Keyboard Warriors & Internet Bullies

Have you ever been insulted by someone you didn't even know on the internet? Did you ever try to correct their assessment of your character by responding to their madness? Thing is, each person on each side thinks that he or she is right. Social media has made it extremely easy to not only misconstrue communication, but to actually hurt and bully others when the other person's offended. You would think this would only happen through text, and never live streaming---but it's more common among live streamers, because once you watch someone on a regular basis, you begin to form a 'personal opinion' on them. You feel like you know the "character" on the screen---just as you would watching your favorite soap opera. People will gain their opinions, and side with whatever character they like better. And if you think for a second that you'll never run into this sort of thing while live streaming---you're wrong. Someone somehow, in some way or another is going to offend you or, they're going to say something that isn't true about you, or that you highly disagree with.

Let me explain...

I had tweeted about a racist Periscope live streamer who happens to also be sexist, talking on his broadcast about degrading white women sexually without their consent just because he thinks black women are better, and white people are trash. Now, in my opinion, when you catch a broadcast like that, you can do one or two things---you can simply "X" out of the stream or you can sit and argue with a hateful person until you get blocked by his minions. Another option would be reporting it. Usually, that doesn't work though. So one day after a highly offensive broadcast was sent off by the racist, I retweeted someone's tweet about his behavior. A fellow scoper named Ryan Miller from Parent Dome, who is an "educator" on internet safety for children responded to my retweet saying that he didn't care to see a tweet by someone who is taking all of this man's (the racist) words out of context, as well as calling him a "white apologist." I just suggested that he didn't have to respond to it. But he kept on, saying how we are all taking this man's words out of context---a man who said he basically wanted to "spread his seed" all over some white girl's face to degrade her and then go back to a black woman because they're better. This man has also threatened to kill all white people, saying that he wished he was the Las Vegas shooter so he could take a semiautomatic gun and shoot all of them down by the dozens, as he motioned with his "air gun" making "pop-pop-pop-pop" sounds. And, you support this, why?

This is what Ryan Miller supports. He was in this particular broadcast.

So I asked Ryan respectfully how did I take his words out of context. He began to explain to me that "caucasians" are OK -- but white people are indeed, racist. If you look up what "caucasian" means in the dictionary, it simply means...."a white person." I'm a white person and I am in no way racist whatsoever. So I called him out on his confusion, and as I expected, he lashed out at me, mocking me about having mental illness and also posted articles for me about getting help and medication. Now, if I was somebody who was weak-minded, or in a mental health crisis, that could have been the last straw for me. Thankfully, I'm not suicidal. I have anxiety disorder which sometimes leaves me with bouts of depression. I'm not embarrassed to admit that. My entire blog is dedicated to mental health issues and helping other people through my own struggles. But when a tiger is cornered, they usually lash out with personal insults, because they have nothing else. But what if Ryan caught someone with mental illness on a very bad day? What if that one person needed just one more insult? Just recently, there has been a suicide on Periscope due to people attacking him. Nobody is taking blame, because let's face it, mental illness alone took his life...but, to even have contributed to the cause was enough to push him over the edge. And may you RIP Brian Hayes. Back to Ryan though...on top of mocking me for having anxiety, he mentioned that I was uneducated because I had to Google the word "nihilism" since I didn't know what that word meant. Here's the thing about me: if I don't know what a word means, I'm not gonna nod my head pretending to know. I'm going to respectfully ask you what that word means. Ryan said to me, "Oh just Google it!" So I did on my broadcast and for that, he called me "uneducated." He also pointed out that I was somehow over emotional about this topic, as he almost cried in his scope, yelling about how vile and disgusting I was. For what? For pointing out the fact that he's supporting a homicidal racist and aspiring rapist? For someone who coins himself as an "educator on internet safety" --- his own rules do not apply to him.

Then the manipulative childlike 'stomp my feet till I get what I want' tactics began. He began to tell his story about how sick he was and that he's leaving Periscope because of all of the "vile and disgusting people." (Yes, me.) Let me say one thing. As someone who has lost both her parents to cancer, I know what that struggle is like. I was their caregiver. But if someone publicly insults me, calls me uneducated, and then mocks me for having anxiety---I don't care if you have cancer, AIDS, HIV, hepatitis, gonorrhea, herpes, diabetes or tuberculosis---if you start an argument with me, filled with hateful insults, while you support a bigoted sexist? Then expect me to respond. You must be strong enough to have the gumption to tackle this issue while you're yelling at the camera like a complete lunatic. People told me to just let it go...and I did for a while. Then I got an email about how I was publicly brought up in one of this recent broadcasts, to which he took down shortly afterwards. Ryan explained how "over emotional" I was while broadcasting my response as well as my rebuttals via Twitter. But if you want to see my true response to this all, face-to-face on a live stream, CLICK HERE. It's my response to Ryan's crazy rant on how I was triggered somehow. Nothing about my broadcast said "triggered" nor did it say "over-emotional." I'm just alarmed that he would support such a dangerous scoper who shouldn't even be on this platform.

Wait, what are we paying for again? 

Here's the terrifying part: Ryan Miller from Parent Dome supports racists who are aspiring rapists, yet he also supports internet safety for children?  He even has a Gofundme page dedicated for you to pay him for keeping the "awareness" of internet safety. And hey, that's up to you whether or not you want to throw your hard earned money into the pockets of someone who is cashing in on something he doesn't even support.

Some snippets of his mission statement:

"The Go Fund Me campaign is an investment into me personally in continuing my efforts on promoting Awareness, Oversight and Control tied to being safe on the internet. Currently, Parent Dome is an existing entity on the Internet with a web presence at www.ParentDome.com. This is where the University of information resides and the repository for the continuing updated lessons, research and content as it pertains to the Mission.

"The internet is a very powerful entry point for anyone to become a victim of negative consequences tied to a poorly thought through Text, Tweet, Photo, Video or just visiting someplace dangerous on the internet. Consequences are not just based upon what we do, say or visit, but can be a response to others actions."

He mentioned my response to his broadcast was a defamation of character. No, Ryan, it's actually based on facts (which I have all screenshot) and based on the fact that you openly admitted publicly that you support this man who is a racist and aspiring rapist. Not good for someone who is all about "internet safety."

The sad thing is, we have mutual friends who viewed this shit show, and frankly, I was kind of surprised over one person's reaction to it. She actually supports this racist too, saying, "Oh I get what he's saying." These people were to me, upstanding "citizens of Periscope" who educate people on various levels, and now I just think it's a huge show they put on just to look like some kind of good person. Maybe they are, or maybe I'm wrong. Meanwhile, their actions speak louder than their words. You will know them by their fruits.

Let me say one more thing before I go... After his latest broadcast publicly slamming me once again, I feel the need (as he does too) to address the internet bullies. We should all strive to make the internet a safer place. We should try to be respectful to those dealing with mental illness, or perhaps, not support someone who is a homicidal racist and aspiring rapist. And therein lies the problem: the people who usually preach about this kind of stuff are sometimes the worst culprits.

Be careful out there. Save your money for people who truly need it. Do not support this hypocritical cause of "internet safety," as he calls it. The only way he would get money out of me, is if he put a gofundme account for chemo or radiation treatments. Maybe he should think about focusing on his health and getting better. Maybe he should fund his medical expenses, instead of funding something he doesn't fully support. I have a lot of people who would gladly throw money into a cancer treatment gofundme. Now that's something I can stand by.

Be safe, be well.

For more of Deb's articles, please visit: www.debrapasquella.com or join her on Facebook and Twitter. Check out her cooking blog at Deb's Cucina for some of her famous recipes!