WHAT TO DO WITH ONLINE ABUSE
Yesterday, while on Adult FriendFinder, I came across an incidence of online abuse. The abuse took place on flannel_light's 'What' blog post.
Her blog post wondered why some men posted rude comments on her profile after she posted a topless photo of herself. She posted the photo on her blog post.
On reading her post, I left a comment stating that she should be able to post whatever photos she likes on her profile. While writing my comment, I noticed an odd comment left by COWBOYSRULE2024. I thought it was an unnecessarily rude comment but I wasn't sure as I thought there may be a slight chance he was flannel_light's blogging friend trying to be funny albeit in a very blunt way. I'm not going to repeat his comment here.
Having left my comment on flannel_light's blog post, I went downstairs to wash the dishes. After about an hour, I returned upstairs and switched on my computer to check the football results. After a while, I logged onto AFF and immediately noticed an alert for a Club 7 group post submitted by CarriedBack.
His 'Intervention' post informed Club 7 members that flannel_light "is being harassed and dissed by a male member who needs to be set straight, as well as banned from the platform." I immediately went back to flannel_light's blog post and noticed that COWBOYZRULE2024 had left several more abusive comments/replies.
I decided to challenge all his abusive comments/replies. I left four replies to the troll, of which only two were allowed to stand by AFF. One approved reply was an invitation to the troll to leave a comment on my blog, and the other approved reply stated that he is living proof that Charles Darwin got it wrong.
My reply that his parents must be proud of his trolling ways was denied by AFF. And, perhaps not surprisingly, my reply calling him "a total shitbag" was also denied but not before the troll called me "a cunt"!
flannel_light also had replies to the troll denied by AFF. It seems AFF is quite happy to allow someone to post abuse on people's blog posts but isn't happy for others and even the abused to counter that abuse. This incidence says a lot about AFF's twisted priorities.
It was only this morning on returning to flannel_light's blog post that I noticed all of COWBOYZRULE2024's comments/replies were removed. Though heartening that many bloggers rallied in support of flannel_light, the troll's comments/replies were left up for quite a while. I cannot fathom when AFF receives a report of alleged abuse that the site cannot investigate the matter and take action if abuse has been found within, say, one hour.
Hopefully, the troll was also banned from the site - I can think of four exiles who were banned for less!
How much time do you think an online site should take to investigate a report of abuse and, if substantiated, to take remedial action?
What do you do when you come across online abuse of yourself or others?
When I first started blogging, I always found dealing with trolls difficult. Probably because of my academic training, I invariably resorted to reason when dealing with a troll. This strategy never worked because trolls don't use reason when forming their stupid views. Now, I use a mix of sarcasm and insult to deal with trolls as I'm not convinced that the 'don't-feed-the-troll' maxim is particularly effective in countering online abuse.
I wondered if Flannel herself deleted the comments; I don't have much faith that the site would do it. His blog is still there and profile is still visible too, so it doesn't appear they've taken any action.
ReplyDeleteTaking action within an hour would be great but is probably unrealistic. I don't know what timeframe is viable given that Tier 1 doesn't seem to have critical thinking skills and Tier 2 seems swamped and inattentive.
It's very disappointing to hear that his profile is still up and that AFF didn't ban him.
DeleteIt's very possible then that flannel deleted his comments/replies, though I did advise her to leave them up as evidence when I replied to her email last night.by email.
I'd be surprised if flannel deleted my replies, maybe she deleted the "total shitbag" one.
It would be great that any reports of abuse would be treated as top priority by AFF, plus other online sites, and that such reports would go straight to Tier 2 for investigation/action.
I've just got an e-mail from flannel and she didn't delete any comments/replies on her blog post, so it seems AFF did that, unless the troll had second thoughts and deleted his own postings which I very much doubt.
DeleteWell, at least they removed his comments - but I think at least a temporary ban was called for. I wonder if they even contacted him with a slap on the wrist.
DeleteI hope AFF did reprimand him but I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't reprimanded.
DeleteI’m glad I read the comments because I was going to suggest what smarty did.
ReplyDeleteThe moderation on AFf has serious problems and has for a while. Look at the worst of what I did, that picture. I’m willing to bet the stuff cowboy dude said was way worse than that. He’s still there.
So the line for moderation is where?
I’m a fan of block and delete but I have had problems when others followed me around (before blocking affected them seeing you on others’ blogs too), and had no problem calling aff and complaining. It took a while, they took it down and banned the person for 24 hrs. (This was pre covid, so like 2019)
So again, where is the line ?
I am not willing to argue with assholes on the internet. It’s not worth the time or emotional energy. Block and delete is my best friend.
As for online abuse or any other tou violation, , I think 2 hours the maximum it should take them.
If they want to moderate, then moderate consistently and according to the tou. There shouldn’t be different rules for different people. (This goes for members and moderators)
I fully appreciate that it's a waste of time and energy arguing against abusive trolls, and that block-and-delete is a good option. It's probably because I'm male that I didn't have many trolls visit my blog on AFF, though they did come out when I blogged about climate change.
DeleteI don't know whether a 'duty of care' means much legally in America. But from where I'm standing in Britain, AFF has a duty of care towards its members and AFF invariably fails to discharge that bottom-line duty.
I can live with two hours to respond to reports of abuse. It's not that difficult for a site like AFF to deal with claims of abuse within that time period.
You're quire right, we were banned for far less. And that says a lot about AFF chasing money, probably imaginary money. It chooses to not prioritise protecting its members, particularly female members from abuse coming from its entitled and emboldened male members it seems so keen on recruiting.
I'll get off my soap box now.
The troll's comments were dealt with pretty quickly after I emailed Tier 2 the q: code and screenshot of the comments. I think Alex dealt with it himself.
ReplyDeleteGranted, going through the report form does take time since I think it's the first tier that goes through those reports first. We all know how effective the first tier is.
From what I've observed from trollish behavior is that these sad trolls crave attention, bless their hearts. The best way to deal with them is to never directly engage with them. Starve them of the attention they desperately crave.
Smarty, you're right. Tier 2 is swamped. There's only an handful dealing with the escalated issues and complaints for the entire site.
In an ideal world, once a certain threshold of reports is reached, the reported post/comment gets hidden from view. Once the team determines that the post/comment isn't in violation, then it can be viewable again. Ones in violation are removed.
Tier I doesn't seem fit for anything.
DeleteWhat I found easier for me dealing with trolls, is that I never filled out abuse forms but emailed Tier 2 and Blog escalation off-line with the code from my blog post, and copied and pasted the trolls comments along with it..
DeleteI think I only submitted a few abuse forms but I suspect nothing happened as a result.
DeleteMakes me glad I am not there anymore to have to deal with the trolls and I feel so bad for flannel.What gets me is that his comments remained while yours were denied? Like you I am also not convinced that not feeding the trolls is always the way to go either as we all know block and delete does not always work.Trolls are those that if blocked will just make another fake profile to try to get at you. Those off balanced, narcissistic basement dwellers. The sad part is that it is all so needless to begin with..
ReplyDeleteAFF's Tier I is quite useless and not fit for purpose. The site knows this for a long time but seems to choose not to do anything about the Tier 1 review process.
Delete100% in agreeance with you on that issue..Now you know why I always by-passed them immediately when in Live Chat..
DeleteI never went to Tier 1 direct; I always went to Tier 2 via email.
DeleteThe only way to go there my friend..
DeleteTier 2 generally were very good at responding and dealing with issues I raised with them.
DeleteThat was my experience with them also. Quicker when done with Live chat Tier 2, yet when in messages offline, they always responded the next day as a rule.
DeleteIt seems I'm getting email notifications to comments/replies now.
DeleteGood to hear that..
Delete