Free Speech Online

Hi all,

I wasn't sure whether to post this under my rant thread or just make a new topic but since it's a topic that's really suited more for thinking, I thought I'd make a new thread. (And this is also to help people be cautious when it comes to the Internet.)

Ok, now yesterday, I was online, doing my own stuff, finishing up work, etc. I'm completely oblivious to any craziness going on. All of a sudden, I get poked by one of my friends who tells me that a certain person from another site goes on the hunt to attack another member. Now basically, what this person did was accuse that member of being me and putting a negative spin on it. Like what she did was pretty sneaky, in my opinion. You know how people pretend to be all nice and everything but inside they make veiled attacks? Well, this is what this person ended up doing.

You see, after one of my friends poked me about this, I was curious to know what had happened so I looked into the issue myself. I asked for the link and everything so I could find out what was going on. Then I read all the posts and in a way, I could sort of see why this person made the attack that this other person was me. It turns out that this other person was making posts, giving opinions that this other person didn't like at all.

Now here's what disturbed me. Last time, I checked, we all live in a free society where we're allowed to give our opinions as long as they are given in a respectful manner. Unfortunately, this person had the nerve to attack this other member, saying that she was spreading rumors when what she was really doing was giving her opinion. It was a perfectly valid opinion and you know, it disturbs when there are some people out there who, rather than respect other people's opinions, make it a point to stomp on such people and call them liars and say that they spread rumors. Personally, I think people who engage in such behavior should have their facts straight before making such accusations. Also, I did not like how this person had the nerve to bring my name in it. Now it's fine if this person had personal issues with me but it was honestly childish of her to even bring my name into the matter. I believe that any personal issues with others should be said privately and not publicly on a forum.

Anyway, it just made me sad when I heard what happened and how this other member got attacked when she really didn't deserve it at all. If there was a way that I could get in contact with her and express my sympathies for the way that she was attacked, I'd take the effort to do so.

But here's the conclusion that I want to emphasize. Please be very careful of who to trust online, especially those who pretend to be nice but make veiled attacks against others, especially if they are unfounded attacks. The other shameful thing about this whole issue is that this person runs an online business and to treat potential customers like that, meh, that's definitely a very bad way to chase off customers and have them spread bad news about a business.

So that's my lesson of the day.

Im sorry to here about that Phoe x.x; I hate people like that xP hope you and the other person involved are ok..

Hi Westie,

I am a little better now since I have found recourse for this and all. And it's good to know that I have those on my side and even those neutral who say that I'm right. ^^

I'm not sure about the other person but I hope she's ok as well. I did post in that thread to clear things up regarding identity and all and to apologize to her for the confusion. I hope that she'll be ok, too.

If you dont mind me asking what site is this?

Hi Kaisuto,

Well, if you really want to know, you can PM me about it. I kept specific details out of this thread because I didn't want there to be any tensions or people targeting people, etc. Anyway, I don't mind giving you details if you ask me through PM.