INTERNET
ANONYMOTITY
As a rule I
tend to stay out of flaming discussions on the various yahoogroups and facebook
forums but I saw first hand today how one can fall victim to the “bullies” of
the internet through no fault of their own.
I had recently
joined a yahoogroup that was based on a
certain piece of equipment I own and use for our small business. I’m on various other groups about this same
piece of equipment and have received numerous wonderful hints and helps on the
item. So I joined this group hoping to
learn even more.
I want to
say right now that joining various groups and forums is generally a rewarding
experience that can help broaden your education. None of us knows everything and we can all
learn from the experience of others.
I had been
on the group for about three weeks and there had not been a single post on
it. Just as I was about to unsubscribe
from it due to lack of inactivity a post popped up about a new model of the
unit and it asked, would you be purchasing it.
Why or why not?
I watched
the responses for a couple of days and then posted that I would not be buying
one because of the pre-planned five year life expectancy of the units put out
by this company.
I found
myself immediately viciously attacked by members of the group for spreading
false rumors, lies and other malicious deeds.
I was reprimanded for purposefully trying to destroy the GOOD reputation
of the company—they have a fairly low overall customer service rating with
thousands of users across the nation—and other horrible deeds of misconduct.
Why? Because
I told the truth, plain and simple.
So in my second post I explained a situation I
had just had with the manufacturer last week.
An issue that had totally disabled my old machine and when I called
their customer service I was told it was due to the upgrade I had been required
to do to keep the machine operable with their online support.
I complained
about the fact said upgrade had caused the problem and asked for help in
repairing/replacing this vital piece of equipment and to an accessory that I
was using with it that had been destroyed by the upgrade.
I was told
they knew it created the problem, that they “expected” everyone to replace this
machine in 5 years or less and that the problem was my problem because
basically they didn’t care. That it was in fact a known issue that the most
recent upgrade could, and most likely would make machines 5 years old or older
not work. I was told this by three different
levels of customer service. That when I had gotten on the forum sponsored by
the company I found posts that stated the exact same thing by company
representatives.
When I had mentioned
this on the other lists and forums others repeated they had experienced the
exact same problem and that is why they now used a similar piece of equipment
by a different manufacturer.
Luckily my
dh was able to do some tweaks and got my machine back partially working to
where I can use it in a limited capacity.
I stated on the yahoogroup, due to the poor customer service and the
fact they admitted three different times, by three different reps, that the machines were actually built to the
point you had to replace them every five years and they had no plans to either
correct the problem or offer discounts on new equipment of any worth, that I probably would not be buying the new
unit, but would look at their competitors.
Again it was
insinuated I was lying and purposefully going off topic to malign the company. I replied that I was glad the attackers had
not had a similar experience, but I had experienced it just the week before and
therefore would probably not be buying the new unit. That I had simply answered
the question would I be buying it with a no, and with the explanation is to why
not as per the original posted request. I left it at that.
In this day
and age people hide behind their keyboards and if they don’t like something someone
says they attack, with no true knowledge of a situation.
What has
become of our civilization?
I believe
humans have a right to their own opinions
I also
believe that common courtesy has been thrown out the window by many of today’s
younger generation. Instead of asking me
what I was basing my opinion on and getting more details they attacked without
cause. Not just one of them, not all of
them, but a few. It was not what they
wanted to hear. How dare I say something
negative about the company and their customer service! It did not matter to
them what I had said was the absolute truth, it was not what they wanted to
hear/see.
Much like
today’s political fray where if someone doesn’t agree with your political views
the opposition will immediately start slinging mud at you. This virus of
uncivilized behavior has spread into all aspects of our life.
There doesn’t
seem to be a week go by that we don’t hear of some child committing suicide due
to cyber bullying or see one political side or another attack the integrity of
their opponent.
Emails are
faked, I have actually had this one happen to me once when someone didn’t agree
with my political views on a political group.
She faked an email that was supposedly from me to try and discredit
me. I proved beyond any doubt that the
email was fake in under five minutes, thanks to my knowledge of how the system
worked that it was posted on. If I had not known how to do the task I did she
would have gotten away with her out and out lie.
Once she was
outed she tried to blow it off as a joke, because she got caught. It was cyber bullying plain and simple,
because I had stated a fact, with documentation, she didn’t like. A fact that by the way has more than once
proven itself to be true without a shadow of doubt. She knew she was wrong, but
rather than admit it or let the matter drop she resulted to committing fraud
with a fake email. Because she could with keyboard anonymity .
Unfortunately
she is not alone in such activities.
Such underhanded methods are becoming the bread and butter of those that
hide behind their keyboards.
What has
happened to us as a nation?
Before the
worldwide web people communicated in letter, on the phone or GASP in
person. Now they use the anonymity of a
piece of electronic equipment to behave like animals.
I was aghast
to see a post earlier this week where one person posted on facebook to their
brother that their father had died! Can
you imagine the shock of such a posting?
Shouldn’t
such an announcement have been made in person, or at the very least via the
telephone? To post it on the web like
that, where it might be missed if the person has an active newsfeed is to me
unbelievable. Yet it happened. I’m still stunned by the unfeeling aspect of
the poster for doing it. How many other family members and friends saw the post
and were stunned by it as well?
I know from
personal experience that one family member uses strictly texting for
everything. Short little bursts like “Call
me about Mom.” She couldn’t pick up the
phone? It took longer to type that text
than to push speed dial and place the call. This same person, who truly has no
power in the family, uses texting to try and order others around on matters she
has no real say on.
She seems to
think that as long as she can push buttons on her smart phone she has control
of whomever she is sending the text to, that they will jump to her every command.
It seems she feels it doesn’t matter what she does or says because she doesn’t
have to look the person in the eye, or at the very least speak to them in a
proper manner.
Again, she
is not alone in this. We all probably
know someone like that.
Such sense
of power is not only wrong, it can be very harmful to all concerned.
Keyboards
have become the weapon and the shield of the world and it needs to stop.
A simple
statement can be misread by someone and a huge senseless fight can ensue. An accidental leaving on of the all caps key
makes it seem like you are shouting, when in fact you don’t mean to.
Then if someone
says something mean they try and cover it with LOL! As if that will take the
sting out of their false accusations. I
sometimes think that should be considered a banned anagram. It is overly used and often used in the wrong
context. But then I am not the word
police.
There are
people who seem to live to be what is commonly called a “Troll”. Why? What type of sick joy can someone get
out of being on a list to strictly stir up trouble?
Not too long
ago I was in a fast food restaurant and a man was there with his young
son. The man was making a big deal out
of how he and the boy were having a “father and son lunch.” Only the man was wearing two different smart phones,
and a pager. All of which he used during
the entire thirty minutes he was with his child. What type of quality time was that for the
child?
While it is
great they are teaching computer sciences in all levels of public education now
there still needs to be room and time made in the day for teaching such things
as cursive writing, spelling without a spell checker, basic math—not common
core, how to balance a checkbook, how to
make a meal, or repair a car, build a birdhouse, sew an outfit, play an
instrument, or draw a picture, but all of these are in the process of or have
already disappeared from our public school system.
It is time
to step back and each of us look at our own use of the keyboard and how it has
dehumanized us. Pick up the phone, call
a friend, write a letter, send a greeting card.
Reach out to one another. It is
time to become unplugged.
Believe it
or not, most humans are really nice people when you meet them face to face.
Re-establish
relationships with your family. I know
my family is guilty of calling each other in the same house on our phones to
say dinner is ready rather than take the extra steps to go and tell the
person. And we wonder why we have weight
issues. Well at least we eat dinner together nearly every night. That is more than some families do.
Should the
grid go down, as many seem to think it eventually will, would you even know how
to talk to others face to face? Maybe unplugging now is the biggest prepping we
as a nation need to do. When was the
last time you actually just had a good long, uninterrupted chat with a friend
or family member? When was the last time
you played a board game? Not one that interacts with the television or a
computer, but a board game. Remember the fun of Monopoly marathons? The peace and relaxation of putting a jigsaw
puzzle together with someone you care about?
Not a computerized one, but one you can actually pick up the pieces and
turn them around to try to see if they’ll fit?
How does
this pertain to anything any of my blogs deal with? It pertains to each and every one of them by
the fact they are my effort to connect with people without politics, without
flaming and with a feeling of trying to help others. It is also pertinent in the following manner:
Jan’sWordless Words—The implication on the group was I was not welcome there and may
not be able to post again because I dared to say something might possibly be
wrong with the customer service of their beloved product. I hadn’t flamed anyone and in fact merely
stated that I was repeating what I had been told by the company
themselves. I on the other hand had been
accused of lying and threatened. Now I
am not posting, showing my disdain for them wordlessly.
Mind YourPennies—In my original post, and in the third/last post I mentioned that I
thought I personally would wait to see the reviews on the new product to see if
there were any known issues with it as well because I wasn’t going to spend
$300 for a unit that the company may not support or even continue to make within
the next 3-5 years as they have done with numerous of their products.
Also to use
the newer unit completely I would need a $10 monthly online subscription to
it. This would mean a new budget line
item, that I wasn’t sure I wanted to add. That is simple budget sense.
Anytime you
add a new budget line item you should think about how it will affect your
overall budget and would it truly be a plus or maybe a negative.
See the USA
the Mystery Shopping Way—If I should buy the unit it would be after doing several
mystery shops with the retail sites, the online site and their customer service
and learning more about it. Just because
it is new, doesn’t make it better. I was
considering the item for when we travel after retirement IF the future reviews
were good, because it was smaller than my old unit and because I would not need
to carry my full accessory load with me to do so.
However,
many of the campsites we stay at do not have internet access, so how would I
use the unit and that online subscription?
Patterson’s Princess Plan—I have numerous items that work with the older unit, that may or
may not work with the new one. The new
one actually requires certain other items to be purchased to make it run. I’m in the progress of totally decluttering
my life. So why would I want to add more
stuff and more emotional aggravation?
I will also
add that I will lurk on the group a few more days, but if it looks like it is
strictly for the ego stroking of the owner, who was the ring leader of the
attack, I will declutter that list from my life and my computer. After all less is more right?
Outside a Dog—because I use this to review movies and books there is a good chance in the
future I would also review the machine and the online requirements to go with
it.
Patterson’sPantry and Patterson’s Pantry Recipes—since the unit could be used in some of
the self publishing I’m looking at doing it could affect it greatly.
Webfoot Tub Designs—the equipment and the possible customers for the website could be affected
by whether or not I purchase the unit or not. While it would offer a few new
functions to use in creating our product I am already not using everything
already available to me. So finding out more
about the unit is essential in my decision making process.
All in all
this rambling missive revolves back to one thing and one thing only being civil
to one another in a human contact sort of way, not from the anonymity of a
keyboard. True human contact needs to be
re-established. I think it’s time we all get back to it.
Jan who
knows that if these women had been facing her eye to eye they would have never
attacked her in such a manner in OK.