We have copied this from our recommended Internet Safety forum, ConnectSafely as well as the MOD's response to this young man as a way to take action in a similar situation.
Query
To make it short i am a 16-year old public school student who recently recieved a phone call from a friend saying that, someone has made a myspace as you.
So not to be a homophobe but it said all this stuff about how i was gay, not only that someone took the time to customize the myspace, with tons, and tons of half nude gay men. Now usually ive asked all my friends and nobody knows anything, i have 2 guesses about who it is but, they wont admit to anything.
Ive told my parents but it seems to have backfired, they just said tonight that im signed up for catholic school indefinitly. I dont want to go into a different school, but, by the time september rolls around and it hasnt disapear or has gotten worse,it may be the only solution.
I just wish that one of the 2 kids would have the balls to man up and say it was them it would save me alot of troube, because if i pick the wrong one to get in a fight with...well it would be a mess.
Also i was wondering if there is any legal consequences, my school really has no rules about this, im from philadelphia but now i live in this hick new jersey suburb, and i would just love to find out who this redneck is so i can set his cornfield ablaze and slash his tractor's tires,im only kidding. id really like some answeres/suggestions on what to do, thanks
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MOD Response
I'm so sorry this has happened to you. It's definitely a tough situation to resolve because there are bullies and harassers out there who seem to have too much time on their hands and just create a new one as soon as a profile gets deleted. I suggest 2 things: 1) Start the process of getting your imposter profile deleted by emailing [email protected] with its URL and your situation or - better - just go to this page in MySpace's Help section to find out what they need to delete it. Give it a week or so because, with more than 100 million profiles, MySpace gets a few requests like this. Let us know (after you give the process a chance) if it drags on too long. 2) If you can, try to have a calm, unemotional conversation with your parents about how MySpace works - how anybody can create a profile about anyone for free in a very short amount of time, that this is usually just fine and a great vehicle for self-expression and keeping in touch with friends but can also go very wrong. For just a few examples of the downside, they click around these search results in NetFamilyNews. If they'd like, they can email us at [email protected] (if they need this coming from someone besides you).
I think you're smart to try to do some info-gathering yourself, but I'm sure you're kidding about and already know that picking fights rarely works (physical ones, I mean, since somebody already started a digital fight, it appears). It's important to remember that the more strongly you react the more gratification a bully gets (which usually only perpetuates the problem, so it's a good idea to ignore his/her behavior as best as you can can while you're getting the profile taken down. Don't give this person any "power" or satisfaction with a big public reaction (not that you would).
I hope this helps a bit. All best,
Anne
--
Anne Collier
ConnectSafely co-director
Get all of the tactics in one book and prepare your child to recognize and defuse certain types of cyberbullying. Sale: $12.50 Buy The Book
To make it short i am a 16-year old public school student who recently recieved a phone call from a friend saying that, someone has made a myspace as you.
So not to be a homophobe but it said all this stuff about how i was gay, not only that someone took the time to customize the myspace, with tons, and tons of half nude gay men. Now usually ive asked all my friends and nobody knows anything, i have 2 guesses about who it is but, they wont admit to anything.
Ive told my parents but it seems to have backfired, they just said tonight that im signed up for catholic school indefinitly. I dont want to go into a different school, but, by the time september rolls around and it hasnt disapear or has gotten worse,it may be the only solution.
I just wish that one of the 2 kids would have the balls to man up and say it was them it would save me alot of troube, because if i pick the wrong one to get in a fight with...well it would be a mess.
Also i was wondering if there is any legal consequences, my school really has no rules about this, im from philadelphia but now i live in this hick new jersey suburb, and i would just love to find out who this redneck is so i can set his cornfield ablaze and slash his tractor's tires,im only kidding. id really like some answeres/suggestions on what to do, thanks
***
MOD Response
I'm so sorry this has happened to you. It's definitely a tough situation to resolve because there are bullies and harassers out there who seem to have too much time on their hands and just create a new one as soon as a profile gets deleted. I suggest 2 things: 1) Start the process of getting your imposter profile deleted by emailing [email protected] with its URL and your situation or - better - just go to this page in MySpace's Help section to find out what they need to delete it. Give it a week or so because, with more than 100 million profiles, MySpace gets a few requests like this. Let us know (after you give the process a chance) if it drags on too long. 2) If you can, try to have a calm, unemotional conversation with your parents about how MySpace works - how anybody can create a profile about anyone for free in a very short amount of time, that this is usually just fine and a great vehicle for self-expression and keeping in touch with friends but can also go very wrong. For just a few examples of the downside, they click around these search results in NetFamilyNews. If they'd like, they can email us at [email protected] (if they need this coming from someone besides you).
I think you're smart to try to do some info-gathering yourself, but I'm sure you're kidding about and already know that picking fights rarely works (physical ones, I mean, since somebody already started a digital fight, it appears). It's important to remember that the more strongly you react the more gratification a bully gets (which usually only perpetuates the problem, so it's a good idea to ignore his/her behavior as best as you can can while you're getting the profile taken down. Don't give this person any "power" or satisfaction with a big public reaction (not that you would).
I hope this helps a bit. All best,
Anne
--
Anne Collier
ConnectSafely co-director
Get all of the tactics in one book and prepare your child to recognize and defuse certain types of cyberbullying. Sale: $12.50 Buy The Book
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