AutoAdmit Hits Me

I officially got on the bad side of AutoAdmit. They linked to my post Internet Stalking Is Real."

AutoAdmit poster Great Teacher Onizuka writes:

Wow. I know it's hard for outsiders to "get" xo humor, but how can anyone interpret that Chinesedude post as online stalking? Even if you're not familiar with the schtick it seems clear that he's making fun of the OP by calling him a loser too chickenshit to talk to girls like Jill in real life.

I wrote this post about Jill Filipovic's problems with the message board. She wrote about her bad experiences with the site at Feministe. I did some research and found this comment made by AutoAdmit user Chinesedude.

Wants to learn about girl, but is social outcast, so have to stalk her on internet.

I read that comment and found it creepy. I didn't see Jill mention this in any of her posts. I thought the comment was worth mentioning in a blog post. I ran it by her to see if it was okay. She said yes and now the AutoAdmit kiddies are bothered that I'm calling them on it. It must be a bitch having their own words quoted back to them.

Chris Clarke wrote about how the AutoAdmit members would put Jill's class schedule on the message board.

Jill Filopovic‘s name and class routines etc have been regularly posted to this board, and at least one of the pseudonymous board-members claims to be Jill Filipovic‘s classmate. Photos that Jill Filipovic posted (with full rights reserved) to an internet photo-storing and sharing site have also been posted to the sleazy discussion board without her permission. This is a horrendous invasion of Jill Filipovic‘s privacy, a violation of copyright law, and calls the ethics and character of the alleged law-students participating in these discussions on the discussion board into question.

That sounds like stalking to me.

Update: Anthony Ciolli of the AutoAdmit board showed me examples of Chinesedude making bizarre statements. I thought I post a part of his email

I saw your follow-up post about Chinesedude's post on AutoAdmit, and I
just want to clarify the matter further privately. As you might know,
on AutoAdmit people commonly create fake characters, usually for humor
purposes. "Chinesedude" was one of those fake characters, and his
shtick was to make fun of AutoAdmit posters for being losers who are all
brave and cocky and cool on the internet but are too cowardly and scared
to ever do any of those things in real life. Here are some examples of
his humor:

It's pretty clear that he's not saying that he wants to stalk Jill on
the internet, but that he's making fun of the guy who started the thread
by calling him a social outcast who is too scared to talk to Jill in
person and thus has to stalk her on the internet. In other words,
Chinesedude is completely *agreeing* with your position -- that stalking
Jill online is wrong, that the people who do stalk people like Jill
online are losers, etc. Maybe it's wrong to assume that someone who
isn't familiar with the site or the Chinesedude would get this, but if
you read the thread in the context of the Chinesedude shtick you'll see
that it's just absolutely ridiculous to think that Chinesedude is some
stalker. I agree with you on a lot of things, but it does everyone a
disservice to mischaracterize a post like you did on your blog (for one
thing, it immediately detracts from all the legitimate points you make).

That is part of the problem. Someone makes a cheeky statement and someone reads it the wrong way. I did talk with Jill about Chinesedude's comment and she is understandably less than thrilled. The problem with the internet is posts and comments can be interpreted in many different ways without knowing the true intent of the writer.

This is a different issue than people trying to find out Jill's class schedule online. That certainly is stalking.

AutoAdmit would probably be better off staying away from posts about female law students. Considering the recent controversy.

Update: here is something about Ciolli's politics.

Turns out Mr. Ciolli's delusions extend to the realm of politics. As a Penn law student pointed out to me, Mr. Ciolli is also "very dissappointed with Bush" since "he is FAR too left wing for my tastes." Wow! This may also explain why Mr. Ciolli thinks hosting a forum for racism, anti-semitism, and threats of rape and sexual assault is in good taste.

Wow.

Ann Althouse's Meltdown On BloggerheadsTV

Ann Althouse feels she is viciously attacked over crudely remarking on Jessica Valenti's breasts and comparing her to Monica Lewinsky. She goes off on Garance Franke-Ruta on BloggingheadsTV.

Franke-Ruta: I’m not really aware of anything until this whole Jessica Valenti breast controversy, um ... so, I know that there was some grudges and hostility that came out of that ...

Althouse: Well, um ...

Franke-Ruta: I mean, that's the blogosphere. It's a tough place. Apparently, it's an extremely tough place. You know, one of the best things I --

Althouse: I'm not complaining about the fact that I have to be tough and fight back, because I will, I will stand my ground, I don't accept your -- [crosstalk] -- wait a minute, wait a minute [pointing] -- I don't accept your saying the Jessica Valenti breast controversy. I consider that an insult. -- You know, I'm on the verge of hanging up with you for bringing it up that way.

Here is what Althouse wrote about Jessica.

I wanted to elevate a discussion from the comments section of a post from Wednesday, you know the one with the photo of the Daou-wrangled bloggers posing in front of Bill Clinton? The first commenter, Goesh, picks up on my prompt -- "Let's just array these bloggers... randomly" -- and wisecracks: "Who is the Intern directly in front of him with the black hair?"

Althouse has a bizzare idea of elevating a discussion. Titling a post "Let's Take a Closer Look at Those Breasts" certainly is not aiming for a civil discussion.

Let's not forget how she went after women that have been harrassed on AutoAdmit.

Too beautiful to appear in public? Too hot to be hired? Come on! What rational employer would deny you a job because idiots chatted about you on line in a way that made if obvious that the only thing you did was look good?

One of those people that have been harrassed on the site is Jill of Feministe. Althouse has a serious hatred for attractive women. Then she hates being called on it. Somehow we should feel sorry for her for picking online fights and then crying wolf. Sorry Ann, but you make a shrill martyr.

Shakes and Ezra Klein have more.

Jessica Valenti responds:

Yeah, her character was assassinated. Excuse me while I cry a fucking river.

I couldn't have said it better.

Hat tip to Crooks and Liars.

Update: Ann Althouse writes about her BloggingheadsTV performance.

ANOTHER UPDATE: So a huge swarm of lefty bloggers in unison declared me to be an absolute witch for getting angry for one minute when Garance -- the woman who began the dialogue by owning up to the technique of "seeming like you don't know what you're doing" -- sprung a touchy old subject on me. What does it all mean? I think either: 1. ordinary human emotion frightens bloggers out of their wits or 2. the lefty bloggers are demonstrating my point that they are vicious and nasty. Of course, I think it's #2. I really find it too hard to believe that they are so numb or robotic that anger seems bizarre and insane. I could be wrong, but I think that's terribly sad. Or are you thinking: Ooh! Sadness! How crazy! No, no, you guys are just boring politicos -- still ready to do anything to defend your man Bill Clinton and to say whatever you must to deny that he set feminism at least 20 years.

I don't feel the need to protect Bill Clinton. He is a married man. He engaged in a sexual relationship with someone that wasn't his wife. He lied under oath about it and was went through an inpeachment trial in the Senate.

What is wrong was Althouse making a cheap shot about another female blogger's breasts. If she was a man she would be accused of making a sexist statement.

Internet Stalking Is Real

Jill at Feministe has experienced online harrassment from members of AutoAdmit.com.

This article in the Washington Post and this post by Ann Althouse, both of which are about students on law school message boards posting pictures and nasty comments about female classmates, struck a nerve — because I’m one of the women they’re talking about, and my pictures have been posted on their site.

The WaPo article is about AutoAdmit, a law-school-oriented message board that is, essentially, a massive toilet of racism and sexism (not linking to the site — google if you’re interested). I’ve written about AutoAdmit before, when I found out that they were posting numerous pictures of me, making comments about raping and hate-fucking me, and debating whether or not I was fuckable or a stupid fat bitch. I’m hardly the only person they’ve gone after. While many of the threads on the message board are about law-school-related issues, they’re mostly obnoxious in some way or another. There’s an obsession with “prestige,” and commenters regularly disparage lower-tier schools, and use the term “TTT” to denote anything they consider not good enough.

The Ann Althouse post is the usual stupidity I have come to expect from her.

Too beautiful to appear in public? Too hot to be hired? Come on! What rational employer would deny you a job because idiots chatted about you on line in a way that made if obvious that the only thing you did was look good?

It goes further than that. I got permission from Jill to blog this. She has been stalked online.

Wants to learn about girl, but is social outcast, so have to stalk her on internet.

That is not what a young woman wants to see published about her on the internet. Althouse has a history of going after attractive young female bloggers. Case in point is the Clinton photo-op where Althouse took a mean-spirited swipe at Jessica. The irony is Althouse takes great offense when someone disagrees with her.

ADDED: Lindsay Beyerstein is more upset than I am about the fact that there is a lot of loose talk about people on the internet -- though presumably not about the dumb, loose talk about me on her own site. She fails to reveal what repressive remedies she has in mind to keep the internet from chattering. But I hope she'll at least do that "more speech" thing and condemn that blog where they impersonate me all the time -- or does she think I deserve it?

Let me get this straight. Althouse can make uncivil remarks about another woman's breasts and laugh off the concerns of women having sexist comments about them posted on the internet. But God forbid someone use their first amendment right to disagree with her. Thou does protest too much!

We have heard plenty of internet horror stories of people getting stalked. The issue must be dealt with seriously so women and children are secure. While not infringing on free speech. I have no idea how that will be done. I am certain it won't be the Ann Althouse remedy of laughing off everyone's privacy except her own.