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Interesting drama unfolded a few weeks ago on Plurk….

I’m not providing specific names to avoid getting anyone in trouble. Nevetheless, what happened does this illustrate the power of social media and community and surface some issues related to privacy and social media.
The nutshell version of what transpired is this:

A fellow Plurker (we’ll call her “Freaking Out“) was, evidently being bothered by another individual (evidently another Plurker) we’ll call “Creepy Harasser” for a period of one month.

Evidently, Creepy Harasser had obtained the individual’s home phone number using basic details found in Freaking Out’s Plurk profile. He then used a cell phone to call this person every few days for over a month.

A “friend” of Freaking Out (we’ll call him “Helpful“) posted a well-intentioned Plurk alerting others about the harassment situation. Helpful asked for practical suggestions on what the Freaking Out could do to stop Creepy Harasser. Helpful also publicly listed the offender’s cell phone number for all to see. (Evidently, Creepy was not so smart related to caller ID.)

Fellow Plurkers were angered and apalled, and the Plurkstream filled quickly with a flurry of comments – from “call the Po Po” to suggestions on how fellow Plurkers could impose their own justice on Creepy Harasser.
This is where things got interesting!

It was not long before this story motivated one fellow Plurker, we’ll call him “Justice” to call Creepy Harasser, himself. As he did, Justice narrated his actions in real-time within the Plurkstream. He repeatedly prank called the guy… making obscene comments until Creepy stopped answering the phone. After this, Justice began filling up Creepy’s voicemail with terribly bad You Tube video music.
(I found this all a bit over the top, but I must admit I laughed pretty hard watching all this)

Other Plurkers cheered from the Plurkstream sidelines. Quickly, more Plurkers either joined in, promising to prank Creepy – even those from outside the U.S! The Plurkstream was full of punitive suggestions, such as signing Creepy up for spam text, ring tones and more.
As time progressed, things gradually fizzled out … and while I’ve asked “Helper” for an update I don’t know if the reverse harassment resolved the stalking problem, or not!

Let me be clear that I’m not an advocate of harassment of any kind… and I did not join in. I don’t know if the factual details behind the harassment are accurate. I know the person who posted the information was merely looking for recommendations to help his friend. I don’t know “Freaked Out”… or “Creepy Harasser,” or “Justice.”
That being said – the sense of camaraderie combined with the sheer outrage and backlash from the fine people of Plurkopolis was pretty impressive! I’d go so far as to assert that this type of backlash might take care of a creep even more quickly than taking action with his cell phone company or calling the police would (especially if the offender was out of state or out of the country)!
The message on Plurk was clear: “Don’t mess with Plurkistan!”
Even so, while part of me took comfort in the “protective behavior” of the crowd– I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if the same angry mob had its facts wrong, or were mislead in some way. I thought about how easily it would be for many well-intentioned, and well networked people to be led astray — quickly. We know from history this can happen…and with new social media tools, it can happen faster now than ever before.
How easily could one person trigger the harassment of an innocent person or people? Take it to another level and how could the rumor mill impact companies, brands, stock market behavior…. as news spreads faster and faster through social media channels?
Thinking through this at another level, this incidence also forced me to ask myself well I know all the people we “friend” or “follow” online? With the answer to this, I also had to ask my often over-sharing self, how much personal information I should I really share in this new world where “friend” is a verb – but not necessarily a state of being anymore.
The reality of that makes me bit more sober about my own participation in social media. In the long run, I’m sure we’re not done hearing stories like this one. Just it might interest you and offer some food for thought!

Tags: Leigh Duncan, Leigh Duncan-Durst, Microblogging, Plurk, Social Media, word-of-mouth