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Charlotte Dawson fights back against Twitter trolls

Graham2001

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Graham2001
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Aug 19, 2006
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An interesting article which as me in two minds, as a victim of 'old skool' bullying it's nice to see someone going after them, but I'm not sure this is the right way.

TV personality Charlotte Dawson is fighting back against online bullies by publicly exposing them as Twitter trolls.


The 46-year-old host was driven to attempt suicide by her online tormentors in August this year.


She is now campaigning to shame the trolls and support other victims who suffer abuse from strangers who hide behind their computers.
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http://au.news.yahoo.com/nsw/latest...te-dawson-fights-back-against-twitter-trolls/

However, the most interesting quote comes from one of the trolls:

He says: "They're just things that I say. They're things that I say on twitter and twitter isn't real life."
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I've long suspected that hacktavists consider what they do is a 'game' with no 'real world' effects, but this is the first thing I would consider hard proof.
 
I wouldn't exactly call twitter trolls 'hacktivists', what cause are they furthering?
 
If you're a public figure who's being harrassed by a bunch of jerks, I think you have every right to forward the abuse to your fan base (or to the authorities), complete with headers or any other identifying information.
 
I can buy that teenagers may be so fragile that bullying can drive them to suicide. But if you're a middle aged public figure and strangers saying mean things on twitter "drives" you to suicide, you have some other serious problems that you need to address.

The bullies are still complete ********, no question. But a 46 year old woman should be able to hear insults from complete strangers in a medium easily turned off completely without ending her life.
 
Cavemonster said:
I can buy that teenagers may be so fragile that bullying can drive them to suicide. But if you're a middle aged public figure and strangers saying mean things on twitter "drives" you to suicide, you have some other serious problems that you need to address.

The bullies are still complete ********, no question. But a 46 year old woman should be able to hear insults from complete strangers in a medium easily turned off completely without ending her life.
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I read an article recently by someone who was being harassed on twitter and eventually found out who the person was in the real world and confronted him

Generally, I'd agree with you, but in the case of the fellow who wrote that article he was getting death threats addressed both to himself and his wife and children, and, particularly worrying, packages sent to his home address

I don't know the details in this case, but when someone harasses you online there's no gaurantee that the harassment will be limited to online, and the worry that it could become much more serious could lead to serious mental health issues
 
Interestingly, Charlotte Dawson's entire TV personality is about abusing and ridiculing people herself. What goes around comes around, I guess.
 
mijopaalmc said:
Does she do the bullying and abusing as a television character?
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Pretty much. Her whole television persona seems to be about bullying and ridiculing. This might seem to be ok to some, but those she is bullying and ridiculing are real life human beings in real life situations themselves.

She attracts attention to herself by her abuse, and it is on this attention she creates a career.

Why is it ok for her to be abusive and not expect some back? Shaky and hypocritical ground I'd have thought.
 
Graham2001 said:
An interesting article which as me in two minds, as a victim of 'old skool' bullying it's nice to see someone going after them, but I'm not sure this is the right way.



http://au.news.yahoo.com/nsw/latest...te-dawson-fights-back-against-twitter-trolls/

However, the most interesting quote comes from one of the trolls:



I've long suspected that hacktavists consider what they do is a 'game' with no 'real world' effects, but this is the first thing I would consider hard proof.
Click to expand...

That troll is a pathetic specimin who is just using the usual bully rubbish to minimise their actions.
 
Cavemonster said:
I can buy that teenagers may be so fragile that bullying can drive them to suicide. But if you're a middle aged public figure and strangers saying mean things on twitter "drives" you to suicide, you have some other serious problems that you need to address.

The bullies are still complete ********, no question. But a 46 year old woman should be able to hear insults from complete strangers in a medium easily turned off completely without ending her life.
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The reality is instead that bullying can happen at any age in any walk of life and can drive people to depression and worse.

Google the UK TV presenter Richard Bacon and see his fight back against cyber bullies.
 
A.A. Alfie said:
Interestingly, Charlotte Dawson's entire TV personality is about abusing and ridiculing people herself. What goes around comes around, I guess.
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Other actors have encountered problems with people who cannot differentiate between reality and fantasy. Steve Mcfadyen who plays a hard man in a sit com Eastenders has had such problems, as did an actor whose name I do not remember who played a Gestapo officer in the 1970s drama Secret Army.

I think it is nonsense to not differentiate reality from fantasy.
 
Graham2001 said:
With apologies to Sefton Delmer, the true motto of the Anonymous/Hacktavist movement

"What we do we do out of ordinary human weakness for which we are quite happy to spout any number of high-minded sounding excuses."
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OR: They are all rectum eaters on that bus!:mad::mad::mad::mad:
 
A.A. Alfie said:
Pretty much. Her whole television persona seems to be about bullying and ridiculing. This might seem to be ok to some, but those she is bullying and ridiculing are real life human beings in real life situations themselves.

She attracts attention to herself by her abuse, and it is on this attention she creates a career.

Why is it ok for her to be abusive and not expect some back? Shaky and hypocritical ground I'd have thought.
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And this is the problem: people who think that "reality television" has anything to do with a reasonable facsimile of reality.
 
Cavemonster said:
I can buy that teenagers may be so fragile that bullying can drive them to suicide. But if you're a middle aged public figure and strangers saying mean things on twitter "drives" you to suicide, you have some other serious problems that you need to address.

The bullies are still complete ********, no question. But a 46 year old woman should be able to hear insults from complete strangers in a medium easily turned off completely without ending her life.
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Considering that the bullies have been known to post personal information and personally call and sexually harass, yes, teenagers, I don't see why not. Trolls can often be remarkably dedicated to screwing people over.
 
It's not just reality tv that she is on. Recently she hosted a red carpet review (I didn't see it so am reporting what has been told to me) of our Brownlow medal - a sports award for AFL football.
The real people that were arriving at the event were the victims of cheap and nasty shots about their appearance, dress etc.
Trivial? Sure.
Does it justify trolls? Absolutely not.
Does she ask for some back? Hmmm?
 
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