Online dangers

[AutumnW]

I just finished reading the thread, "Do you feel safe posting here?" Many interesting comments and lots of insight there. I got to thinking about something I have wanted to post about, that is tangentially related. Doesn't have anything to do with this particular forum, which is more an affinity than a support group.

There are all kinds of online support groups out there for people who are in psychological or personal agony of some sort. Sometimes the people who start these forums or end up administering them aren't entirely stable themselves and have little or no training in the field of psychology. They may even have an agenda perhaps even a desire to recruit people into a cult-like group, while they are in a vulnerable state.

When you accidentally wander into this area of cyber space, you can become an instant target for...abuse--sometimes after recovering or while recovering from...abuse.

Admins and moderators on these forums, get a little power, something likely new to them and then go ape. They can make you dissappear with the click of a button. Then, they go all over your personal information that you posted and analyze it publicly. Privately they try to figure out who you are in the real world.

A few months ago i logged onto the forum of an individual--lets just call her Madame BlaVatsky. If you know who I am referring to just :target: I have no desire to attract her or her Mongol hordes to this forum. I was kicked off that forum within 48 hours, for calling a moderator on rudeness and speaking out against sliming public personalities who didn't agree with the oracle's theories 100%.

A month or so later, I'm on a totally different forum. The forum focus is quite different. They share only one aspect. After a couple of weeks I get this odd chill from a couple of the mods and one of the senior posters. I had o difficulties with the other posters. The long and short of it is these three, dragged me through the mud, online, with zero provocation. It was awful and I didn't understand it....at all.

So I started checking around. I found out that this forum has direct links to BlaVatsky's forum. One of the admins is an accolite apparently. They had obviously cross referenced my ispn with the mods at BlaVatsky's forum! One of the mods mentioned that they had "detected some anomalous patterns of writing, etc..." that was making them "suspicious". Hmmm....

Unless you did some sleuthing you would NEVER know the two sites are swapping info back and forth. And you know...that would be okay if BlaVatsky wasn't a vengeful crazy person. She's all over the web sliming anyone who takes the slightest exception to her.

Now...please if you respond, don't use her name. I don't want her to narrow angle focus on me or this forum. I trust nobody on her forum attends here. It's too sane.

This is my word of warning. I didn't divulge hardly any personal info publicly but other posters, trying to get help, spill their guts.

BE VERY CAREFUL out there. Things aren't as they appear. Give very little away, in the way of personal information and that means right down to disguising any details that could give you away, if someone did a key word search. That's what I did...thank God.

[kaon]

Hopefully you found your way to Avalon to escape the "drama" of other forums.
One thing that I learned many years ago is that we ourselves are simply not compatible with all forums. Some are run with draconian admins and moderators and some people have problems conforming to forum rules. Oil and water simply don't mix.
I have been a member of dozens of forums in the past and I can usually figure out fairly quickly whether or not I belong there. Those that I don't belong, I simply make a speedy exit. These days, unless a login is required, I spend time reading and evaluating before signing up. If I like what I see then I will join.

Becoming embattled with admins and mods accomplishes nothing but a banning especially if you are engaging them openly in "their" sandbox. It makes more sense to leave on your own terms and it saves the bitterness of being booted.

[KiwiElf]

Yup I know what you mean - just exited a forum specialising on my car - had a property developer, arrogant 25-yr old law student and a carpenter - all armchair experts of course - flaming me for passing on info (which contradicts their "expert" advice) from a seasoned mechanic whose been working on these cars longer than they've been alive. No wonder their cars are going "pop".

[Bill Ryan]

------

Hi there, and very many thanks for the story. For clarity and reassurance, Avalon does not share and never has shared members' personal information with any other forum. We're 100% independent, and that's just not something we would ever do.

We believe there are many points of difference between Avalon and other forums. We do hope that you find your visits here productive and valuable. Do let us know, privately if necessary, any other feedback or perspectives that might be helpful for us to know.

[AutumnW]

Hi Bill, You're welcome. I logged on 2 or 3 months ago and haven't posted very much. From the limited amount of reading I've done here, I'm not picking up on any red flags. You allow a wide range of topics and opinions and the moderators appear to be doing a good job. The odd brouhaha, (provided maliciousness is kept to a minimum), isn't necessarily a sign of a sick forum, imho. It can lend some vitality and a bit of a pulse to a forum.

It's a sign that people's opinions will be challenged on occasion, while their dignity is respected. So--good on you. It's a difficult balancing act and many forums end up falling off the tightrope. I originally came to the forum because I saw and passed around the excellent video interview you did of Jim Sparks, a few years back.

I have since, through key word searches, read and had a good chuckle about your own experience with the 'Sage of the Impossible to Pronounce Last Name!'
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Hi Kaon,

I was attacked, right out of the blue. Had it been someone other than a moderator, I would have just ignored it. Since that particular forum is very big on, "listening to your gut," and has a 'victim support', focus, I decided to call the mod on her aggressive criticism as soon as it happened using 'my gut'. They disabled the pm function so I couldn't get in touch with them behind the scenes.

I'm not in a position to worry about my own credibility come under fire--am not a public person--but woe unto anybody who has anything to do with this person or her small network of associates--once they turn on you!


KiwiElf,

I completely agree. However, in this particular case, I did a certain amount of due diligence, asked one of the mods, just after registering if there was a link between her forum and the other one I mentioned. I got a neutral response, which, unfortunately, I mistook for a negative.

I haven't had this kind of experience before. This wasn't a just a bad fit. If anything, the fit was too perfect. The other posters, for the most part, very much appreciated my input, particularly the new members. I received very high praise, and that was probably something else that bugged the hell out of the administrator and a few other senior posters, who consider it 'their' forum.

The sincere efforts of others should be appreciated, not derided. Any poster who has wisdom to convey should be thanked for their contributions. Instead these 'ladies' felt threatened.

My advice is to stick with affinity forums like this one to remain engaged with humanity and if you are trying to be of help to people with ptsd, or heal from trauma yourself, stay away from all interactive forums devoted to 'helping others', out there.

[KiwiElf]

Yeah they turned alright - mostly local "boy racers" - with small willies I think ;). Just can't understand the hostility (and over-sized egos). It just annoyed me they're giving out very bad advice on these cars (Mazda RX8/RX7) which are largely misunderstood. Have owned 4 x rotaries over the last 30 years or so and no problems with any of them. But then, I get all the servicing done at MAZDA. ;)

On a different subject, also beware of scams - particularly the online variety claiming you can make oodles of money from home for a "small down payment". My aunt (a compulsive gambler) just sent me a link to this one:

Work-at-Home-Digital

Don't go near it. A quick search on Google tells all ;-/

Old addage applies - "...if it sounds too good to be true..."

[dianna]

I just finished reading the thread, "Do you feel safe posting here?" Many interesting comments and lots of insight there. I got to thinking about something I have wanted to post about, that is tangentially related. Doesn't have anything to do with this particular forum, which is more an affinity than a support group.

There are all kinds of online support groups out there for people who are in psychological or personal agony of some sort. Sometimes the people who start these forums or end up administering them aren't entirely stable themselves and have little or no training in the field of psychology. They may even have an agenda perhaps even a desire to recruit people into a cult-like group, while they are in a vulnerable state.

When you accidentally wander into this area of cyber space, you can become an instant target for...abuse--sometimes after recovering or while recovering from...abuse.

Admins and moderators on these forums, get a little power, something likely new to them and then go ape. They can make you dissappear with the click of a button. Then, they go all over your personal information that you posted and analyze it publicly. Privately they try to figure out who you are in the real world.

A few months ago i logged onto the forum of an individual--lets just call her Madame BlaVatsky. If you know who I am referring to just :target: I have no desire to attract her or her Mongol hordes to this forum. I was kicked off that forum within 48 hours, for calling a moderator on rudeness and speaking out against sliming public personalities who didn't agree with the oracle's theories 100%.

A month or so later, I'm on a totally different forum. The forum focus is quite different. They share only one aspect. After a couple of weeks I get this odd chill from a couple of the mods and one of the senior posters. I had o difficulties with the other posters. The long and short of it is these three, dragged me through the mud, online, with zero provocation. It was awful and I didn't understand it....at all.

So I started checking around. I found out that this forum has direct links to BlaVatsky's forum. One of the admins is an accolite apparently. They had obviously cross referenced my ispn with the mods at BlaVatsky's forum! One of the mods mentioned that they had "detected some anomalous patterns of writing, etc..." that was making them "suspicious". Hmmm....

Unless you did some sleuthing you would NEVER know the two sites are swapping info back and forth. And you know...that would be okay if BlaVatsky wasn't a vengeful crazy person. She's all over the web sliming anyone who takes the slightest exception to her.

Now...please if you respond, don't use her name. I don't want her to narrow angle focus on me or this forum. I trust nobody on her forum attends here. It's too sane.

This is my word of warning. I didn't divulge hardly any personal info publicly but other posters, trying to get help, spill their guts.

BE VERY CAREFUL out there. Things aren't as they appear. Give very little away, in the way of personal information and that means right down to disguising any details that could give you away, if someone did a key word search. That's what I did...thank God.

I had a similar "bizarre" experience with the very first forum I joined (I've only joined 3 in my life and am quite new to the forum experience) --- learned very quickly that I had to be careful ---

From Article: Age of Confusion -- Mass Manipulation, Propaganda and Frequency Prisons

Article continues here:
http://beforeitsnews.com/alternative/2013/09/the-age-of-confusion-mass-manipulation-propaganda-and-frequency-prisons-2770304.html


Frequency Prisons

Be aware, on the Internet these days there are many locations in consciousness that may be described as Frequency Prisons. The consciousness of the readers is kept in a certain specific limited range of frequency by the dolling out of a slow low-grade level of constant addictive apprehension. The people behind these websites may have once held the best of intentions; they may not even now know what they are doing and what they are involved in. But nevertheless they have created walls that entrap consciousness in fear — and enlightenment eludes the fearful. We cannot go Home in Fear.

In forums there is a technique to this that may have begun innocently to attract subscribers, but has since become a business. There are ‘regulars’, meaning posters who have built specific identities. And just as actors can take on any role, these regulars reflect an assigned state of mind, a character that perceives the world through a specific spectrum. One may pose as the warning-of-doom do-gooder, another as the chronic hopelessly depressed, or maybe the knows-it-all science-guy, or the new age housewife psychic, or a flamboyant pistol-packing ex-military dude.

All are one-dimensional created characters. None of us are ever so one-dimensional. For the sake of enthralling entertainment, they work in tandem playing the reader, the sucker.

The threads created by these one-dimensional characters inevitably carry the same repetitive frequency of a chronic apprehension, promulgating unease and doubt — but little if any truth. These threads of insidious fear are tolerated, even encouraged by the moderators. There is a comfort zone and misplaced trust for the addicted innocent reader in knowing the state of mind of the ‘regular’ poster, who often has an accompanying symbolic graphic identity.

Last year I posted briefly on a forum, which shall remain un-named. On one thread the ‘regular’ must have been drunk when I confronted him with being a paid fake. He said, “Yep! The boss says to just keep them entertained!” Well, as you may imagine his moderators soon noticed his half-wit revealing error and quickly moved in to cover the blunder. The ‘regular’ expressed a bit of anger towards me and addressed me as if I was a man. I suppose a woman is considered too stupid to figure out their game. I did what I could to expose them, but was met with an avalanche of resistance, some quite nasty.

Anyone who challenges these actors is derided as being immature and paranoid. The fear created by the actors is transferred onto and attributed to the one who dares to expose the fact that the participants are acting, role-playing to make the forum entertaining. Criticism of the challenger comes across as authoritarian or just plain rude arrogance, which is intended to reduce the challenger to a state of self-doubt and bewildered helpless confusion. Treating the challenger like a delusional child who needs reprimanding is yet another technique to keep secret the business of Fear Inc. – and posts are extracted. No one is allowed to expose the mechanics of the intentionally fabricated entertainment.

Mechanics of the Crowd

The challenger exposing the fraudulent nature of the thread must be stopped. So the fear-peddling actors move in, perhaps reading the manual. A rude angry meaningless and unrelated comment attacking the motive of the challenger is tried. Oblique anger serves to fuel the thread. Next the original poster chimes in with a reply that shows genuine concern, suggesting the motives of the thread are beyond all reproach. Another asserts no one is afraid, only the challenger! Allay all fears, so the fear thread can go on and on and on. Attack the challenger and accuse them of being a nuisance in an otherwise sincere thread, then validate innocence of intent with ‘respect’ and a fake smile. Finally have someone post express his or her own personal serious fear as further fuel.

Fear is a Mechanism of Control

Fear keeps you quiet. Fear confuses. Fear invades higher states of consciousness and destroys them. Fear is a mechanism of control. Persistent belligerent and false fear mongering can never spring from an evolved and truly enlightened consciousness.

While there are many posting on forums who do have an evolved consciousness and are attempting to balance the dark energies, their efforts are overwhelmed, swamped by the ‘professionals’ who know that fear sells and keeps the readers addicted. These locations feel suffocating, like dingy cells padded in fabricated lies that hold consciousness in a perpetual state of apprehension. Privately many will complain and after a time most stop posting leaving the frequency prison to the fresh new hopeful clueless and unaware innocents, and the bored cynical paid pros.