Harassment

I recently opened up 'messages' to all, less than a week ago. Signed in tonight and had these two:

some crazy people on here

What's really unusual is the people here who are sane.

it doesn't upset me at all, i just want to expose the weirdos

i noticed you have blocked me, welcome to my list, i hope you're tracking 

sorry that you are getting this unwanted attention charlotte , fairplay to you for showing what is a negative on this site and many others , you get my vote

The second one [removed] was sending me the same kinds of message over the last couple of days incl swear words and asking me for porn pics up to today when I blocked him. It's strange because his web page doesn't look suspicious. I wonder how many others he's sent this weekend. 

Please don't reproduce offensive content in the forums or name the alleged offenders - report it to the Support team via Help --> Report Abuse, and they will investigate and take appropriate action; screen shots help. 

Reporting it helps prevent others from experiencing the same.

Thanks,

David, moderator

Without going into specifics or naming names. The person in Charlotte's 2nd message who also harassed me has been muted by chess.com who responded fast and very efficiently, so well done to them.

Personally, if I were you ladies, to help prevent being harassed by perverts, I would not be open about the fact that I was a female. Lots of negative attention from the online community there. Also, I would not use my name as a screen name for security reasons. Also, having your picture as an avatar is generally a bad idea, also for personal security.

Wow. Thank you for the advice (honestly, thank you), and I understand why you say it, but I'm not going to hide when I'm doing nothing wrong.

Oi mate SHUT UP

1. No problem Heather :) I wouldn't consider it "hiding" to conceal your identity online. More of a strategic absence of information. Remember, this is a chess website, not a social media website, like Facebook, and it doesn't have all of the comprehensive security measures taken by many social media websites. Your identity is rather inconsequential here. In fact, making things like your name and picture public information could potentially get someone tracked down by one of these creeps. This is the Information age, and with something seemingly inconsequential such as a name or a photo could allow someone to research and find things like your public records, your work location or even your home address. I'm not trying to frighten anyone, just making sure the risks are seen and realized. Thanks for listening -Jesse

No, he really wasn't.

 I thought the proposal was most likely in jest, and does not seem threatening or the like. Paying a girl a compliment. Probably harmless. If it does not continue after one unanswered message, I would not really consider it harrassment. Although persisting with such messages or going any further is certainly uncalled for. After all, this is a chess website, not a dating website. If you are trying to meet people, that isn't what this website is intended for. Sure, immature, lonely, and probably sexually frustrated people will treat this site, or any site, for that matter, as a dating or social media website. And of course, I don't like that concealing one's identity is sometimes the only way to prevent harassment. To realize the extreme measure of this, put yourself, for a moment, in the shoes of a woman in Saudi Arabia, whom a man can legally rape and murder just because she exposed her face in public. And consider of course, the other extreme: nude women's liberation parades through public streets. We all live within reality- we can't control anyone's thoughts or actions but our own, although we can influence the way we are perceived and approached by others. Just saying, none of us know the true mindset of anyone else, or what could provoke or allure online trolls or even people who could pose a threat. Be safe, everyone  ;)

Ghost of pushwood, I want to challenge you but I am petrified of rejection. Also, will you marry me? Rotflmao xDDDD

the moderator from Australia removed the most offensive of the two screenshots i posted, the one that's still there is admittedly tame. 

i don't know why that moderator from Australia didn't just mute the guy who was most offensive and has now been muted, as Heather spotted real fast.

it would have taken the moderator from Australia less than 2 minutes to see the guys 'sent' messages, and mute him. but someone else did it three hours later, so thanks for that chess dot com staff, i know who you are.

pushwood - i'll send you a screenshot in a PM of what was deleted, by the moderator from Australia. Feel free to reply flippantly, here

I praised a staff member on a website once and he was fired the same day. lol. I wonder if there was a connection. 

What the...