Nutjobs in Cyberspace

Besides the Troll there are other denizens of cyberspace which I collectively call 'nutjobs'.

These are persons who in Real Life are either heavily medicated or should be.

They see the Internet as a stage in which they can enact their psychodramas. Unlike the real world, where their behaviour would result in their being removed to a place of safety. Cyberspace allows them complete license.

Most Nutjobs have an incorrect sense of 'safety' as their bodies are physically in their comfort zone while they bang on their keyboard. This, of course, leads them to greater vulnerability.

Where you would not post your name, address, phone number on every lightpole, many persons do this on the Internet. Where you would not write your private thoughts in the cement drying in front of your house, these persons will post their intimate details for all to see.

Just as the Troll sees cyberspace as anonymous and safe for their depredations, there are those who confuse their physical safety with their mental security.

Yes, you may be sitting in Mommy's big plush chair with Grandma's comforter across your legs, but you are also engaging in cyberspace, and everywhere is here; so the rapist in Sierra Leone, the wack job in Sacramento, the stalker in Stuttgart are all reading what you write.

Maybe you aren't writing for them, but they are reading it.

Way back in the early 90s I encountered a user who faked her death.

A poster named Judy wrote:

"Trystie will not be on this forum anymore. She died last night. So far we think she committed suicide. Pray for her."

Wow.

So we're all there lamenting and blaming and being freaked out. Then the mod
kills the thread and posts: "I need verification of this."

Well, it didn't take long for the truth to come out.

Judy was Trystie's Dual.

Trystie was invented as a martyr who would be driven to suicide by the Trolls and get all the attention possible.

Unfortunately, (for Wackjobs) some Mods can check the IP and ascertain that both Judy and Trystie are using the same.

This now led to threads all over Delphi exploding with questions as to why and how someone would fake their own death.

Recently, on another site, a particular woman, (who could be extremely annoying
and overly thinned skinned) had 'her 'children' log on to her account, posting
something like;

"We are Poet's children.
Our mother has had a heart attack.
We believe the attacks on this site have caused it."

The "Children" engaged with lots of posters over a period of weeks. I knew this was crap because of syntax. The kids wrote exactly as their mother.

When the Mod began posting apologies I pm'd him and told him what I suspected.

He couldn't believe it.

Just as the Troll needs the opprobrium of the public to prove how powerful he is, the Nutjob needs the pity.

She needs to have that dispensation given to those who have two weeks to live.

Many Nutjobs are really Nutjobs.

For example, 'Rabbit' was actually in a mental institution which had Internet access. She belonged to one of the Celebrity Appreciation sites, where she created a life for a particular actor that bore no reference to reality.

Others have mystical experiences logging on to Google, see meaning in an IP address.

Trolls go after these people like hyenas go for the slowest moving wildebeest. In some cases it is a perfectly symbiotic relationship. He gets to torture someone who wants to be a martyr.

The reason why so many scams last so long is due to a particular kind of Shill. A Shill is a person who ropes other people into the scam.

There are many users who don't realise they are being used by the guy who runs the Scam to rope in suckers. Many online writing Scams go day to week to month to year because this Nutjob, the Shill; is constantly bringing in 'fresh blood.'

They are 'always' paid, (as long as the guy who runs the scam can pay them) because they are willing to make idiots out of themselves on every possible Message Board, Forum, Writing Site, etc. touting the Scam.

I wrote an article about a Site stating I was paid the first month, but not paid the 2nd month. Another writer mentioned how he wasn't paid either.

Suddenly a Shill jumped in claiming She has been paid 5x and that the reason we weren't paid was because we 'broke the rules.'

Now how would she know that?
And if we had broken the rules....wouldn't we have been informed by the Owner? Something like;
"WE must reject your submission because..."
Instead of letting us go along and then not paying us at all.

But she's a Shill; she has to support the site OR ELSE!!!!

Fools are a penny a dozen. They believe a Shill's posts. Instead of thinking...hmmm I could be ripped off and avoid the site, dive in with both feet and are ripped off.

Many fools are ripped off by every single scam writing site on the Net. They go from one to another following the Shill like sheep behind a Judas goat. They Never Learn their lesson.

Fanatics are those who so believe in something that they lose their sanity. You'll find them on any site about anything, (even one devoted to gummy bears).

They don't discuss, they preach. They can not be reasoned with. If they take set on you they will stalk you all over the 'Net and even send viri to your email account. Never responding to them ever is the only way to protect yourself.