[Carl in Tampa]

Originally Posted by redwitch

I don't know if I'd characterize it as sleazy and not convinced it is truly dangerous but it is one of the ugliest sites I've ever had the misfortune to visit and most definitely is extremely hurtful. I found it sad that these people had nothing better to do than try to hurt each other and others. What a pathetic group of little people.

The title of the broadcast segment was "Dangerous and Sleazy" websites. Topix was an example of sleazy, not dangerous.

Named as very dangerous was "meeting people on Craigslist." Meeting strangers online is hazardous at best, and apparently there is already an extensive history of people being murdered after meeting with people who they first contacted on Craigslist.

Interestingly, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office (Tampa) has established a "safe zone" on the parking lots of each of their district offices where people who have agreed upon the sale and purchase of items may meet (under the observation of a deputy) to complete their transactions.

[Patty55]

Originally Posted by CFrance

I wanna be in the "click"! I wanna be in it!!!

You'll have to petition the TOPIX group of busybodies, they seem to be in charge of all conspiracies.

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by Patty55

You'll have to petition the TOPIX group of busybodies, they seem to be in charge of all conspiracies.

Conspiracies do exist especially if you have very powerful people trying to cover stuff up. Just look at the Veterans' Administration mess and the cover-up there? The truth usually eventually comes out.

What I saw on TOPIX was a great deal of disagreement. They seemed really angry that we could stand up for GracieGirl as she got the worst of it in personal attacks and people pretending to be her. They could not agree on much of anything else.

[Bucco]

Originally Posted by Patty55

Hey Bucco, I think you are part of my clique, must be true, I read it on TOPIX. Sorry you missed all our past meetings, the next meeting will be held at the new TADS-the one near the Coach store, not the one near the waterpark. Hope to see you there.

Just send me a copy of the minutes please !

Funny, well maybe not funny, but......I do not think in the 7 years I have been on TOTV that I have ever responded to a post of yours......I know we have never exchanged pm's on anything....yet on TOPIX, we are part of the conspiracy. Amazing the imagination of some folks !!!

Just wish these folks would be id'ed publicly so everyone on TOTV knew who these folks actually were, but send me the minutes of the meetings and I will do my very best to contribute to the conspiracy as best I can and frankly if the folks were doing what they are accused of, they are busy and I cannot offer that much time.

[Steve9930]

Originally Posted by Carl in Tampa

On Tuesday, May 20, Bill O'Reilly had two guests on his "Back of The Book" segment who were asked to name the most dangerous and sleazy websites on the Internet.

I found it of interest that one of the guests named a site that came to my attention for the first time a few months ago through mention of it on TOTV. It was a site where quasi-anonymous people were impersonating registered TOTV personalities and making very derogatory posts about them. I say quali-anonymous rather than anonymous because there is at least one TOTV regular poster who has identified the screen name he uses on the other site.

The O'Reilly guest who named that site characterized it this way, "Alex Little went with a site called Topix. "It describes itself as an online forum for local communities," he said, "but it has become the virtual bathroom wall where folks write whatever they want about their neighbors and their enemies. It's a hotbed of slander and defamation."

Having visited it solely to understand how some TOTV personalities were being hurt by the postings, I agree with Mr. Little. It is a site that I have chosen to ignore.

I had never heard of the site so after reading your post I decided to take a look. Curiosity and the cat you know what I mean. I'll have to agree that it is not worth the trouble to read through. You can get a clue about a site right from the get go. If they start to push you things and try to setup pops out of the gate I usually stay a way from that sort of site.

[onslowe]

I too decided to take a first (and last) look after reading Carl's post. I respect his posts.
Well, without "speechifyin" it is not an attractive place and not worth my time. BTW, Patty's comments above are very funny!

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by onslowe

I too decided to take a first (and last) look after reading Carl's post. I respect his posts.
Well, without "speechifyin" it is not an attractive place and not worth my time. BTW, Patty's comments above are very funny!

I broke down and looked at it so I could see what they were saying about Taltarzac725.

Not sure which ex TOTVers are on there but I did recognize the writing styles of some of those who are on both. I will remain on just TOTV. I know quite a few TOTVers now from meeting them in person. I have been on here almost seven years, after all. I am looking forward to meeting GracieGirl at some point. She seems like a great person online and is probably the same kind of person in real life.

[graciegirl]

After having read Topix, I know now what causes young people to be so badly hurt, even to the point of suicide from Cyber bullying. Only sick, sad people say the things often found there. People who don't know how to compromise, overlook and get along with others, and people who seek negative attention and enjoy making people angry and hurting them would post the ugly anonymous taunts and cruel criticism. One person there can appear to be a dozen different people, because you can change your screen name between posts. It is only two or three folks who continually change their name and bait, irritate and stir the pot.


Debate, even heated debate is a part of a good forum, and disagreements can be bitter, but the ugly hatred found on that forum is beyond awful.

[Chi-Town]

Most White Sox fans would never watch a Cubs game. Most Cubs fans would never watch a White Sox game. They just don't like the other team. I'm sure it's true with the Yankees and Red Sox. The point is why do TOTVers who abhor Topix go there at all?

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

After having read Topix, I know now what causes young people to be so badly hurt, even to the point of suicide from Cyber bullying. Only sick, sad people say the things often found there. People who don't know how to compromise, overlook and get along with others, and people who seek negative attention and enjoy making people angry and hurting them would post the ugly anonymous taunts and cruel criticism. One person there can appear to be a dozen different people, because you can change your screen name between posts. It is only two or three folks who continually change their name and bait, irritate and stir the pot.


Debate, even heated debate is a part of a good forum, and disagreements can be bitter, but the ugly hatred found on that forum is beyond awful.

So glad that THEY are not getting to you. Or HIM? Or HER? I had a very nasty cybersmearer for FIVE years (mid 2001-2006) who did contribute to the suicide of a beautiful mentally ill woman whom I was trying to help via her boyfriend on Findlaw. This sociopath could not stop with the constant baiting of me-- because he confessed I could not find him some precedent in a legal argument he was making in his white collar case-- and stopped her boyfriend from looking at Findlaw for help. The woman drove her car into ongoing traffic near a military base near the KT-TN border. Her boyfriend did come back to look at Findlaw for the help I was trying to give him despite the libels this guy piled up against me post after post after post. Then it was more post traumatic event advice as his girlfriend had died. The cybersmearer did things like calling me the next Unibomber, claiming that I murdered people, saying I was a paranoid schizophrenic, threatening to reveal my loved ones real addresses and names, posting obscene suggestions, etc. Anything to get me to respond. No wonder the soldier boyfriend turned away from Findlaw. I got really upset with Findlaw as well. They did revamp their system around 2006. I found TOTV in July 2007.

[ugotme]

Well, I must admit, when I first started reading this my curiosity was aroused.
I was almost going to visit these sites. However, after continuing to read these posts have decided that, based on what all of you have stated, it isn't worth it!

I will continue to (mostly) read posts here and occasionally post my own thoughts/comments.

By the way - for those of you who have never met GG - she and her family are WONDERFUL people. Mrs. Ugotme and I were welcomed into her home and thoroughly enjoyed their company and hospitality!

[Indydealmaker]

IMO forums should require the verified use of a poster's real name. Anonymous posts have no credibility and are a breeding ground for slander, libel, bullying and a leading cause of high blood pressure.

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by Indydealmaker

IMO forums should require the verified use of a poster's real name. Anonymous posts have no credibility and are a breeding ground for slander, libel, bullying and a leading cause of high blood pressure.

I disagree about that. I went on Findlaw around mid-2001 to look for a lawyer for a case of medical malpractice and tell my story about my fight for access to practical information for survivors of crimes. The Findlaw Sysop (System Operator) even told me that this was the perfect place to do this. I started posting verbatim copies of letters I had received. Or, nearly verbatim.

This went OK for just a very small time and then lawyer after lawyer kept on attacking me with very personal challenges. Not sure why this was mainly because I was arguing that people should do their own research about the law especially if they are victims/survivors of crimes. Not that they should cease taking legal advice just that it is an important check-and-balance to use the Internet. Ironically, I saw Findlaw as one of the best ways of doing this.

I was also talking about all the problems I had with pushing for better access to practical information when I was still inside the law librarianship profession. I tried to document everything and sent a bunch of these documents to the ObamaCare people a few months back as I still believe when it comes down to it the effects of violence and handling them is as much as a legal problem as one of public health.

Often though because of all the personal attacks I got, I had to switch to anonymous postings on Findlaw which opened me up, however, to people pretending to be me like the cybersmearer I mentioned above who used anonymous names and fake e-mail addresses as well.

If the balance of power between parties is severely unbalanced then I do think we need anonymous posting available.

This fight I had is also what I was scared about talked about with the Sumter County Court Administrator when I had Jury Duty on May 19, 2014 as it would have taken me a very long time to discuss everything I have been through over the past 38 years or so since I first became interested in this issue following the murder and murder investigation of Michelle Mitchell in Reno, Nevada on February 24, 1976 (my birthday).

[JimmyJohn]

Originally Posted by Indydealmaker

IMO forums should require the verified use of a poster's real name. Anonymous posts have no credibility and are a breeding ground for slander, libel, bullying and a leading cause of high blood pressure.

That sounds like the right solution. Even if we don't know ourselves, the administrators should have the information should the police have to get involved in extreme situations. I like to feel most verbal insults are deserved and a mediator is needed to sort through both parties side of the story. Never judge before talking to both sides.
Have a blessed day everyone.

The Sub Lover

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by JimmyJohn

That sounds like the right solution. Even if we don't know ourselves, the administrators should have the information should the police have to get involved in extreme situations. I like to feel most verbal insults are deserved and a mediator is needed to sort through both parties side of the story. Never judge before talking to both sides.
Have a blessed day everyone.

The Sub Lover

I do think that real e-mail addresses should be required as this would give access to the police if things turned extremely ugly in real life. I am thinking more along the line of custody disputes, business feuds about territory and customers, hackers, cybersmearers of the worst sort who get off on making people miserable on the Internet, etc. The names may or may not need to be anonymous depending on the situation.

I contacted the police both in Pinellas County, FL (many times before knowing the bully's identity) as well as in Chesterfield County, VA when the cybersmearer I had bragged about playing me for a fool over several years and revealed his identity. They both said there was nothing they could do because of Free Speech. The US Representative for Palm Harbor I also wrote seemed sympathetic but I do not know if he did anything or not. There is a line that should not be crossed even with the First Amendment especially if the target of all the bullying has no idea why someone is throwing such hate at him or her. It makes you rather paranoid in real life if someone seems to spent hours on the Internet attacking you each day and you have no idea who or why this person is making these attacks.

I looked at the attacks on GracieGirl on Topix Belleview and Topix the Villages and they hardly seem justified and the person will not go over the facts just says stuff like Gracie knows. And in many situations unless you actually know the people involved very well, there is no way of telling who is being honest and who is not.

And, there are situations where a conflict of interest in involved like when say someone attacks a business on a Chamber of Commerce site and a friend or lover of this business owner being attacked is the Chamber of Commerce site moderator.