I’m currently involved with a very beautiful woman who graces these message boards. She makes my day bright and gives me a reason to start my morning. I can honestly say that I have never loved someone as much as I do her, and I am concerned about her saftey more than my own. If she wishes, she can make herself known – I beleive by the time she reads this she will know who she is.
Seeing how most of the people here on this message board
probably don’t know each other personally, how do you feel about divulging your personal information so readily to unknown others? I’ve been reading the posts in other threads and groups, and to say the least, people here seem not to mind about exposing their emotional/sexual/physical states and tendencies to others. Are any of you concerned about your saftey and well being, especially here on the Internet?
When or where can you draw the line between caring about
a person and their saftey and being Over Protective? Especially when the threat is so broad and diverse as it is here on the Internet. I don’t considering myself over protective, I honestly just love this person so much I could not stand to see her hurt in any way; it would be the death of me.
Side note:
I’m not downing any of you. You all are your own people and you can make your own choices. I admire all of your views and opinions and willingness to share with others. But where better to get opinions about this than the place where it affects the most.
I can’t speak for the rest of the board (or even most of it as I’m a relative newbie) but I, as a person, have never minded sharing my personal experiences. As for any information I share that could put me in danger, well, I know for a fact that if someone is bent on finding these things out, they will find them out regardless of whether or not I supply the information. Heck, I did a search on my name and found an old irclog of a conversation between nutbar and I posted on the web. Why, neither one of us knows.
There are freaks and goonies on the net. There are also freaks and goonies out in the real world around me. Some of them are the same freaks and goonies. But I am not going to live locked up in a box for fear the goonies will come get me. No, I don’t blame you for being concerned. I’m not going to go pull up stats to cite why I’m more likely to fall victim to Crime A. or Crime B. rather than anything Net-related (that would be depressing anyhow). There is a measure of anonymity in numbers. Why would someone who wants a chick to stalk pick me, out in the boonies of East Canada? Much better odds if you pick an urban girlie who will have a hard time noticing one more person in the crush.
I don’t know, maybe I take stupid chances, online. I don’t go walking at late night myself. I lock my car doors when I’m inside. I don’t drink with people I don’t trust. I don’t let myself get in a position where date rape could occur (where I’m not dating, that’s not so difficult) I don’t pick up hitchikers (even the ones with towels). Considering the things a lot of my friends have been through, I think I’m being pretty smart about my safety.
I know you are smart about yours. I do worry about you, but not for the same reasons. More worried you’ll get homicidal and kill a bellsouth rep
If you think your love is chaining me down, realize I have the ends in my hands, holding it there.
At least four other Dopers live in the same city as me.
On two occasions, I’ve partied with a couple dozen or so Dopers; some from the same city, the rest from all over the country.
On these boards, I’ve divulged my first name, my middle name, and given information that might lead to discerning my last name, where I work, my financial problems, my marriage ups & downs, my sexual proclivities, what side of town I live on (northeast, in case you’d forgotten, David B, Flypsyde, DynoSaur and Tiburon ), and a host of other things I would never share with a complete stranger.
What the hell. In real life I’m rather reclusive and quite the social retard, so what I share in a text-based forum with people who will probably never cross paths with me doesn’t really concern me. And when I *do cross paths with a handful of them at the annual Doper meetings, it’s all good. Nobody mentions my weirdness (thank God ).
Long-story short: I’m perfectly OK with revealing personal information on these boards. I’m not going to give you my phone number or anything…
First of all, it should be recognized that the internet is not a broad and diverse threat. That’s just crap that gets printed in magazines and newspapers to sell more copies. “Cyberstalking” is extrordinarily rare - that’s what makes it news. If it happened as much as some people seem to think it does, it wouldn’t warrant anything more than a brief mention in the local newspapers. It’s like the difference between plane crashes and car accidents. Plane crashes get reported on because they’re so rare, and because there’s something inherently scarier about them than there is about car crashes.
With that said, I have often considered how easy it would be to complile a fairly detailed database on the regular posters here, given how much personal information tends to get revealed. It may trickle out in bits ‘n’ pieces, but I think it would surprise some people here how much we know about them if they were to see all that information in one place. If I were much more bored than I am now, I’d consider building just such a database, just for fun. But don’t worry - I have way better things to do with my time.
Well I know I fit into the over-protective box. I try not to because my wife is an intelligent adult and will make her own choices. I feel she is way too trusting, and I do ask that she at least be aware of the dangers and considerate of my feelings when deciding how much stuff to reveal. That’s it. This is not an area where I have any control so I stop worrying about it.
cyberstalking is news because it’s a relatively new threat as opposed to the usual murder/rape/burglary that has always been going on. I’d say it’s uncommon but “extraordinarily rare” is an overstatement I think. Got a cite? WHO@ says they get about 100 reported cases a week. That doesn’t sound like extraordinarily rare to me.
I’m one of the group that does not give a lot of personal info. out. You can still have great discussions or make contributions without disclosing much about yourself, IMHO. Once I gave my email address to someone who became a pest. I had to block their email address.
), and a host of other things I would never share with a complete stranger.
).