Cyber-Stalking: What it actually is

Hi everyone,

This is a topic that some of my friends and even some of my students have asked me recently. Unfortunately, there are those out there who are quite misinformed about what cyber-stalking actually is so I thought I'd help out a bit in this area. For now, I won't provide links (although there are links which give information about this topic). Later I may, though. I did consult with a few lawyers about this topic as well as some victims who have actually been cyber-stalked.

Now this is what cyber-stalking is. You can think of it as regular stalking except that it's happening online, of course. What a cyber-stalker does is choose a victim and send numerous emails to him/her. The emails can be like crazy fan mail or even negative. Also, the cyber-stalker must have followed his/her victim around, going to every site that the victim goes to. In addition, if the victim has his/her own site, the cyber-stalker will tend to frequent it a lot and may even go so far as to send the victim many messages, flooding his/her inbox.

That is what cyber-stalking is. Now why do I bring this topic up? Well, quite a while back, I had a friend of mine in real life get accused of cyber-stalking. I found this quite shocking since I know my friend really well and know that he would never do such a thing. I did help him out, investigating the issue. I consulted a few lawyers to ask for the true definition of cyber-stalking and after learning some things about this topic, I found that my friend definitely was innocent of this charge.

Now I don't know why his accuser would make such a hurtful accusation like that although I do have a guess based on what my friend had told me and the investigation that I did into this matter. From what I understood, my friend had posted on another site that he didn't like the accuser's products. Now this wasn't anything against the accuser personally-just that he didn't like what he/she had to offer. In my opinion, I don't think there's anything wrong with giving a criticism since criticisms help us improve our products and/or services for the better. Although the accuser may not have known any better, what he/she did definitely destroyed my friend's reputation and brought a lot of stress for my friend, which he didn't need. My friend did take recourse against the accuser and although it took some time, my friend was definitely vindicated in the end. He was terribly exhausted after all was said and done but the important thing was that he was found innocent and that he got recourse for the accusation made against him.

Thus, I would ask for everyone in general. If you think that you are a victim of cyber-stalking or if you yourself are accused of being a cyber-stalker, then investigate the definition of that term carefully. That way, it can save you a lot of time and trouble. As I care for all members here at SFG, I would be sad to see anyone get falsely accused of cyber-stalking or become a victim of it. From personal experience, I know what it's like to be persecuted because I'm different from others and unfortunately, there are those out there who will make it a point to go after someone different because they simply cannot understand that person's differences.

So I suppose I also ask for compassion and understanding. Try to look at a situation from others' eyes and see how they feel, how they've lived through life. That way, perhaps we can all learn something and be a little more open-minded.

Hmmm....well if ever someone I do not know sends me an e-mail, I just ignore it. I do not give out much of my info. But you are right, phoenix.

The deadliest stalkers are G-N-Omers, their a guild of scriptors, hackers, coders, and ect that like to targe inncoent bystanerts and mess with them by locking them out of e-mails, accounts, re-writing important personal computer data, ect. I only know of a few of them but its a very big guild and only the bst are allowed to join. i suggest no one get involved with them

...*gulp* ill have to keep this in mind.