Oh, now I can play!
Over the years, I’ve gotten a couple of PMs that were similar in tone to the screed Diosa just posted, asking legal advice for a “hypothetical” situation that involved surveillance by super-powerful, super-resourceful individuals with nefarious intentions.
Always ignored.
What … the … fuck??
For the sheer amusement value, this almost makes me a wee bit envious. Almost.
Now I’m wracking my brain for who is notorious for harassing women here. (I suppose for this I should be glad I’m mostly mistaken as male in this little Petri dish we call the Dope.)
You shouldn’t have to wrack it too hard, since she left his screen name in the PM she posted.
I’m not sure how widely known this person is on the board for being a weirdo, but among a group of us Doper women who communicate semi-regularly with each other, he’s well known in the, “Oh my god. . . you know who just messaged me on Facebook!” Cut to a chorus of, “Not you, too! I’m so sorry!”
Incorrect. That message is not from Skald. The poster was simply saying they were going to give me one of the board-famous Skald-style hypotheticals. Different thing.
That’s…even more creepy.
Well, in my own defense, I will say they could have made the Friend function a* little *more intuitive.
Regards,
Shodan
Hi Ladies
Do you have any advice for the would-be writer of creepy PMs?
Should they be long and rambling going off at wild tangents or should they be chillingly direct? Should they be phrased in sub-standard English or should they be needlessly verbose, possibly using words the writer has invented themselves? Is it acceptable to use threats in the first PM or should one wait until the third or fourth PM? How about descriptions of sex acts: is the Penthouse style of writing still in or has it been superseded by the more modern stylings of Fifty Shades of Grey?
Thanks in advance.
I have never gotten any kind of creepy PM here.
Preach it.
No offense Bricker, but I would kind of expect you to get that sort of thing. Diosa though? She’s not a lawyer and doesn’t know law (to my knowledge, which isn’t that great).
I have a guess, but I realize that this is probably not the place for it at all.
I was searching through my emails again and I found one from a looney that got my email through the old DarwinTalk message boards. I went back and forth with him for a while. Here’s a sampling - it’s from a guy who called himself “Elder Dominick”
There was more, but I’m cutting it short.
Another email:
There was more, of course… I never did understand the color schema…
I’ve sent creepy PMs, but I don’t get any. I at times get messages from people who apparently think I’m a jerk, but most of my messages are friendly.
Guy and I’ve never gotten a creepy PM 
I hope that someone would send me one. I promise that I’ll respond with something just as creepy!
Nope. Not really surprising.
Must I do everything myself fellas?
…
Granted, it’s probably not what you meant…
I sent a creepy PM to a woman on the board once. It did not go well.
This was about five years ago. She was a popular member of the board who wasn’t shy about the fact that she was an attractive female, posting pictures of herself and stories about her personal life. She predictably got the occasional stalker type, so she was usually pretty careful about posting anything that would reveal truly identifying information.
She posted an OP one day about something that happened right outside her home. She referenced a couple of street names.
“Uh oh,” I thought. I fiddled around on the internet for about 30 seconds, and sure enough, it was enough to identify her home, and even narrow down her bedroom window to only three or four possibilities.
So I sent her a PM and she responded (I don’t have all of the messages any more, but I think it went something like this)…
Me: “You should really be more careful. The thread you just posted revealed enough for people to figure out where you live. You might want to ask a mod to take it down.”
She: “What are you talking about. No it doesn’t.”
Me: “Yes it does. Just going by your OP, I can tell that you live at XYZ intersection and here’s a link to a google streetview of what’s probably your window.”
She: “Ha ha. That’s not my window, but it’s close.”
I didn’t respond, and the next day, she went back to the thread and said that SOMEONE was sending her creepy stalker PMs saying he knew where she lived, and she was sick of it and was ready to quit the SDMB. Everyone sympathized with her and threatened to lynch the creep who PM’ed her. She disappeared from the board soon thereafter.
I still regret it and wish there had been a way to handle it better. Perhaps by keeping my nose out of it in the first place.
If I may then, perhaps I could try one out on you (I will post it rather than PM it to allow others to critque it):
Dear raventhief
In my country (Englandshire) stealing ravens is a very serious crime, indeed it is said if the ravens ever leave the tower of London the Crown and Britain will fall, so in some instances at least it could constitute high treason. However I find the idea of raven thievery both exhilarates me and arouses me and I am keen to learn more, perhaps you could instruct me further? I would not think that I should jump in at the deep end to begin with: perhaps I could try stealing some of the smaller corvids and work my way up? I would suggest perhaps stealing magpies as a starting point (with the added bonus if caught I could claim that the magpie had stolen itself). I would be grateful for your instruction and could offer sexual favours in return.
Yours,
AS
PS please find attached a daguerreotype of my genitalia.
I’ve never gotten any. But my posts have an aura about them. Magic posting posture that scares the creepers away.
I’ve only had polite and friendly PMs.