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I read the thread and also the nasty remarks about this board she posted on her blog. She misrepresented herself:


FWIW, I'm on holidays right now and counted her posts. I counted 20/27 messages (up to the point where she was called out) with links to her blog. Some messages had multiple links. That's more than "some." And to me, seven without links is a lot less than "lots and lots." She was obviously distorting the truth on that other site. Not a good sign.

She was also pretty venomous in her comments about this forum and people who post here. I don't think that type of approach helps anything (though it does create an us-vs-them atmosphere). Maybe Iucounu was a bit strong here and there in his second post on the subject, but others weren't (a couple people seemed to bend over backwards to be gentle to her).

The overly defensive way that she's reacted suggests (to me at least) that Iucounu may have had a point about her motives. People who really are just doing something innocently typically react with regret, not venom.

Actually, in all her posts on the thread in question, she only complains about one person.

Here we are, at the bottom of the page.
http://teachingmybabytoread.blog.com/gifted/
Although I can see why a "cringe-worthy" thread was ugly and unnecessary, I think this was the point of it. This blogger says people are telling her in private "heart-wrenching" stories about how they were treated. Unlike other forums the moderator here doesn't jump in and erase all the evidence, so it would be easy to dig up and discuss what really happened. But I agree with the closing point of that thread, "it just turns into a way for people to mock less popular folks". It was also a chance for those who suffered, cringed, or had their feelings hurt to speak up, not that they did. I don't think I want to see the contention such a thread could cause, although I would like it if it was a working group that somehow helped people work through issues. I'm reading "Siblings Without Rivalry" right now and the author says "you gotta work through the bad (feelings between people) to get to the good (relationships). Of course, we're not siblings. We're adults.

There's some "cyber-bulling" going on, all right. Never have I been accused of being so viscous. Nor did I realize that over half of the regulars here had agreed (apparently by PM, and not including the people defending me or my assessment of the situation on that other board or here, or who privately agreed with me by PM) that I am a nut. O well.

I might agree that you are some kind of a nut, but I like you anyway.

WTH? Seriously?

Heart-wrenching experiences? (Perhaps Jen's been talking to Sylwester-the-NASA-man or something. Who knows.)

There are what, 100,000+ posts in these forums and she's publicly writing something like that after actively participating in a half-dozen conversations? Maybe the constructivist chapter on statistics is a bit thin.

I was up against a stack of deadlines when the original thread starring jenbrdsly occurred, so didn't get to look too closely at it. After seeing so many mention it, though, I'm sorry, but the train-wreck enthusiast in me just couldn't resist.

When I first followed a few of her links, I didn't consider her blog to be commercial, but then I refreshed the page after turning off my ad-blocker. Um, yeah, a little bit commercial in my book.

Adding on to Val's stats above, what strikes me as odd is how close together (in time) her early posts were, and how many of those were just resurrecting some older topics.

Walks like a duck and all that.

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So I guess even the rabid laissez-faire part of me wouldn't mind a mention or two in the Guidelines about avoiding spammy behavior.

Agreed; specific examples of what's not okay would also help.

Okay, so which one of you created the giftedwiki? lol! Not to follow the train wreck myself...

Well, and you're OUR nut, Iucounu, and we're keeping you!

mm

This whole thing is soooo bizarre. I am stuck on the floor with a teething fussy baby (finally!) asleep in my lap, so I went and read the drama. I've had people "cyber bully" me before on various forums. It did upset me one time, but that is because I posted opinions that some people really didn't like. Oops.

It is the internet... People do sometimes say things they wouldn't say in person. So what.

No one was even mean to Jen. Seriously, you just questioned her motives. I post links to my sites sometimes on MDC when I don't feel like typing out a huge paragraph on how to wash cloth diapers, but I've only done it like 3 times. If someone doesn't want to read my article, they can ignore it. I DO make money from my sites, and I definitely hope someone will buy something I recommend. However, I write about things I really believe in and care about and then find a way to monetize my articles so I can help support my family.

So, I don't necessarily think people posting links to their money-making sites are spammers, though they could be...

I will remember to try not to post any self-serving links here, though. ;D