Can what you say online have real world consequences?

[NHdisneylover]

Call it rude, if you want. The piling on that goes on here is what I have a problem with. If those hung up on the topic started another thread, the PP who made a mistake of sharing the wrong opinion could at least ignore that thread completely. After you tell someone several times that you feel their behavior is wrong, it's time to give it a rest. I can't imagine anyone continue to pile-on in real life like people do here.

well, you specifically said it was off topic.

Regardelss, the PP can just as easily choose to stop reading this thread (as it appears she has) if she is not interested in further discussing the issue.
Personally, I have not seen a lot of "piling on" though i have seen a majority of people having the opinion that her actions of reporting those photos are out of line---with varying reasons why and several attempting to understand where she is coming from and askign further questions. There have actaully been quite a few different reasons for disagreeing given and discussed, I think it'S been a good conversation.

 

[DaisyJ]

I think she's gotten the message by now don't you?

I don't know, has she? She doesn't see anything wrong with interfering with a businesses livelihood, so I'm thinking the answer is no.

All she needs to do is stop reading and the same goes for you if you don't like where the on topic thread has gone. I do it daily, yet don't feel the need to admonish or lecture other posters they should only be posting what *I* feel is on topic.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

My phone is acting up , so I can't reply to every person that quoted me individually at this time. Needless to say, I should have known better than to try to convince some of the regulars that it was time to quit piling on. It's obviously okay to pile-on as long as you're participating in the party. Its all too common here.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I don't know, has she? She doesn't see anything wrong with interfering with a businesses livelihood, so I'm thinking the answer is no.

All she needs to do is stop reading and the same goes for you if you don't like where the on topic thread has gone. I do it daily, yet don't feel the need to admonish or lecture other posters they should only be posting what *I* feel is on topic.

It's hard to stop posting, when you're constantly being quoted. I'll be happy to stop watching the beating of a dead horse.

 

[sam_gordon]

My phone is acting up , so I can't reply to every person that quoted me individually at this time. Needless to say, I should have known better than to try to convince some of the regulars that it was time to quit piling on. It's obviously okay to pile-on as long as you're participating in the party. Its all too common here.

As PP said, there's been people explaining to her why her stance doesn't make sense and others who are asking her to clarify her stance/beliefs. If I mention in a thread "the earth is flat", shouldn't people be able to question me or tell me I'm wrong? Or, since that's my belief, I shouldn't be questioned about it?

I also think it's wrong when someone (other than a mod) posts on a thread criticizing what people are posting about. If you (general) feel it violates board guidelines, feel free to report a post. If someone is being called names or insulted, I can understand that. Asking questions about another poster's beliefs? Sorry, don't like it, don't read it.

I'm guessing now you feel like you're being piled on.

 

[sunshinehighway]

That is true that is why I tried to say there of course is a line but some people just said posting too much political stuff and that is what I was speaking about. I know people on both sides that very passionately post their opinions and again I don't believe either should have their employment suffer over that. Neither of the groups I know would actually hurt a fly or treat an employee, coworker, or customer different for their religion, race, sex, or sexual identity but they both have strong opinions in politics. It is kind of like how I don't think my opinion on Israel and Palestine as a Jew should be called into question anywhere to be honest but currently right now in my liberal circle of friends it is being and not to have a conversation but rather to judge if I am "right" and thus okay to be in the group.

I don't think there's really a rash of people losing their jobs over just posting too much political stuff on their personal social media though.

.

 

[robinb]

My husband and I have been wondering lately if things my mother-in-law/his mom posts on FB and things she shares will or has had any affect on her insurance business.

Her husband is an independent insurance agent and she's a part of the business. They have a magnet on their car, they have a FB page and it's evident that she's a part of that agency. But we're concerned that her extreme political posts could hurt their business if not now down the road then.

It's not exactly the same thing as writing false reviews but still...I guess then a secondary question could be should things you write in social media affect you.

I have a similar concern with my sister. She owns a small business and her personal FB page is WIDE OPEN and she doesn't hold back on her political views. While I agree with her views, it would be very easy for someone to look at her FB page and say, "There is NO WAY I'm buying anything from that kook!". I figure red politics or blue politics doesn't matter when everyone's money is green.

As for the OP, I'm glad that the blogger was punished and I hope the ruling stands. It was wrong for her to use her fake drama to get more people to follow her blog and view her ads (which is why I refuse to look at it) and ruin the photographer in the process.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I have a similar concern with my sister. She owns a small business and her personal FB page is WIDE OPEN and she doesn't hold back on her political views. While I agree with her views, it would be very easy for someone to look at her FB page and say, "There is NO WAY I'm buying anything from that kook!". I figure red politics or blue politics doesn't matter when everyone's money is green.

As for the OP, I'm glad that the blogger was punished and I hope the ruling stands. It was wrong for her to use her fake drama to get more people to follow her blog and view her ads (which is why I refuse to look at it) and ruin the photographer in the process.

Did you forget I was told to leave this thread? Now, you're calling me back. You guys go right on ahead beating that dead horse, as is typical here. I'll find a better way to waste my time.

ETA: Sorry robin, I meant to quote @sam_gordon. Crazy phone...

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

That is true that is why I tried to say there of course is a line but some people just said posting too much political stuff and that is what I was speaking about. I know people on both sides that very passionately post their opinions and again I don't believe either should have their employment suffer over that. Neither of the groups I know would actually hurt a fly or treat an employee, coworker, or customer different for their religion, race, sex, or sexual identity but they both have strong opinions in politics. It is kind of like how I don't think my opinion on Israel and Palestine as a Jew should be called into question anywhere to be honest but currently right now in my liberal circle of friends it is being and not to have a conversation but rather to judge if I am "right" and thus okay to be in the group.

It's a hard topic IMO. The reason I haven't gone too indepth about the political opinions of my mother-in-law is because well that sort of indepth talk is not in line with the DIS rules-I've just kept it more vague.

But I think there's a difference in saying you support the raising of sales tax for x,y,z on FB vs saying things that the extreme say on both sides of the spectrum. For my husband and I it's seeing things from people around us that share things steeped in false facts or from websites that should be most obvious that they contain a specific slant and large bias well you start to question the person YKWIM? And it's not always the case for sure but I could see how someone who has extreme views (though they don't always have to be extreme) it could impact their ability to use critical thinking, to be able to focus on doing one's job without bias, etc.

Just using my past job as an example where I worked at a call center for an insurance company. My job was to speak with agents 99% of the time. So let's say I said something on FB to the tune of "I hate speaking to agents who barely speak English..ugh can't they just learn English?"...well imagine if my company had found that out somehow..it would look bad on the company and it would look bad on me considering my job had required me to speak with agents in CA and in TX (as well as more than 35 other states) where there was A LOT of ESL agents (with Spanish being their primary language) or where the agent's accents made it harder to understand. The New England area like NJ and NY actually had a decent chunk of agents that had a heavy middle eastern accent that was hard to understand at times. That also would have looked bad if I said something like that on FB. My ability to do my job without concern to bias could be called into question.

*FTR while it did make my job a bit harder at times when English wasn't the primary language or where the accent made it difficult to understand I did not allow that to create a bias towards those who were hard to understand. I would just adjust how I said something; in other words I would learn to adapt to who I was speaking with*

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I have a similar concern with my sister. She owns a small business and her personal FB page is WIDE OPEN and she doesn't hold back on her political views. While I agree with her views, it would be very easy for someone to look at her FB page and say, "There is NO WAY I'm buying anything from that kook!". I figure red politics or blue politics doesn't matter when everyone's money is green.

As for the OP, I'm glad that the blogger was punished and I hope the ruling stands. It was wrong for her to use her fake drama to get more people to follow her blog and view her ads (which is why I refuse to look at it) and ruin the photographer in the process.

My thought,especially as people have chimed in here on the thread on the topic, is that I could see it not being an issue unless it significantly impacted the business..but I don't know how someone can really rectifiy the issue and retain/grow business once word gets out at least if gets too out.

I mean it's like the photographer in the OP..once word got out and kept continuing to go out that was the end of it for her. Could her business even rebound appropriately if the couple recanted what they said and blasted that all over the news? I'm thinking there still would be peope that would swear away the photographer or who wouldn't have gotten the update regarding the couple recanting the story. So for the case of your sister if she relied on her business for her lifestyle there may not be an issue until/unless enough people stopped using her.

 

[sam_gordon]

Did you forget I was told to leave this thread? Now, you're calling me back. You guys go right on ahead beating that dead horse, as is typical here. I'll find a better way to waste my time.

ETA: Sorry robin, I meant to quote @sam_gordon. Crazy phone...

But you weren't told to "leave the thread". It was suggested that you can use that option if you don't like what's being discussed. I don't see that as "being told to leave".

 

[OhMari]

I'm sorry you're backing off. We are just trying to understand WHAT you feel is "not right" about the pictures. It's not even that you think it's not right, but that you report them to FB. What do you report them for?

There are 2 people in my community that have gone to jail for child enticement, child pornography, sex with a minor. Both are back in our community now with restrictions. I know this is just my feelings, but if that baby was my grandson or granddaughter and I knew this person was looking at my child in this way, I would be so disheartened. It is a sad feeling for me, that the innocence of a small baby's picture could be used in this way. This is why I feel it should not be shared on social media. Keep the pictures private.

 

[DaisyJ]

There are 2 people in my community that have gone to jail for child enticement, child pornography, sex with a minor. Both are back in our community now with restrictions. I know this is just my feelings, but if that baby was my grandson or granddaughter and I knew this person was looking at my child in this way, I would be so disheartened. It is a sad feeling for me, that the innocence of a small baby's picture could be used in this way. This is why I feel it should not be shared on social media. Keep the pictures private.

That is up to the parents, not you.

 

[sunshinehighway]

There are 2 people in my community that have gone to jail for child enticement, child pornography, sex with a minor. Both are back in our community now with restrictions. I know this is just my feelings, but if that baby was my grandson or granddaughter and I knew this person was looking at my child in this way, I would be so disheartened. It is a sad feeling for me, that the innocence of a small baby's picture could be used in this way. This is why I feel it should not be shared on social media. Keep the pictures private.

Do you realize you could be hurting someone's business by reporting the pictures? By doing that, you are crossing a line between something being a personal belief and trying to impose that belief on others.

 

[sam_gordon]

There are 2 people in my community that have gone to jail for child enticement, child pornography, sex with a minor. Both are back in our community now with restrictions. I know this is just my feelings, but if that baby was my grandson or granddaughter and I knew this person was looking at my child in this way, I would be so disheartened. It is a sad feeling for me, that the innocence of a small baby's picture could be used in this way. This is why I feel it should not be shared on social media. Keep the pictures private.

Thank you. I can respect that opinion even if I don't agree with it. I'm not on FB so I don't know... when you report the pictures, do you have to say what rule you feel they're violating? If so, what do you say? I would hope "I don't want pedophiles to see it" isn't a good enough reason to have a picture taken down.

 

[sam_gordon]

Do you realize you could be hurting someone's business by reporting the pictures? By doing that, you are crossing a line between something being a personal belief and trying to impose that belief on others.

As I mentioned, I'm not a FB... but what happens when a picture is reported? Is the picture immediately taken down and then it's investigated? I'm not sure that would hurt a business (even a photography studio).

 

[robinb]

ETA: Sorry robin, I meant to quote @sam_gordon. Crazy phone...

No worries .

I think it's less "piling on" and more people reading the first page of the thread and reacting in real-time without reading the rest of the thread. I *almost* did the same but thought that someone would have surly said something about it already and adding my own opinion was unnecessary.

PS: Sorry to call you back ... .

 

[tarheelmjfan]

But you weren't told to "leave the thread". It was suggested that you can use that option if you don't like what's being discussed. I don't see that as "being told to leave".

It was a joke (see the rofl). IMHO, the beating of the dead horse has gotten old in this thread, which is why I'm moving on. I'd rather spend forever trying to type on my crazy phone replying to something more constructive. That said, many of the posts replying to the OP have been an interesting read.

 

[cabanafrau]

There are 2 people in my community that have gone to jail for child enticement, child pornography, sex with a minor. Both are back in our community now with restrictions. I know this is just my feelings, but if that baby was my grandson or granddaughter and I knew this person was looking at my child in this way, I would be so disheartened. It is a sad feeling for me, that the innocence of a small baby's picture could be used in this way. This is why I feel it should not be shared on social media. Keep the pictures private.

I hate to break it to you, but every community everywhere has people who have gone to jail for the same -- and many more who haven't been caught. I've been privy to many cases involving sexual exploitation of children and if it reassures you at all not a single one involved any type of material revolving around nude infants, photos of infants of any type whatsoever, not even any fetishes regarding infants, absolutely zero. I am not even aware of a single sting operation of child sexually explicit material or solicitation revolving around infants.

If my experience is any barometer whatsoever, you're worrying about a non problem. If you were talking about toddlers I could sadly concede your point. Children can indeed be very vulnerable, but I have to say I don't believe you'll find the bogeyman hiding in the shadows where you're looking.

ETA -- Even your own examples from your community don't indicate infants specifically.

 

[OhMari]

As I mentioned, I'm not a FB... but what happens when a picture is reported? Is the picture immediately taken down and then it's investigated? I'm not sure that would hurt a business (even a photography studio).

Facebook does a review and you do get to state why you feel it doesn't belong. Facebook will message you their decision.