Lovelyish

I’m actually really glad this happened. Being a ridiculous jerk on the Internet seems to be the new American past time (well, vaguely new) because it’s easy, often anonymous–or at least, you don’t have to look at people in the eye when you do it–and can be a generally bad person with no repercussions. It’s one thing to comment and discuss on media, news and ideas, as much of Reddit does; it’s another thing to post cruel things, particularly regarding unknowing subjects you wouldn’t dare explain what you’re doing to. If you wouldn’t be willing to tell your boss, spouse or friends what you write on the Internet, perhaps you should think twice about putting it publicly on the Internet since at this point, it’s ridiculous to assume it is untraceable or that it ever goes away.

@samescobar - yeah. people are jerks. it’d be kind of scary that his job fired him if he was just going around riling people up with stupid comments and stuff, but posting really horrible things like that… you kind of deserve it. you should read the gawker article! his wife and son are on reddit too and they totally knew that he posted stuff like that.

@misswheeler - I’m reading it right now and oh man, it is bumming me out. The whole “beatingwomen” reddit and the “rapebait” and the others; guh, I used to go on 4chan, I know these exist, but it never fails to severely depress me.

I absolutely believe in net neutrality and think that this was an infringement on his rights. Everyone has the right to free speech, and getting fired for what someone does or says outside of the workplace is unjustified. 

@samescobar - yep. and what’s worse is that if you have a problem with it, you just look like an uptight bitch.

He totally deserved it but, of course, he’s trying to blame everyone else for the incident but himself.. Take some friggin responsibility & save a teeny shred of respect..

I’m so happy that bastard got what he deserved. And for those crying “free speech”, distribution of child pornography and taking upskirt photos of women in public does NOT fall under free speech.

@Oceans_Like_Fire@xanga - well, the nifty thing about living in texas (an at-will state) is that you can pretty much get fired for any reason, as long as it’s not race, gender, age, political affilation, etc. 

for someone who spends so much time on reddit, i’d be willing to bet money that he used office hours AT LEAST ONE TIME to log on and spread that filth around… so who knows if all of this was actually done outside the workplace. 

i do agree with you that everyone DOES have the right to free speech, but that also entitles you to the repercussions that go along with it. especially with posting those images of underage girls and claiming to “remove” the child pornography, he’s lucky he’s not in jail.

@Oceans_Like_Fire@xanga - ”freedom of speech” is not a catch-all excuse of encouraging violence and child porn. What were you thinking??

What makes it even more sick is the fact that (as he claims) his family knows about what he does and what he’s “into” makes it even worse, I think. Creepers breeding creepers.

Oh, and then you have people telling Mr. Chen that if this man dies over his article that it’ll be on him. Um… well I’m sorry but along with free-speech comes the responsibility to deal with the repercussions of what you say, especially on the internet. I can’t help but feel like those most pissed off about the whole thing are the ones who visited those sites and see nothing morally wrong with the things he posted. >.<  

Everyone needs to know this guy’s name, face, and what else. Because honestly, I wouldn’t want to be ANYWHERE near him, ever. 

I’m glad companies have the freedom to fire people for things like this. It’s just ridiculous. 

Here’s the thing. This guy has a right to free speech and a right to say whatever he wants. While I understand that that might come with repercussions, who does this Gawker author think he is to completely ruin this man AND his wife’s life? Maybe this is this guy’s way of dealing with the crap he has to put up with every day. Some people come home and beat their kids. THAT’S the sort of thing you “expose”, not some guy who just posts things people don’t like. While I don’t agree with trolling, he finds it fun and why ruin his life because of that?

He’s not posting pictures of ACTUAL children, which means it is NOT child pornography. Who are we to say he’s not allowed to like young girls or rape or bdsm or even incest?! Guess what? Those are actually very COMMON fantasies and a FANTASY is not the same as the act itself. My boyfriend and I both have intense and detailed rape/forced submission fantasies. We like to look at pictures that let us imagine those sort of things. We like it and the women in the pictures seem to like it. Does that mAke us perverts who deserve to lose our jobs and livelihoods? It’s not like we’re going out and raping people or downloading pictures and videos that are obviously depictions of real rape. It’s a FANTASY and no one deserves to be punished for that!

To the person who criticized the “weeding out CP” or whatever, there ARE plenty of pictures of overage, legal girls around 18-19 who look extremely young and market themselves as such. In the underground sex world that sort of thing is…not common, but pretty well-known. Then you have “littles” or “adult babies” who get off on looking/acting like young children or babies. There’s a lot of fetishes out there that aren’t mainstream. You can’t lump them all into “pedophilia” or “perversion”.

@emaciationxisxthexgoal@xanga - The jailbait thread was specifically for posting pictures of underage girls. Many of them were obviously taken in high school classrooms. That IS child pornography. The person is under eighteen and therefor a child.

Also, taking candid photos of the genitals of other people is not fantasy. You’re acting on it and ruining peoples lives by putting those kinds of things on the internet for everyone to see. He should have thought about all the people he hurt. It’s very easy to lose your job if a photo of you like that goes viral, and those women had no say in it. He however could control what he did online.

hahaha. That guy looks exactly like what I imagine most trolls to look like!

@emptyabyss@xanga -  Pictures of a kid in a classroom isn’t pornography. What, now we’re gonna be mad when people take pictures of kids, too? I’m not saying it isn’t weird, but it isn’t illegal either. Have we considered, too, that those pictures were probably taken by the kids themselves or friends, then posted to Facebook or Myspace and that’s where these sort of folks find them? So, IMO, the moral of the story there is keep your freakin’ twelve-year-old involved in age-appropriate activities, not social networking. The Internet is not a place for children. Why haven’t people figured that out yet?

How, exactly, do you GET a candid shot of someone’s genitals without them knowing? I’m at a loss to know how that could even happen unless you were wearing a tiny skirt or shorts with no panties or a napkin for a shirt, in which case you should be dressing more appropriately if you’re so concerned for your reputation/job. Look at what happened to Kate Middleton (although she was on private property, so it’s forgivable in her case).

Also, did the article not mention that he didn’t take the pictures himself, he simply reposted them?

I guess what this says to the world is don’t be interested in or turned on by anything outside what is society considers “normal” and “acceptable” or you will lose your job, your life, your reputation, and the ability to care for your family. Who cares about his wife, who may have cancer or MS or muscular dystrophy or who-knows-what? Who cares that she might end up homeless or maybe dead if she’s on some life-sustaining medicine that costs a lot. Who cares about how they’ll eat or get by from day-to-day or that the rest of his family probably lost their jobs, too? Who cares about the stigma he and his family will be subject to FOREVER now, even if he changes his ways?

It’s okay, because he’s a “pervert” and he “deserves it”, right? We’re all gods and goddesses with the right to determine who gets to have a job and a decent living.

@emaciationxisxthexgoal@xanga - The pictures were not just of kids in classrooms, they were shot up their skirts and down their shirts, so they were very graphic and most were removed. And yeah, you get photos of people by sliding your camera under a desk at work or down someones shirt on the bus. Someone even told me that some photos were taken through windows. 

Most of these pictures were taken by reddidttors. They posted them on the threads, sometimes including personal details such as names and age.Also, if your argument is “wear a longer skirt if you dont want people to invade your privacy” then i’m not even gonna bother with you. Classic victim blaming.

@emptyabyss@xanga -  Um, I think I would notice someone sliding a camera down my damn shirt. *eyeroll*

It’s not “victim blaming” to say “be responsible, keep yourself safe”. I’m not saying they deserve it, but common damn sense says that it happens, so if you’re that worried about it take precautions. Do I think walking down a dark alley in a short skirt and crop top means you DESERVE to be raped? No. But I DO say you shouldn’t friggin’ act surprised when it does, because you know that is a big RAPE ME sign to rapists.

Yes, society should be better than to breed people like this, but when you know it exists and you ignorantly ignore it, that’s just stupidity. I think lions shouldn’t bite people when people just want to pet them, but unfortunately that is not how lions work. It isn’t fair that I just want to pet the kitty and it wants to bite my hand off, but TOUGH TITTY, that is the world. What you’re suggesting is that I should go sticking my hand in lion cages then insist that the lion be put down when I get bit.

@emaciationxisxthexgoal@xanga - who said anything about “sliding down”? jesus. and a “rape me sign”? you have got to be kidding. oh my god. i’m sorry but i think you’re not capable of comprehending anything i have to say, nor do i have the patience to discuss this with someone who is so clearly delusional. that is why i am leaving now. oh my god. i’m seriously so shocked at your ignorance.

@emptyabyss@xanga - ”you get them by sliding a camera under a desk at work or down someone’s shirt on a bus”. It’s an easy sentence to misread and I’m on a phone, which makes it hard to see the whole comment at once.

I’m delusional because I’m a realist?! HELLO?! Do you think the whole world is sunshine and rainbows and bunny rabbits? Rapists are out there and your miniskirt and napkin top makes you a target. That’s being real about the world. You’re the delusional one if you think everyone is able to walk around wearing what they want without attracting attention.

If I wear a short skirt and heels outside, men catcall. It makes me extremely uncomfortable and, if it bothers me to the point where action needs to be taken I could get upset about it and haul them all to court or something ridiculous (like finding their pictures and writing a damning article about them) OR I could simply accept the fact that many men are disrespectful to women in revelaing clothing and stop wearing those sort of clothes. Which sounds like the more realistic, workable option to you?

As an aside, what kind of parents allow their children to wear clothes that are conducive to that sort of thing?

I’d probably get a promotion and award from work for being so adorable

@emptyabyss@xanga - I don’t know why you’re bothering arguing with her. Her name is “emaciation is the goal.” Her whole life is probably a giant can of worms you don’t want to open. For the record, I completely agree with you and I’m sorry that some people don’t care about the hundreds (thousands? hundred thousands?) of women who know these websites exist and feel dirty, afraid, horrified, ashamed, or worthless knowing that some part of society has decided that its ok for them to be treated this way. 

Adrian Chen is my fking hero. 

@firewalker_1@xanga - Yeah, after her comment about the ” rape me sign” i decided to just leave it. Some people are just beyond the point where you can reason with them. Im just glad to see that so many people see why what this man did was wrong. My standards for humanity are so low these days.

First, I am thrilled this pig lost his job.  People who promote topics like that are absolutely disgusting, I wish something worse could happen to him.  There is a huge difference between freedom of speech and spreading pictures that absolutely violate the victims’ rights.

And second, @emaciationxisxthexgoal@xanga - People like you absolutely enrage me.  There is a bit of a fucking difference between a lion and a human being.  Men know the difference between right and wrong, there is no rape instinct, it is a learned behavior that is becoming more and more justified in our society because people like you think it’s the victim’s fault for wearing something revealing.  It is the attacker’s choice to inflict damage on other people.  The fact is, women should not have to be constantly looking over their shoulder or worrying that someone may attack them.  How can you say you’ve experienced the discomfort of catcalls, yet still blame the women receiving that attention???  Were you asking for it??
Ulgh.

[I just like riling people up in my spare time.]

And there is the bottom line. What is this need to just upset people? Why? It doesn’t take a psychology degree to at least entertain the possibility that someone who has a compelling need to anonymously upset people has some deep mental issues.

I was harassed pretty badly for years here. Here’s a bit of detail on that: LINK.

@emaciationxisxthexgoal@xanga - I’ve gotten catcalled in the middle of winter. Believe me, my body was covered. Telling people they should wear more clothing to avoid getting harassed IS victim blaming.

I’m not opposed to kink. I’m a sadomasochist and I’m highly involved in my local community. However, as much as we’re talking about being realistic…. Being realistic is understanding that not everyone is okay with kink or fetishes. By associating ourselves with ours publicly (whether online or in real life), we’re taking the risk of being exposed and dealing with the repercussions in the same way sex workers risk losing “straight” jobs if their bosses find out.

I do think the company had every right to fire him. I don’t necessarily think it comes down to morals as much as practicality – keeping him on would associate his Reddit activities with the company name, and that would be bad for business. What I personally question is the morality of the person who “outed” him… what were the motivations behind it? Was he actually doing anything illegal (I haven’t looked into it much), or was it just something that aggravated people? If he WAS distributing or otherwise involved with child pornography rather than the legal fetish equivalent, for instance, I think it’s fair he was outed. If it was truly just some stuff that grosses people out and nothing more, then I don’t.

@firewalker_1@xanga - @emptyabyss@xanga - @getawayfine@xanga -   I’m not really sure where everyone got this idea from that I think rape is okay or that I am saying I condone it when someone was wearing a short skirt. It IS very sad that society has made it to where men think it is okay to target women based on that, but I’m simply asking that people acknowledge that unfortunately, at this time, it is how society is and act according to that. I really don’t think that’s such a ridiculous statement. There’s a REASON we don’t let our teenage daughter out of the house in those sort of clothes until they’re older, isn’t there?

Yes, I acknowledge that catcalling makes me uncomfortable, but at the same time if it bothered me that much I would cover my body, not go around being mad because I’m dressing in a way I know will attract negative attention. Is it right or fair that I have to do that? No, but LIFE IS NOT FAIR.

Here’s a funny coincidence. When we kept seeing Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears all spread-eagled and pantiless in the tabloids everyone called them “trashy” “slutty” and said “If you’re wearing a short skirt, put on underwear!” No one was screaming, “Eww…those paparazzi are perverts for taking pictures of that and following them around! They should lose their jobs!” But I am the one “victim blaming”.

My screen name has nothing to do with this and it’s ridiculous that both of you have to stoop to personal attacks to prove your points. For the record, though, I chose it when I was sixteen and never bothered to change it. I’m sure you’re perfect, though, right? Especially since you think that my life being a “can of worms” makes me unable to give an educated opinion? I forgot having an eating disorder meant I couldn’t possibly have a brain or any kind of ability to think. Maybe I should choose a name like “firewalker” “getawayfine” or the oh-so-mysterious, not-emo-at-all “emptyabyss” if I want people to take me seriously.Or repeat “oh my god” over and over in my comment.

Let me ask you this. You’re glad that this one person lost his job because, what? He doesn’t deserve to earn a living because he’s a bad person according to your moral standard? How about all the people that deserve jobs and don’t have them? Do we have the power to give them jobs and make that right? No, so what makes it okay to act like we can judge on whether someone loses their job or not?

Everyone is acting like it’s okay to judge this man and determine whether or not he should be able to earn a living and support his family or not! Is it okay to destroy someone’s life because you disagree with their values?! Whatever happened to judge not lest you be judged?

He didn’t even post the pictures or even start the child-porn based subreddits everyone keeps going on about. He moderated them. Do you know what moderating is? It means he kept people in line, he DID weed out the obvious child porn, he made people OBEY THE RULES.

Your moral standards are not the yardstick everyone has to be measured by to decide whether they’re worthy of a job or not. It’s sick to think anyone can condone ruining a person’s life like this. Funny how no one has mentioned how his poor, disabled wife “deserved” to lose what was probably her main source of income. 

First, I want to say that based on this post, this guy made some poor decisions to say the least. Did he deserve to be fired? I can’t say without more information about what he did and the policies of the company he worked for, but I will say this…

@emaciationxisxthexgoal@xanga -  I think you’re being a lot more realistic about the world than most people commenting on this. So many people are trying to be politically correct and not say anything they think might be offensive. I imagine there are more people who agree with you, but don’t want to say anything.

@Edeline_Wrigh@xanga - No, I totally agree that the company has every right to do as it sees fit. They’re going to think about the bottom line and how that looks to customers and I understand that. There’s a reason people don’t know about the sort of things I’m into at work. 

From what I can tell from the Gawker article he was not doing anything illegal. When he did come across obvious CP he deleted it from the site and (here I’m assuming) the user would get the appropriate punishment. Back when I was on 4chan that used to be a ban, but I haven’t visited anything like that in a long time and I’ve never been to reddit for things like that, so I’m certainly no expert.

My issue is with the author of the article and the idea that everyone seems to have. This sort of idea that it’s okay for a single person to judge and determine whether someone deserves a job or a chance to earn a living. It’s crazy to sit there and say, “You deserve to lose your job because you have different morals than me.” Which is what it boils down to. He’s “nasty”, a “pig”, a “pervert” by whose standards? 

What makes one person’s morals the “right” ones and another person’s the “wrong” ones? How many people agree on what’s right and what’s wrong? I mean, that’s silly. If we all said the sky was green that wouldn’t make it so.

@emaciationxisxthexgoal@xanga - I’m sure Creepshots has ruined a few people’s lives, not to mention Jailbait… wth? 

@emaciationxisxthexgoal@xanga - everyone is taking your comments the wrong way and I really don’t get why.

Is this man disgusting?  Perhaps by your standard, perhaps by mine.  But I sure as hell know that I am not crystal clean and that neither are you.  Does he deserve to be embarrassed by his actions and apologize to the community at large?  Yes, to a certain extent I do think so.  
But does he deserve to lose his job when clearly he’s using his assholeness as an escape from his unhappy life?  To my knowledge he hasn’t physically hurt anyone or solicited sex or anything like that.  He’s an internet douchebag and he admits that he likes to rile people up.
In general I think that him being outed and getting fired is a good thing because it sends a message to other nasty trolls that this sort of behavior is not acceptable, and that there will be real life consequences.  But with this specific case I really do pity him and I think that he got the short end of the stick not only with this fiasco but in life.

Just adding more information to build a more nuanced picture of the situation. If you guys weren’t aware, Adrian Chen has it out for Reddit. Whenever the topic of destroying or maligning Reddit comes up, the dude gets a boner, hardcore. From what I understand, Gawker makes money based on how many visitors they have, so the greater the controversy, the greater the hits. Couple this money-making with Chen’s obsession with screwing Reddit over and you have many of his pieces, including this one.

Some articles for you guys on the subject. And if you’re Redditors, you can find more on a bunch of Reddit threads/subreddits

http://www.urlesque.com/2011/03/10/gawker-adrian-chen-cancer-lucidending/

http://slacktory.com/2012/02/gawker-adrian-chen-reddit-ama/

Looked at the reddits. Need to puke.

I thought what a person did in the privacy of his own home didn’t affect anyone.  So much for that ridiculous argument.

this gross fuck deserves to be unemployed, although i do feel bad for his wife.

karma is a bitch ! 

im glad they shut those sites down also