Wait...what the fuck? [RSSchen thread closing]

Well, for what it’s worth, you have to give RSSchen credit where it’s due. It was a trainwreck of monumental proportions. Arguably, it set a new high water mark for this messageboard. (Or a new low if you’re feeling less generous than myself!)

However, with all due respect to the moderators, I would point out that my first post in that trainwreck was on Page 6, and in that post I expressly recommended to RSSchen that she should walk away from the thread, right then and there, and FURTHER, that she should make a request to the moderators to lock the thread. Just 3 posts later, the author of the thread also agreed that he had no problem with the thread being locked if that’s what RSSChen wanted.

Moreover, my suggestion on Page 6 in the trainwreck came along BEFORE anyone started pointing out to RSSchen how easy it would be for cyber-sleuths to track her down and send a copy of the thread to her husband. All of it could have been circumvented if RSSChen wasn’t the attention addict that she is.

Do you think RSSchen contemplated my suggestion? For even a nanosecond? That she should request the thread be locked at the halfway point? NO WAY! She was revelling in the attention. She was loving it. She did absolutely everything in her power to go out of her way to pour more 130 octane fuel on the fire. She actually increased her posting rate. She started insulting other posters. It was like watching someone taking careful aim at their foot with a bazooka.

At some point in life, you gotta call things for what they are. That trainwreck was the most perfect case of self-destructive behaviour I’ve ever seen on the internet - ever. RSSChen had her chance on Page 6. I told her to walk away. I told her to get the thread locked. She walked right back into the middle of a giant fire-ant nest with no clothes, covered in honey, and she started kicking all the fire-ants, screaming as loud as she could… “BRING IT ON!”

Second oldest argument in the book: “She was asking for it”.

Oh get over yourself. I thought it was a stupid suggestion. And, clearly closing and locking threads is pointless because right here is yet another thread about her and the whole situation. I suppose the mods have just given up entirely and hope the venom runs out at some point.

In the very first thread in MPSIMS, I tried to let her know in a broad sense (IE: keystroke recorders) that it’s not really that difficult, nor does anyone have to be tech savvy, to find out things one is looking for. Online or off. And it would appear, for all intents and purposes, that she only began to take this advice (or at least as far as we could see), with the name change request. Not advocating anything anyone has done here, but if that was the case, was the subtle nudging getting through to her on how dire her consequences could be? I’m truly curious. Because it certainly seems that right up until then, she was pretty adamant that she couldn’t be found out. And since she was assuming that her husband wouldn’t be intelligent enough (paraphrased) to find out, that was those posters’ last ditch efforts to show that it was <thateasyandthatquick> to access tons of information and well, if no one’s going to listen, here’s the proof. See?

At least, that’s how it came across to me. I read a metric shit-load of anger in some of those posts, but no actual threats.

Nice display of selective interpretation there. A less biased reader will note that I ALSO suggested to RSSchen that she should walk away from the thread and contribute no further - thereby not throwing more fuel on the fire.

Was that a stupid suggestion too?

As for this…

I have a simple question… if RSSchen isn’t responsible for the 12 page monster thread, then who on earth was? Personal responsibility (or lack thereof) is singularly the most outstanding reason people were geting pissed off with her for. Was she asking for it? Damn right she was! Who the fuck brags about being able to give an awesome blowjob AFTER being flamed for 6 pages and AFTER being told she should leave the thread and walk away?

It’s a valid question. As she tried ever more to justify her dubious actions, if she didn’t bring the shitfest on herself, then who did?

I don’t buy it. If you’re dumb enough to write dumbfuck shit on a messageboard which keeps those threads open forever, then you’re dumb enough to have it come back and bite you on the ass. That’s MY definition of personal responsibilty, and I really doubt anyone here is gonna change that anytime soon.

So if I leave my wallet sticking partway out of my hip pocket and you snatch it and begin stalking me based on the information you glean from my drivers license, it’s entirely my fault? I’m fair game? You would bear no culpability whatsoever? 'Cuz I’m dumb?

That would be ignorant and careless on my part, but it wouldn’t excuse your actions.

More like, if you flip your wallet open in front of a group of people, count all the cash, display all the credit cards and show that they’re unsigned, and give out your PIN, it’s your fault.

And forget about the personal info for a moment. That was not always the focus of the discussion, and ISTR that RSS got her widdle feelings just as hurt by the people who told her she wasn’t really in love. Suppose the IMHO thread had been started by a poster’s sister who had confessed her affair with her soulmate, justified it because her husband was not bright and quick, and swore that she’d never get caught and her kids would never be harmed by this. Somehow, I don’t think the replies would be praising the subject of the OP. So why should we mince words when someone tells that story in the first person?

I’ll take your word that this is a better analogy - I haven’t read the threads in question, I’m just going on what I’ve read here.

Still, why not leave the gal alone? It still sounds like lowbrass’ “She was asking for it.”

Exactly. If you’re wearing seductive clothes, you aren’t “asking for” anything. If you’re lying on the floor naked with your legs spread and a sign on your forehead that says “Open For Business,” don’t be surprised when you get FUCKED.

“Within the last 6 months I’ve serially abused prescription drugs, given advice on scamming a computer store, and bragged about lying to my family and sucking off a cop. DON’T JUDGE ME!!!”

But nobody’s saying it was wrong to judge her. What was wrong was threatening to contact people in real life, or being to cowardly to make that threat openly, and simply assemble the information for “someone” to use.

It was kind of inevitable, though, after she repeatedly stated that her husband was too dumb to find any online evidence of her cheating. The gathering of info was (originally) a means of demonstrating that simply deleting her emails was not enough.

I’m not defending the entirety of the first statement, which is “find personal info in other threads, post it with instructions as to how to use it to find person IRL.” I don’t advocate trying to find people IRL or taking any of this crap off-board. So I can’t explain to you how the first is perfectly OK. I do think it’s OK to link to past posts for the point of debate, and I still think so. What’s not OK is the second part of that sentence, which is the intent to interfere with someone’s life based on info gotten from this board.

Bottom line: whatever you say here should be fair game. Threatening people, actually or by implication, not OK. Are you unconfused now?

ETA: There’s a difference between this idea of “assembling info for someone to find,” and using past posts to debunk bullshit. I think it’s ludicrous to make a blanket statement that no one should have been linking to RSSchen’s past posts. I do think the intentions of most people who dug up her past shared info was not to threaten her but to show her how much info she’d posted and how naive she was being about her traceability. Those crossed a line by overzealousness, not spite, which is why the thread was locked. Those that were spiteful were indeed over the line, but it’s not a black and white issue.

I think you’ve pretty much summed it up, Ruby. I don’t think there was anything wrong with pulling up her past posts, either. We do that kind of thing all the time here in debates and discussions; “Well, two years ago, you said you’ve always voted Republican, now you’re claiming you’ve been a Democrat all your life. What gives?”

I can’t speak for anyone else here, but an awesome blowjob would certainly put me in a much more forgiving mood.

Strawman. I don’t think you’re following the conversation here. I refuse to link to the post(s) in question, so that might be a source of confusion, but let me explain it in a nutshell: Lots of people criticized RSSchen, including myself. I think that’s perfectly acceptable. I did not say that she wasn’t reponsible for the 12-page thread.

But one or more people crossed a line when he (they) posted personal info about RSSchen gleaned from other threads, for the purpose of saying, “Look, here’s how I could find out your real identity”. I don’t think anyone actually posted her real identity, but IMO the line is crossed as soon as you take one step towards that purpose. Does that clear it up for you?

Again, this is totally off track. Not what we’re talking about here. Not saying she didn’t deserve to be criticized. That’s completely off the mark.

I’m confused as to why you imagine you and I are in disagreement.

Exactly the point I already made.

I agree. Who is it you believe made such a statement? It certainly wasn’t me.

Again, where is it you imagine we disagree? We both agree that lines were crossed. Isn’t that what I’ve been saying all along?

And you think that would justify stealing?

Then we’re not. Excellent.

Woo hoo! :smiley:

Hmmm…just noticed you’re repeating that strawman too.

Once more, the blanket idea that people shouldn’t link to or post things from other threads is a strawman argument concocted by Equipoise. I never said that, and I’m not aware of anyone else who did. Could we please stop repeating it?