Are the site admins pro-harassment?

[Cyberweasel89]

I leave comments on stories after I read them. No biggie. If I like them, I say so. If I don't, I say so.

There is one author I've been a bit critical of because her stories feel very same-y and have shown no improvement over the 15 years she's been writing. I also found it suspicious that in a now-deleted story, she inserted some politics that relate to Trump and never publicly said anything about it. Considering two men in MAGA hats once saw I was Asian-American and proceeded to chase me down the Sidewalk and knock me out of my wheelchair, you can see why I would find this author inserting pro-Trump political references into one of her stories concerning.

But after a while, some fanboy with a parasocial relationship with the author started anonymously stalking me with various accusations about no one being allowed to be critical of this author's stories.

After a while of this, he finally made an account, solidifying his obsession with stalking and harassing me for not liking some stories by naming his account "CyberWeaselIsDeranged" in what appeared to be some serious projection (I notice nearly all of his insults against me are projection from his behavior).

His comments are always off-topic when it comes the the author's stories, even if he weren't using an account purely to stalk and harass me so obsessively that he even created the account just for his fixation on me not liking his favorite author's stories due to my personal tastes and concerns differing from his.

However, no matter how many times I report his comments or accounts, they always stay up. It's been months with periodic reports and nothing. By this point, I have to assume that Literotica is showing via inaction that it approves of accounts being solely dedicated to obsessively stalking and harassing their authors and readers.

But the question is why? They clearly say "off-topic" is against the rules in comments yet this guy is never on-topic since he's always obsessed with me instead of the story or author. If they're not going to enforce that rule, why have it?

And even if off-topic wasn't involved here, why is okay for, say, me to make an account solely to harass, stalk, and abuse one of the administrators? It feels like a very strange thing to allow on any site. Even if there's no clear rule against it, it just feels like common sense to do something about such deranged lunatics trying to make others' experiences on this site miserable and make women feel unsafe using this site.

Why do you think the site administrators are so radio silent about this guy despite how long it's been, how frequent he's done this, and how many reports I've sent to suspicious inaction? Is he the sockpuppet of a staff member and thus under their protection? Or do the administrators of the site have an understandable reason behind allowing, supporting, and endorsing obsessive stalking, harassment, and abuse of their authors and readers to the point users can make entire accounts to do so and break the rule against off-topic comments as if harassment overrides the rule?

Thoughts? I'm very confused by Lit's inaction over this guy, to the point my imagination has run wild with fanciful tales of this guy being a relative of the site owner. It's probably because I'm 34 and have dealt with far worse than this immature little man's attempts at projection-based cyberbullying to silence the opinions of those he doesn't like, but I just find his pathetic attempts to stalk me quaint compared to things I've dealt with in the past. But it still baffles me why Lit almost seems to be protecting this random guy. Like, what is he worth keeping around when all he does is obsessively stalk female authors? He feels like he'd do far more harm than good to Literotica in the long-term.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I wouldn't say that Literotica admins are pro-harassment but there is no doubt a lot of truth in your words. While shenanigans forum-side can lead to warnings and a ban, my impression is that no amount of bullshit would make Laurel ban any story-side account. As I said, I seriously doubt that that's because she approves of said bullshit. My impression is that they don't ban such accounts because creeps of various kinds are their best customers. Those people usually make a lot of traffic to the website, so it would be a precedent of the wrong kind for them to ban such users

Then again, maybe they just don't care. Also, there will undoubtedly be people here who will say that this is a large website being run by a caring mum and dad and that they simply don't have the time and the resources to deal with such cases. Of course, that's pure BS. There are certain transgressions and breaking of Lit's rules that should lead to a ban as they repeat over and over again. I had a similar experience as well, and the same as in your own case, there was no ban, and there still isn't one.
As usual, when it comes to these topics, there is a lot of speculation in my and everyone else's words so yeah, it's hard to know what the actual truth is. But one thing comes to mind. Literotica is their house and you judge the owners by the way their house is being run. And yeah, there are certain aspects of it that don't paint a good picture about them.

 

[lovecraft68]

Yes, and in a variety of ways. I could blow up this thread-as could others-with examples of the awful behavior they have encouraged and thought was hilarious here.

Comments are now screened, meaning when you see comments full of nothing but hate speech towards authors or other people commenting, the site saw them and let them through.

The only suggestion I have for the OP is to create another handle to comment under. They shouldn't have to do it, but the site is not going to help.

 

[SimonDoom]

What do you mean by "stalking and harassing"? Are they calling you names? Are they threatening you? Tried to extort you? I don't know it's standards, but the Site may not recognize frequently commenting negatively to your comments or critiques as "stalking and harassing." The general policy of Literotica is to allow a certain amount of rough and tumble in the forums. Are they sending you nasty comments directly or just responding to your comments in various forums? It's hard to evaluate this without more information.

I think you can safely say that the Site owners are not part of a conspiracy. That's way too far-fetched.

You have the option of blocking this person, so you don't have to see their comments.

 

[Voboy]

OP, your clickbaity thread title is noted.

Are you talking about comments on your stories, or forum posts? Or "replies" to your comments on another user's stories? I'm confused. If it's the former two, the above posters are quite right: you can delete those comments on your stories, or block this cat on the forum.

If it's direct replies he/she is making to comments you've put on this person's stories? Then that writer can delete them. But here's the thing: if there's nothing directly offensive in there, and the posts themselves address specific issues you've raised, I doubt very highly that they'd get nuked by the site. So maybe they're not as egregious as you think?

I suggest that because the site is actually pretty aggressive about deleting offensive comments on stories. Some of them never even make it to publication before they're taken care of. It's a topic of occasional discussion here in the AH. So, no. They are not pro-harassment.

ETA: I just looked up CyberWeaselIsDeranged on the story side. It lists just two comments. So I assumed this is about the forum side? But then I just looked him/her up there too, and... nada. I'm curious how bad these comments toward you are.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

What do you mean by "stalking and harassing"? Are they calling you names? Are they threatening you? Tried to extort you? I don't know it's standards, but the Site may not recognize frequently commenting negatively to your comments or critiques as "stalking and harassing." The general policy of Literotica is to allow a certain amount of rough and tumble in the forums. Are they sending you nasty comments directly or just responding to your comments in various forums? It's hard to evaluate this without more information.

I think you can safely say that the Site owners are not part of a conspiracy. That's way too far-fetched.

You have the option of blocking this person, so you don't have to see their comments.

I agree that the OP should be a bit more specific about this stalking and harassment. Screenshots would be helpful. But I also think that the account name of this person speaks volumes. I mean, if someone created an account named "SimonDoomIsAnAss" I think it would be safe to say that that person is targeting you specifically

 

[Bramblethorn]

After a while of this, he finally made an account, solidifying his obsession with stalking and harassing me for not liking some stories by naming his account "CyberWeaselIsDeranged" in what appeared to be some serious projection (I notice nearly all of his insults against me are projection from his behavior).

Does that account still exist? I tried searching site members just now and couldn't find that name - though I see it was up an hour ago when @Voboy found it, so either I missed something or it's only just been deleted.

Edit: ah, it's actually CyberWeasel89IsDeranged, that's why it wasn't showing.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

Does that account still exist? I tried searching site members just now and couldn't find that name - though I see it was up an hour ago when @Voboy found it, so either I missed something or it's only just been deleted.

It showed up for me, but as Voboy mentioned only two posts.

 

[KeithD]

My first impression on this is that continually for fifteen years commenting on someone's stories that they are "same-y" rather than stopping reading that author and reading elsewhere more satisfying might be seen as stalking itself enough to be met in kind. Not that any stalking is justified.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

My first impression on this is that continually for fifteen years commenting on someone's stories that they are "same-y" rather than stopping reading that author and reading elsewhere more satisfying might be seen as stalking itself enough to be met in kind. Not that any stalking is justified.

If that's stalking then we have lowered the bar for "stalking" so far as to make the term meaningless.

 

[KeithD]

If that's stalking then we have lowered the bar for "stalking" so far as to make the term meaningless.

You don't think that leaving the same critical comment on an author's stories for fifteen years without just leaving them alone and reading something else isn't stalking? I do.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

You don't think that leaving the same critical comment on an author's stories for fifteen years without just leaving them alone and reading something else isn't stalking? I do.

stalking​

noun​

stalk·ing

: the act or crime of willfully and repeatedly following or harassing another person in circumstances that would cause a reasonable person to fear injury or death especially because of express or implied threats
broadly : a crime of engaging in a course of conduct directed at a person that serves no legitimate purpose and seriously alarms, annoys, or intimidates that person

Yeah, I don't think it meets that definition, and since we haven't seen the supposed comments in question it's hard to take this any further. 15 years is a long time, but how many stories are we talking about? What if the criticism is valid? Maybe the stories ARE highly repetitive.

 

[KeithD]

Then don't consider it stalking, if you don't want to. I do--especially as here, responding activity is asserted as stalking. This is a story site. I adjust definitions to suit the context.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

Then don't consider it stalking, if you don't want to. I do--especially as here, responding activity is asserted as stalking. This is a story site. I adjust definitions to suit the context.

 

[KeithD]

If you see the need to go one more round on this, Kelliezgirl, I'll classify you as a stalker. *smile* (actually, I will. There's no need for you to be doing this.)

 

[Kelliezgirl]

If you see the need to go one more round on this, Kelliezgirl, I'll classify you as a stalker. *smile* (actually, I will. There's no need for you to be doing this.)

Which would just be further proof that your definition is meaningless.
But thank you for mansplaining what I need to be doing.

 

[alohadave]

View attachment 2357155

Yes, that is how language works. Words shift over time.

At one point nice meant foolish or stupid. Meanings and usage changes.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

Yes, that is how language works. Words shift over time.

At one point nice meant foolish or stupid. Meanings and usage changes.

But we aren't talking about a shift over time, we are talking about a current dictionary definition. The facts described so far don't meet the current definition.

 

[Voboy]

You don't think that leaving the same critical comment on an author's stories for fifteen years without just leaving them alone and reading something else isn't stalking? I do.

I'd have long since walked away from those stories too; it's one of the many things I find baffling about the OP's situation. But nah. Leaving comments on a disfavored writer's pieces is not stalking at all. The writer is putting the story out there and enabling comment, thus soliciting the OP's feedback. I agree it's weird that the OP is so fixated on this writer, but "stalking" requires a level of digging, searching, and harassing that I don't think the OP's doing (at least, not given the information provided).

It's odd that this OP has inspired enough hatred to get someone to open an account specifically devoted to pointing out their derangement, but I can't find anything about that account that's particularly concerning other than the name. It would help if I knew the content of those two comments, I suppose, but I'm not about to hunt them down.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I'd say that people are speculating too much about the OP, and not in a good way. It could be that he is obsessed with this author, but it could also be that he had previously enjoyed that author's stories and that he thought to give some constructive criticism, especially if those stories really contained political content. We are all jumping to conclusions here, when the truth is that we haven't seen any proof of anything so far, except that the existence of the mentioned account confirms that there is someone who is intent on at least trolling the OP.

@Cyberweasel89 since you are keeping the name of this author secret, which I fully support, you could maybe provide some screenshots of your comments, the ones that you think started the whole thing, along with the screenshots of this "stalker" of yours doing what you are saying he's doing.

 

[Voboy]

I'd say that people are speculating too much about the OP, and not in a good way. It could be that he is obsessed with this author, but it could also be that he had previously enjoyed that author's stories and that he thought to give some constructive criticism, especially if those stories really contained political content. We are all jumping to conclusions here, when the truth is that we haven't seen any proof of anything so far, except that the existence of the mentioned account confirms that there is someone who is intent on at least trolling the OP.

@Cyberweasel89 since you are keeping the name of this author secret, which I fully support, you could maybe provide some screenshots of your comments, the ones that you think started the whole thing, along with the screenshots of this "stalker" of yours doing what you are saying he's doing.

Yes. That would be super-helpful.

As far as "jumping to conclusions" goes, that's bound to happen when we've got so little to go on. When you start a thread and try to be cryptic, you get what you get as far as a response goes.

And when you then vanish and don't return to remain part of the conversation you've started? Well... maybe I'm just speaking for myself, but that's why I'm "speculating... not in a good way." OP posted nearly six hours ago... did they really want anyone's input? If so, why haven't they helped answer our questions?

It seems childish, to say the least, and in keeping with the inflammatory thread title. But still, if genuine stalking is going on, OP deserves some action. It'd be nice if we could opine with any degree of accuracy, but the OP hasn't given us the means.

 

[KeithD]

I'd say that people are speculating too much about the OP, and not in a good way. It could be that he is obsessed with this author, but it could also be that he had previously enjoyed that author's stories and that he thought to give some constructive criticism, especially if those stories really contained political content. We are all jumping to conclusions here, when the truth is that we haven't seen any proof of anything so far, except that the existence of the mentioned account confirms that there is someone who is intent on at least trolling the OP.

@Cyberweasel89 since you are keeping the name of this author secret, which I fully support, you could maybe provide some screenshots of your comments, the ones that you think started the whole thing, along with the screenshots of this "stalker" of yours doing what you are saying he's doing.

Well, no. I reacted to the words the OP actually wrote in a post.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Yes. That would be super-helpful.

As far as "jumping to conclusions" goes, that's bound to happen when we've got so little to go on. When you start a thread and try to be cryptic, you get what you get as far as a response goes.

And when you then vanish and don't return to remain part of the conversation you've started? Well... maybe I'm just speaking for myself, but that's why I'm "speculating... not in a good way." OP posted nearly six hours ago... did they really want anyone's input? If so, why haven't they helped answer our questions?

It seems childish, to say the least, and in keeping with the inflammatory thread title. But still, if genuine stalking is going on, OP deserves some action. It'd be nice if we could opine with any degree of accuracy, but the OP hasn't given us the means.

Yeah, I agree. Based on the date of creation of OP's account, I assumed this was a legit post and not someone trolling. Maybe the OP just isn't used to the forum. But either way, I hope he clarifies his post so we can stop guessing. The topic he started is one worth discussing, in my opinion.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Well, no. I reacted to the words the OP actually wrote in a post.

Yeah, but the way he said it leaves much confusion. It's not clear what he meant, nor what kind of criticizing feedback he left on those stories. Benevolent and mocking criticism are hardly the same. Let's see if he provides more info.

 

[lovecraft68]

My first impression on this is that continually for fifteen years commenting on someone's stories that they are "same-y" rather than stopping reading that author and reading elsewhere more satisfying might be seen as stalking itself enough to be met in kind. Not that any stalking is justified.

It's not stalking, its a legit comment.