Blog Stalkers!

This is something that we bloggers may joke about. "Blog stalking", as we call it, is when we visit a blog on a regular basis (usually, daily at a minimum).

There is something that attracts us stalkers to the site. It could be the bloggers, the site itself, admiration, or a number of other reasons. We have all stalked another blog before.

95% of Blog Stalking (not scientific by an means) is harmless. We make a friend that we will probably never meet, we pick up a cool toy for our sidebar or we join a new network becasue we stalked.

But, what happens when blog stalking goes bad?

Recently, I was part of a blog stalking incident that was beyond that 95% harmless group. I can not go into details but, there was another person involved who may have been threatened. The stalker, I believe, had good intentions when he/she visited on a daily basis and joined some of my networks. But, we forget that there are unfortunatly mentally ill people. I'm a former Psych Nurse and can understand this. This visitor had an episode and I'll not mention any more of the story to protect this person and the intended victim.

Warning Signs that You May Be Stalked

Good stalking is Good- if you are blogging with a networking intent.

I have made many wonderful friends this way. Good stalkers may leave you a nice occassional comment and after they get to know you, may give you an award or ask you to guest post.

Bad Stalking. Like a bad date.

- Visitor comes on too strong- too fast.

- Stalker leaves comments that may mention other names.

- You have no idea how this person found you and why they seem to think you are long lost friends.

- Stalker may start leaving messages for you usuals, befriending all of your friends, or intruding on you online life. It's like they are trying to steal your business.

- Stalker may start emailing you instead of comments and it may be way too early in the relationship.

-Stalker may make offers, like to give or do something for a contest on your site.

You should take the bad stalkers seriously. I know it is easy to say it's just some weirdo who will never find you or meet you. I said that too. Until the person somehow did find me.

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics Highlights include the following:

About half (46%) of stalking victims experienced at least one unwanted contact per week, and 11% of victims said they had been stalked for 5 years or more.
Approximately 1 in 4 stalking victims reported some form of cyberstalking such as e-mail (83%) or instant messaging (35%).
Women were at greater risk than men for stalking victimization; however, women and men were equally likely to experience harassment.

My personal advice to you is to go with your gut!

If something seems off to you-- listen to your voice.

Have you been cyber-stalked???

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