Trolls - Thoughts and Discussion

[Crazy Finn]

[forrest]

What is sad is that person; when he sees the problem he is causing, continues without changing.

That shows how little he thinks of the forum, and how much of himself.

That's the problem in my eyes.

[LittleRusty]

All,

I would like to offer my apologies to anyone who feels I was acting like a troll to Slide911.

That truly wasn't my intent. I think on the whole that Slide911 and I agree on jealously guarding private information.

After pondering this overnight and rereading the posts I see one point that the discussion revolved around. Perhaps my zeal to explain my position should have been tempered by attempting to understand Slide911's.

In my opinion that point revolved around whether publicly available information on an individual is private information.

Slide911 shared his bona fides with me via PM and I will attest that his background does qualify him to speak with authority. I would be happy to read Slide911's thoughts on this point, either here on via PM. I will even promise to not respond.

Peace.

[fraserhutch]

I didn't read it that way at all - you two had differing viewpoints - it's perfectly acceptable to debate them. That's what debate is, no?
_________________
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[slide911]

Rusty,

We were both a little too quick with our posts. I accept your apology, please accept mine.

I'll be happy to discuss my thoughts on online privacy, but have to run out now. I'll post something later.

I particularly liked the fact that you described my sharing the bona fides without mentioning the expletives that surrounded them.
_________________
1921 Conn 80A Cornet
1934 King Silvertone Cornet
1951 Martin Committee Trumpet

[slide911]

Okay a few thoughts on this. I'll try and keep this limited to just a few examples to make my point, but I could literally write a book on this subject: It is a topic I discuss daily with discussion groups I've been moderating for 8 years made up of online marketers.

1. The simplest example I can show of the unethical, and sometimes illegal, use of gathering data from "public sources" is this; there are spiders out there that do nothing but gather email addresses from "publicly available sources" that are then used by spammers to send you spam. The practice was outlawed in the 2003 Can-SPAM law but it still goes on. It is unethical and many times illegal to use public data for another purpose.
2. Facebook's privacy settings were changed dramatically over the last year. They exposed people's private data without their consent or knowledge. You needed to be aware that they did it and proactively go in and change your privacy settings. Maybe people were unaware and have much of what they think is private, exposed to the world and search engines.
3. Search Engines like Google send out spiders to scrap web pages and index what is on them. That is how a search engine works. Sites like Facebook put pieces of code on their web page that say: "mr. search engine, do not spider this page. " Otherwise anything you put on Facebook would be exposed in a search engine query. When you take that data and repost it on a site like TrumpetHerald, those safeguards are gone. The information that was not visible to search engines, is now indexed and is now searchable, where it wasn't before.
4.Career problems: many employers use things like Google to do background checks on potential employers. When I hire someone, we always do a background check which includes doing a search on their name. When you post someones name within the context of unethical or deceitful behavior, you are basically tagging that person to potential employers as a lier, or whatever, potentially damaging that person's ability to be employed.

Let' use a theoretical example: someone calling themselves "Mr. Spock" posts on an online forum that he once went to the ball game and told his employer he was sick. Someone else goes to the person's Facebook page and posts - you know Mr. Spock is really John Doe. Now any search on the name John Doe will reveal to potential employers that John Doe calls in sick when he wants to go to the ball game.

The simple answer on why you should not repost private information, even if that information was on a public site, is that even though you may be able to see that data, search engines might not. By moving it to another site, you expose it to search engines. And by using a persons name within the context of pointing out illegal or unethical behavior, can limit that persons job possibilities for the rest of their life.

These are just some simple examples. I could go on with examples that would make your hair stand on end.

Bottomline: don't post private information.
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1921 Conn 80A Cornet
1934 King Silvertone Cornet
1951 Martin Committee Trumpet

[slide911]

As added note:

I use Google Alerts extensively, as a business owner and employer. i have a google alert for my name, my company name, my products, and sometimes my employees. Every time I post on a different forum that requires that you use your real name, I get an Alert from google with a link to the post.

If a current employer had a google alert set for someone on this site, and their real name was used, it would pop up as an alert. Based on the context, that could be a very damaging thing.
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1921 Conn 80A Cornet
1934 King Silvertone Cornet
1951 Martin Committee Trumpet

[ConnArtist]

I wonder what would happen if Atlas shrugged and left a forum to only the TR@!LS for about a week or two.

My X-wife and I used to laugh about inviting all the conversation-trolls we knew in real life to one single party, with no normal people invited (but us watching it all go down). The escalation of absurdity and one-upsmanship would be well worth observing!

I say let's all stop responding for the week and give it a go!
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"Stomvi" PhrankenPhlugel w/ Blessing copper bell
1958 Conn 18A cornet
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[fraserhutch]

+100

Here's the real caveat: if you want something to remain private, don't post it ANYWHERE on the net. That includes PMs, what you think is private correspondence, and "secure" web pages.

Nothing is 100% secure on the web. Nothing. if you post anything anywhere on the net that you wouldn't want prospective employers or law enforcement to see, then you deserve what you get.

The real bottom line? Once you post something to the web, it is public information. To view it as anything else is foolish. To expect that others view it as anything else is just as foolish, imho.