We're Human Beings, Man

This is heartbreaking. You may remember Paris Jackson as the "leave Britney alone" girl when she posted a YouTube video about all the Internet comments Britney Spears was getting for some of her behavior.

She received so much abuse over her public fame that she tried to commit suicide. She was 14 years old. Fortunately, she did not succeed.

What Paris did do was take a hiatus from social media. Upon her return, the abuse resumed. For God's sake, people. She's only 18 now.

But it doesn't matter if she's 18, 38, or 78, nobody deserves the hate trolling that some think the Internet has given them license for. A pox on all of these assholes. 

The world needs more caring people like Paris Jackson, so leave Paris alone! 

Don't Blame Twitter or Other Platforms for Cyberbullying

It always baffles me when the advice given to someone who is bulled, by their lawyer or their friends, is to delete their Twitter or Facebook accounts.

Cyberbullying and trolling isn't the platform's problem. It isn't even the network privacy settings. It's the fault of the assholes who are perpetrating the bullying. Period.

Mike Klein (@kleinkleinklein) said this in a post on TechCrunch: "Online abuse is omnipresent and not exclusive to one platform over another. It’s a behavior that starts with a mentality, not a platform."

So in other words, blame the person, not the platform. Sure, the owners of the platform are held accountable to waive their magic fairy dust to rid these trolls from abusing the decent, law-abiding users. However, they are not miracle workers and face it, it you have trouble managing 200 emails a day, imagine what it might be like to manage over one billion Facebook accounts every day. It's why the reporting option doesn't always get you justice, kind of like our court systems. But for all platforms, there are two surefire buttons that will rid you of THAT bully:

Delete and Block.

I was watching one of my Facebook friend's post comments get hijacked by a single "friend" who decided that nobody else's opinion mattered but his, Instead of editing his first post and add to it (like most of us might do), he posted thought after thought, but really, they were more hate speak, trolling, and bullying than intelligent thought. I unfollowed the feed so that I wouldn't keep getting notification of his diatribe. The only reply my friend made was that he was confirming the point she made in the original post. He continued and continued.

A week from now or a year from now, when Facebook gives people a look back at their activity, will that person still stand by his diatribe? Will he be proud to see it? Or will he finally see it with the eyes of the people who do not know him, who use his posts as a way to determine his character?

You do have control as to what you post, but also on what you see in your own feed. If you don't like what you see day in and day out (as when I hear friends complain about the drama in the Facebook feeds), then get better friends. YOU choose what you see. If you like the friend but don't like the posts, unfollow them while still remaining friends. You don't have to keep them as friends, especially if you don't know them well. But when you open up your networks, if you are not inspired, educated, entertained, or even interested by the home feed, find better friends to follow who will offer you that option.

In the case of being trolled or cyberbullied, if it's an onslaught and too much to handle (as in the case of Twitter pooping), don't delete your account, rather change your notifications. You don't have to be alerted to every tweet. You can take a break, but when you do, find the strength to shake off these strangers who have no clue as to who you are and are just living in their parents' basement jerking off to Spiderman comics. They don't deserve your reaction, your fear, your sadness, or your anger. Mute them as if they are the political pundits you hate to see on the cable news station. When you see them, think about Foghorn Leghorn: "Your mouth is flapping and nothing comes out."

You deserve to be heard. You deserve to be on the platform, front and center like everyone else. These cyberbullies are just mosquitoes in a forest of tweets. Slap them away.

Are You A Troll or a Spammer?

If your digital media profiles (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn…) look like any of the ones below, fix them now or get off the Internet. First impression is you look like a troll or a spammer. We are not going to give you the time of day if you can’t give your network the time of day.

It’s amazing how many times you see a connection request from someone on LinkedIn or Facebook or a new follower in Google+ who have absolutely no information in their profiles at all — people you personally know. But if you don’t know them, how do you know they’re not a serial killer? You have to wonder why they reached out if they’re not a spammer or phisher.

The sad thing is, some of these belong to real people. Although I may still connect with them if it’s a friend, I will advise them as diplomatically as I can to get a profile picture. I’ll say something like this: “Hey, nice to see you here. Now put up a photograph or you look like a spammer.”

Because social sites are used more to connect with potential business prospects, if you have nothing in your profile but your name, you’re leaving a lot of money outside of your computer. Consider your LinkedIn, Facebook, and Google+ profile/about pages your resume. The more information you put here about yourself — like what you do, the type of work or customers you’re looking for, links to project examples that back up your work or other ways to connect — the greater chance of you getting an unplanned referral or prospect to connect with you.

It’s time to do our part to improve digital media (I’ll get to the literacy aspect another time). If any of your profiles look like these, fix them now or get off the platform. Otherwise, are you a troll or a spammer?

Are you a serial killer?

Bad spelling screams fake profile

The following video is more about personal connections, but the message is the same. No picture, not information = you’re CREEPY.

Originally published December 14, 2015. Debbie Elicksen. freelancepublishing.net.

Political Malfunction

Political season seems to bring out the worst in good people. It turns them into trolls and bullies. 

You see them every day in your Facebook and Twitter feeds, among other places. They mirror what the pundits say on the puffed up political mantra being spewed across the airwaves. 

Regardless of facts, truth, or intentional slander, regardless of political affiliation, it is emotions that drive the home feed and comment sections. His truth may not be her truth, but that doesn't matter. Any truth, other than their own, is wrong and must be destroyed. 

If someone finds a positive story about a political candidate, such as legislation that levels the playing field for workers, moves the needle forward for trade -- thus jobs, or hell, even if they saved a damn life, watch the haters find something to post trash about. If they have nothing, they take it personal -- to the candidate's looks, their great great great great grandfather's indiscretion, or they wore the wrong colored suit.

It's like an elementary playground for adults. Politics seems to give liberty for adults to behave badly, to set a terrible example, and contradict the line they always feed their kids: "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."

Some of the examples coming from posts of people who are otherwise well behaved, who work at all ends of the economic scale: 

• Liar
• Bitch
• Ugly wife
• Dishonest
• Muslim (trying to connect the candidate to terrorism) 
• Sellout
• Traitor
• Cow-wacky, heifer-donkey shit
• Piece of shit
• Joke
• Babbling clown 

You get the picture. 

It doesn't matter if the candidates get ugly on the campaign trail. We don't have to follow their lead. 

Here's a good reason why you should remember that line you try to teach your kids about saying something nice. Jobs and opportunities come in bipartisan work environments. Whether you work freelance, contract, or are looking for full- or part-time work, employers and contractors WILL be checking your social feeds to see what kind of a person you are. They want to see if you play nice with others or if you're a digital toxin fertilizer.

So what do your political posts say about you? It isn't about backing the right candidate, but rather it is how tolerant you are of other's right to back theirs.  

Abdullah-X

He's a disruptor, a protector, who is waging a cyber war against the extremists in the one place they do most of their recruiting: online.

Adbullah-X counters the narrative that groups like ISIS use, in order to save young people from getting into something they may not be able to escape. 

The extremists use social media as a weapon of provocation. It works because they are targeting an age group of people who are already struggling with their identity. What Abdullah-X does is post against their jihadi narratives. He does this by empowering them towards self-actualization and positive choices.

He's a former extremist, so he knows the drill better than most law enforcement. The name is obviously a persona and his digital presence is gaining ground.