Zoe Bell

I remember your blog. I was quite an avid reader as I recall.
It went away though, presumably tied in with your move back to suburbia?

Personally I felt it should have been required reading for anyone who claimed " they wanted to get away from it all" as a primer on what that actually means in Canada.

Now you've mentioned it , I miss it.

Damn

Atlantic Xpat

I too miss dbd's blog, it was entertaining reading donkey-chicken-muck-and-tractors ouevre.

caretaker

Why would anyone stalk me? I always just assumed they'd set the bar a little higher.

sharkus

Beautifully put.

dbd33

Suburbia! I actually married a poster of this parish, bought an old house in Guelph, renovated it, sold it and moved back to the country where we live on Foreclosure Farm and are demolishing some things and building other ones amid chicken-muck-and-tractors.

The problem with blogging is that the blog needs some bite and that comes from mocking yourselves and the weird neighbours. Once the weird neighbours start reading the blog compromise creeps in and the edge is lost. In any event, that blog came to a natural end and the technology seems dated now.

Biiiiink

Similar happened to me right here in the Canada forum - debating with 2 regular posters, one of them didn't like my opinions and comments and took it upon themselves to email links to them all to the relevant wrist slapper in what they no doubt hoped was a career-ruining move.

This was almost a decade ago, before people used Google Alerts or similar, and whilst I knew this was a public forum, I did feel that what was said here was relatively "safe", you'd have had to go some to dig it up at the time. I'd also assumed that at best there was a code of honour among regulars, at worst they were far too lazy to start emailing and shit stirring... wrong.

Shortly after that in another heated debate, a different regular threatened to email someone's boss telling them what their daily average working hours post count on BE was... classy.

Almost Canadian

Why do those being bullied simply refrain from having such accounts?

Zoe Bell

BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIINK

you're back !!!!!

SchnookoLoly

The point is that there's no escape. Turning a blind eye doesn't always work. They get your phone number and text you. They get your email and spam you. There are plenty of cases of kids who have closed accounts, changed phone numbers, even changed schools, but the internet knows no bounds - unless you completely disconnect, there's no hiding from it. These people still have friends and still want to feel connected to the parts of their lives that aren't miserable... I don't think it's as simple as you are making it out to be. It wasn't for me.

Atlantic Xpat

+100000000000000000000000

BristolUK

@Biiiiink

Well, you were gone for "some time"

Almost Canadian

I have two daughters and numerous nephews and nieces, children of friends that are at an age where they post regularly on such accounts. The ones that choose to give all their details out to everyone, have issues with cyber bullying. Those that don't, don't have any such issues.

I am not justifying what the bullies are doing as, clearly, what they are doing is wrong but, if one wishes to be "connected" one must also accept the risks that results.

Oakvillian

Wow. Do you get vertigo up there on your high horse?

Your assertion that only people who choose to over-share on social media are likely to become victims of cyberbullying is so asinine it would be funny if the consequences were not so potentially tragic.

How did, for example, Rehtaeh Parsons' decision on what to post on her own social media accounts have any bearing on what other people posted about her on theirs? How would not having a Facebook account have prevented her from being driven to suicide?

I'm happy for you that your offspring are sufficiently socially confident that bullying is not a problem for them. But excusing the actions of bullies on account of their victims' online behaviour is way, way out of order.

SchnookoLoly

I think that not posting every detail definitely helps things - doesn't give people ammunition.

But some kids are bullied for no good reason, and the internet gives the bullies an easy way to carry out their bullying out of sight from parents and teachers.

Parents certainly need to educate their kids about the use of social media... and I'm all for parents monitoring what their kids are doing online, both to ensure they aren't being bullied, and to ensure they aren't the bully themselves.

Almost Canadian

It isn't my high horse as I am not the one being bullied. I said above that the actions of the bullies is wrong. One doesn't have to have such accounts and, if one does and they find that the actions of others causes them concern, why would they continue to use such accounts?

I don't believe that I indicated anywhere that my offspring have not been affected by cyber bullying. Perhaps you could show me where I did.

Where did I suggest that it would have?