Online Safety: My Advice

Hello everyone,

It's been awhile since I last posted one of my small "SoM/magick advice columns" but I'd like to share some more advice I just thought up. This relates to keeping yourself safe when it comes to interacting with other members on here. I recently just encountered an eerie person from here and it has inspired me to give some advice regarding talking with members on here. I would like this post to target mainly members who are currently underage.

Many members here are very nice and normal people with similar interests as you and I. But, there are a seldom few individuals on here that may have ill intentions towards younger women or men. I feel I have recently encountered one of those rare people and I regret it. Fortunately nothing major happened. But, real things involving someone online can indeed happen in the real world, if they are that sick enough.

When you're talking to someone online here, always have extra caution. If they are significantly older than you, become even more cautious; many older men online in general like to take advantage of young girls and women who are also online. This doesn't mean that every man is out for that, especially here on SoM. But, from what I just learned, these are some signs you should pay attention to that may indicate they have worse intentions than just making simple magick talk:

1) They are overwhelmingly nice to you; they compliment your looks many times, they compliment your strengths compulsively, and they make you feel extremely great about yourself..almost a little too good to be true. What I mean by this is, they seem to exaggerate how great you are. They seem to be hooked onto the idea of you. This could indicate the person is trying to gain your trust.

2) They ask to take conversations off the website, especially to a site where there isn't much of a moderating system; this could be a sign that they want to begin a sexual conversation and they're trying to take you off SoM so the moderators can't find out. For this, strictly keep all conversation on the website. It's much easier and safer with the great moderator team we have.

3) They seem to be obsessed with you; they message you constantly, even when you're away. They ask for personal information like your cell phone number so they can call you. They may also flatter you about your SoM photos too much. They may also constantly let you into their secret world, so to speak. They may say they can only trust you because you mean so much to them, and then they tell you all their "secrets." This is basically used as another flattering technique to gain your trust. Be weary of this, also.

4) They claim to have romantic feelings for you or they express that they are sexually attracted to you, even if you're underage and they are not. This is a major red flag that the person may have worse intentions. With this, you should report it to a moderator immediately so this person can't prey on anyone else.

5) If you ever have a gut feeling that the person you are talking to has something "off" about themselves or they're intentions, refrain from replying. Trust me. This is probably the best advice I can give. If something feels wrong, don't feed it to possibly get worse.

Again, not every member can't be trusted..I'm just saying to have extra caution and keep your eye open to whomever you interact with online. They may have bad intentions that can scar you or damage your life. If you are in a strange situation with someone on here, please don't hesitate to contact a moderator. They can help. If you'd like advice or someone to talk to about this, feel free to message me.

Have fun, but please use caution and be safe. :) Blessed Be!

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Good point. I furthermore think admins should make this one sticky. There are many kids on this website not prepared to deal with strangers.

Very well said indeed.

One more point that I would add - Never, ever give out your personal information such as your real name, your address, your phone number, or even your e-mail address to people you meet on-line. Such information can and is used by stalkers and pedophiles to locate potential victims on message boards.

I recently had someone who probably had their profile picture from google. They had no profile, and when I asked them who they are and what they're interested in, they literally just copied and pasted a part of my profile in the mail lol. They sound like a bot of some kind, with no personal message. Then again I know how people type when they only have one thing on their minds, there's still stranger people yet. I remember someone who claimed they were Korean and female but they were always trying to over prove that they were Korean or female on this one forum, ( not this one ) and that they also claimed to know magick in the way of teleportation and that they felt they were some kind of goddess of nature lol. I'm still waiting for Kim to teleport me to a party.

Not only stalkers make use of information, so do scams.Personal information can get your bank account robbed!

Arcadian- Thanks! I also feel that there should be an extra strong amount of moderation when it comes to this issue. Of course, it can naturally be hard to point out who's a pedophile or who's a stalker. That's the unfortunate part. But, we all do have a voice when we do find someone suspicious.

Lark- That is also a huge point. It tends to be said countless times for this topic, so I decided to look at it from other angles for this post. :)

GrayGhost- Those are creepy stories! People like that that claim they are like a goddess, etc, usually are either bored teens or adults that are facing more complex issues. If you ever notice something like it again, just block them or don't reply. My story was also rather eerie; I'm not going to give out that person's former SoM username, but basically the sum of the story is this; that individual was significantly older than me and he seemed obsessed with me. He'd constantly flatter me to the point it became "off", and then at the end he became very obsessive, making statements such as, "I want you to be with me. I want you in all ways.", etc. I'm not going to go into full detail on a public post. Though my contact with this person never went beyond the screen, it was still rather scary. Be safe, everyone!

Brysing- That is also very true! No one deserves to have their bank account robbed.

Bless this post! Haha. I'm so glad to see and internet safety post here. When I was in high school I headed an internet safety club type thing and we went around to the middle and elementary schools teaching them safe web practices.

There are so many children on this site that I'm kind of surprised there isn't a sticky post on web safety. It is so important.

haha I guess I'm not so nice as you DawnMaiden, because I personally hate it when strangers compliment me at all because of that. I used to go onto chats ( normal ones like chat avenue or something ) and its so common for perverts to be there, hundreds of them. It's mundane after a while, when you're just trying to find actual people to just chat with and not have all the sexual nonsense going on. Since I move a lot, the online chats have been nicer in some cases. But in others they will literally make me spit fire to everyone who messages me. This one person I met on there was obsessed with meeting someone who was willing to urinate on him lol!

And given there are also places such as 4chan, nothing's new and I just hope the younger generations to come are smart enough to sit and think about what's going on and lose that naivity or at least have a parent or older person around to help them navigate.

I'm glad this place isn't a cesspool, but then again it's one step away(from every other place you can go to), especially if anyone is an online gamer they will know what I mean xD