you can create a website that they might be interested in, using a domain name they might be interested in, and you put that link in one of your posts, and they click on it, and stay long enough for the computers involved to do the 'hand-shakes' that computers do, long enough for the server to log the visit - then you have an IP address, which can reveal secondary information (where they work, maybe).

Anyway, to be helpful, in general, people need more details.

Is it not something you can just shake off & forget about ? If it's related to someone harming you, one option is to persuade a tech literate friend, someone you trust, to help you.