Joan Coe
User
Platinum Board Member
| Posts: 141 |   |
|
Monkeys at Keyboards - Simsbury.com Forum - 2006/08/31 07:55
This article was published in The Hartford Advocate, August 31, 2006
Monkeys at Keyboards
A Simsbury-centric Internet Discussion Forum Was Temporarily Taken Offline Due To The Bad Behavior Of Its Users
August 31, 2006
By Nathan Conz There’s this scene in Zoolander where Derek and Hansel, two really, really, ridiculously good-looking male models, need to access some computer files, but they don’t even know how to turn the thing on.
In their confusion, the two begin grunting like apes and hitting the computer. Meanwhile, the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey builds to a crescendo in the background. Just before Hansel attempts to destroy the computer with a large bone, Derek stops him.
“Let’s not lose our cool,” Derek says. “Then we’re no better than the machine.”
Introduce a new technology to humans who aren’t ready for it and things can get positively primal. Take for instance the wealthy suburb of Simsbury, CT where an Internet discussion forum quickly devolved from online hub of community news and thoughtful discussion to online hub of denigration and legal threats.
Scott Oseychik, a Simsbury native now living in Charlotte, N.C., created Simsbury.com in 1996 with Andrew Osgood. Oseychik says he and Osgood decided to take down the popular forums section after “incidents of identity revelation,” which led to Oseychik receiving letters from attorneys. Simsbury.com users usually post anonymously and are only identified by a username.
Tempers came to a boil during discussion about River Oaks, a proposed big box development supported by some in town but opposed by SHARE, a large citizens group.
“People on either side of the fence were taking very strong stances and it got to a point where the behavior boiled down to name calling and finger pointing,” Oseychik says.
A user who calls himself Specter was in the middle of all if it. Specter is active in almost every thread on the Simsbury.com site and frequently takes strong stances. As of late August, he had made 741 posts — more than double that of any other user.
In the past, Specter had gleaned information from the forum about other posters, mainly their IP addresses, and used it to identify the posters, other users say. He’d then make it known, through veiled references, that he had this information. Sometimes, the threatened poster would stop using the site. Oseychik says IP data is no longer available to users.
In June, the tables were turned. Other users, “Mrs. Missuz” chief among them, claimed they had discovered Specter’s identity from a user account on a truck-enthusiast web site that matched and included more personal information. With that new information, the users found that the man they believe to be Specter is a Simsbury resident in the midst of substantial legal problems. He’s been accused of serious criminal acts.
Because Mrs. Missuz and others would only speak to the Advocate anonymously, because the link between Specter and the man identified from the truck-enthusiast site is circumstantial and because this whole thing is ridiculous (seriously, who has the time to play Internet detective in an effort to discredit a rival on a town message board?), we’ve decided not to publish Specter’s suspected real name. Specter declined comment.
In June, Oseychik received letters of complaint (obtained by the Advocate with names redacted) from attorneys about Specter and on his behalf, regarding the identity revelations. Specter’s attorney actually requested the IP addresses of the users he believed had tried to publicly identify Specter. Oseychik says he complied with this request.
Meanwhile, Oseychik, a software engineer, spent more time censoring posts. At points, he had to check the site hourly.
“It just reached rock bottom in terms of how people were behaving on the site,” Oseychik says. “It boiled down to the equivalent of babysitting a computer.”
In June, he shut down the forums on the site. The forums remained offline until August. Things are calm now and Specter is still posting away.
Things may stay that way. More likely though, another town issue will arise and a heated argument will erupt. A small subset of users will hide behind their anonymity, hurl insults and make veiled threats. They will grunt and they will swat at their computers. They’ll be no better than the machine. ●
|
Specter (1116)
