Doxxing, or who deserves anonymity

In what circumstance? Did you lie about being a veteran when you didn't serve? Did you use that lie to gain some advantage or do some damage? Were you claiming a specific identity or trying to protect your anonymity? Those circumstances can change the answer.

 

I think we know that John Cusack is getting that role unless of course it's based on a trans because then FUCK JOHN CUSACK!

 

Aren't almost any of these lies fraud in some way? Like the Santa Claus, who had a kid die in his arms.

Now, I know he wasn't anonymous, but he certainly deserved to have his story -- including his inflated (or fake, don't remember which) military career -- exposed, even if it "didn't hurt anyone" and wasn't done for any kind of financial gain.

The case I referenced in my original post about stolen valor, included false claims of being sexually assaulted while in the military.

That's inflammatory, and I would think deserves to be exposed, even if there was no attempt to commit fraud.

 

This is an internet message board. When it gets right down to it, nothing said here matters a whole lot unless someone chooses to take their anger/hurt feelings out of this space and into the real world. If you get that hurt or angry over something said here, either leave or block the person. There is only one person on this board that I block, and that's not because of any interpersonal problem. I just find that poster highly annoying.

Outing is anathema here, I suppose mostly because someone's job/career could be damaged by something said in what they considered to be a private space. There are people here that I could name, mostly because they have chosen to either give their identity out, linked a story, or because they chose to in a PM.

I can't think of anything someone here could do that would cause me to out them. If I was *really* pissed I might send a PM and express myself.

If it is a matter of someone here not being who they say they are, that they are a hypocrite or a poser, exposing him isn't your job. If you do so you are going to take blowback both from the mods and other posters. "No Outing" is THE High Holy Rule here. Block them and move on. If something truly egregious is going on, report it to the mods.

 

Yeah, I guess I don't know.

In the case of a catfish, as in the movie, if you lead someone on romantically, is that enough?

If you claim some authority, to back up an argument -- i.e. being a lawyer, member of the military, successful journalist, or doctor -- and it's found that those claims are false, is that enough?

I mean, if someone says, "I'm a layer, and you're wrong about this legal topic," I'm going to be pissed if they pulled the "lawyer card" on me, and were lying.

 

That's bad, but it is also a case where I'd feed the facts to a reporter and let him be publicly debunked that way.

 

Keep in mind some people lie on the Internet about who they are precisely to preserve what little anonymity they have. To throw off the scent, so to speak.

 

I'm actually the ghost of Thurman Munson.

 

I've been on the 'net a long time. Back in the day I was in an AOL group (yeah, I know. Long time ago.) that included a young woman who claimed to have cancer. Posters in the group sent her stuff, small gifts to cheer her up, small amounts of money. One paid to fly her to come visit, showed her a good time. Over time, small mistakes in her con accumulated and eventually we figured out that she was full of shit. She got raked over the coals. That was fully justified, and the blowback was limited. The word was dropped on a couple of other groups she hung out in, in case she tried it there, but that was the end of it.

As to the lawyer thing - if you take legal advice from a screen name on the net, you can't bitch too hard. Breach of friendship/confidence, sure, and I'd be pissed off, but bottom line is that you didn't do due diligence. It's like taking investment advice from a net bulletin board... you don't know who they really are, their education, their competence, their ulterior motives. Just not a smart way to do things.

 

I think you could probably tell a white lie -- career or location -- to preserve anonymity, without using it to inflate your bio.

If I said I repaired ovens in Cleveland, would that change anything?

But, in our conversation about whether Delta could fairly easily close their ATL hub, I mentioned my experience working for an airline. Now, @typefitter mocked me, as my job wasn't operational. But, what if i had inflated my experience, claiming to have run a hub for an airline, rather than being a middle management marketing drone?

Wouldn't it be fair to expose that lie? And, can you expose the lie without exposing the person?

 

When I sign up for something on the net that wants my name and DOB, I routinely give the wrong DOB. I don't know who will gain access to their files.

 

In my experience, there are very few lies of any real consequence told here.