According to the definition from Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary, comment refers to a note of explaining, illustrating, or criticizing the meaning of a writing, or “an observational or remark expressing an opinion or attitude.” Specifically, a good and constructive comment should have a positive idea or suggestion that benefits writers from upgrading their quality of writings. Unfortunately, writing platform as like other types of cyber bullying (or net bullying) has been used as a medium by the pranksters or a hateful predator group to leave bullied, embarrassed, threatened, sexual, lewd or harassed texts so that the innocent writers are targeted for humiliations. The contents of the comments are designed to enrage, inflame, and cause hatred (including prejudice, sexism, racism etc.), create false criticism and patronising sarcasm among the writing community. They do this purposely to smear the writer's reputation.
The presence of these pranksters is annoying and disturbing. They send writer's profile to other sites like blogs, discussion boards, forums, online chatting with the aims to insult the writers. They are here not for a serious writing but making trouble and creating misunderstanding instead. Sometimes they are bored and looking for entertainment by posting nasty and abuse comments. And sometimes they exist at some writing platforms to hurt the other. They may perceive that they are righteous avengers, and righting the faults and wrongdoing of the targeted writers. They are such a harsh people lack of civilization as they will strike back the only way they could. The pranksters themselves prefer to abuse others out of their jealousy, hurtful and revengeful emotions by spreading the misunderstood comments to the world.
Abuse comments are indeed scary and horrible. Whoever has gone through the conflict firsthand can tell you the nightmare. There are moments that will send chills down your spine. Below are some examples of abuse comments:
I wish you were dead!
I'll kill you if you're still there writing!
If you try and report me, I'll hack into your computer!
I hate you! You're stupid and dumb, get out here!
I'll spread your rumors and abuse your image so that people won't believe on you…
I'll use your name to leave hurtful and threatening comments so that people will boycott your writings….
Imagine how hurtful for writers who read these comments from the comfort of their home. How frightening and distressful this would be for the writer! I'm sad to learn that the similar threats and vicious comments are circulated very rapidly via the internet every single day.
I respect the freedom of speech. But even, every one of us is given a right to say anything we'd like to say, please don't abuse the value behind the right to speak. It's not always a pleasant lesson to have spiteful and derogatory comments circulated around the writing world. The freedom of speech that fosters the bad consequence of comments or communications shouldn't be allowed but they must deserve the punishment.
The internet has fulfilled everyone's dream to voice their opinions with ease. Nevertheless, the pranksters have misused their comments either to criticize people in a hateful way or make fun of them in some vicious means. They have abused their rights by using these hateful and derogatory comments as a form of harassment and aggressive behavior intended to harm others via technological means. Their objectives are achieved when they send threatening and malicious comments directly to a person, or they may send humiliating or hurtful comments to other sites in order to harass and/ or threaten others online. Even though the comments may not be getting innocent writers hurt physically, but they will cause them hurting emotionally. When they hurt physically, their scars or wounds will heal. What if they are hurt emotionally? These comments will stay with them for the rest of their life and may not be easily healed. They're here causing trouble for writers and just would like to see the writer torn apart. The abuse comments are indeed hurting and distressing! It is emotionally devastating for the innocent writers!
The action of these pranksters - rumors, threats, gossip, humiliation - are nothing new, as their wicked campaigns have started to move to e-mails, blogs, websites, chat rooms, and even text messaging. Among the internet users, these vicious gossips, racists and threatening comments are growing so rampant and quickly that most of the targeted writers are affected emotionally. With wireless technology, they are distributed much more quickly than you could ever imagine as they're being put up and shared around the world. Their wicked motives are shielded as most of the websites and screen names give them a mask of using “unknown” names, making them difficult to trace. Bullies and abuse are often anonymous, and sadly to say, most of the harassment takes place off. The bully then sits back laughing from seeing the affected parties engage in destructive behavior towards each other. The pressure could be felt by the innocent writers when their names are misused somewhere by these irresponsible parties and that means bullies can even extend their harassment into their lives, jobs and studies. It's indeed horrible enough, if someone made a joke about you, or said something to degrade your sacred personality.
Their objectives to leave such hateful and spiteful comments are clear that they want to control, manipulate, dominate and colonize their “territories”. They take revenge by seeing you react, and they try to control whatever ways they could. And their final aims are watching the affected writers wearing down. In this case, the affected writers become their “Baiting Game”. They stay there, watching and stirring the pot with additional “ingredients” (provocation) and they'd laugh with a sense of gratification upon seeing the affected parties indulge in destructive interaction and behavioral pattern.
When you come across writers being threatened by these pranksters, please give your utmost support and encouragement to boost them to a level they should be. With regards to the recent abuse among the Triond community, Triond has acted promptly and timely by introducing the add-in new feature for their commenting system. They even put this issue on their blog Your Comments, Your Identity. But, I'm sad to find it not to be a compulsory requirement for every Triond user here. I hope every writer here can make full use of this new feature to curb the intention of using our name for leaving hateful and nasty comments by some irresponsible and immoral parties.
