:-(

[mescaleroman]

[djwixx]

Thanks for the heads up Ade. I suspect many will feel happier knowing it was a foolish prank rather than anything malicious.

[1designguy]

Parenthood/fatherhood is often full of challenging twists and turns. Our best efforts are at times thwarted by outside influences.

I do hope this sets things straight.

Sorry Ade.

[reddishtiger]

I'm sorry, but this goes further than childhood pranks. Some deeply offensive personal remarks were made to and about several friends of mine and myself.

In addition, there is a slanderous element in using other persons identities - other friends identities - to make these remarks.

It will be a long time before I accept an apology for these remarks.

[nickythurgar]

Well said Lee - and these deeply personal attacks (not on my image but I have been shown what was said on my friends' images) could ONLY have been made by someone who knew the Pbasers involved PERSONALLY in some way, and could have caused significant problems for the people involved had they been seen by outsiders. Quite a few things do not add up in all this, I'm sorry to say, and I'd be interested in an full explanation....

[camera0bug]

This isn't the first time this has happened and in similar fashion,
hurtful and malicious identity theft.

The damage is hard to undo, especially in terms of reputation
to all involved.

Remember, many Pbasers don't bother to come to the forum area
and will have no idea what occured.
They only see spiteful and offensive comments with our names attached to them.

I wonder how many friends I've lost here because of those.



For anyone curious about what this is all about:
http://www.pbase.com/fayewhite/image/91506122

[djwixx]

There were some questions about how they managed to add comments as other people. I believe they simply added the name in the guest field hence the name not being 'clickable'. The image that Faye posted makes a lot of assumptions. It does add weight to the original comment in this post and suggests they used the Pbase logon to find an image, then logged off to add the impolite comment and so on. I suppose you could question whether whoever with access to that account would bother with that process if they weren't concerned with the impacts to all concerned, including the account holder.

The fact that the commenters name did not take you to a profile should at least show it was highly likely not that person.

I was hoping that the challenge would be a fine tribute to Lee and Bev, but it seems the whole idea turned into a mess. I'm sorry a little thank you to Lee and Bev was ruined so horribly.

[jolka]

There were some questions about how they managed to add comments as other people. I believe they simply added the name in the guest field hence the name not being 'clickable'.

Yes, that's how I've got two rude comments from Dan Chasid (with misspelling). A guest used Dan's name in the field for signature.

[johnwaine]

Pbase members are not cynical self-centred celebrities, yet we all have a profile within this community which is inevitably raised by self-portraits. meetups, commenting and general support of others.

Behind every smile, every joke and self-deprecating remark lies real people living real lives with their share of tragedies, worries, insecurities and responsibilities to cope with.

Pbase provides an important outlet for creativity and a source of social contact leading to creative, emotional and personal growth - and, Yes, fun!

The action of one individual could well have broken trust between acquaintances, strained friendships, damaged the self-confidence of mature but sensitive people, created doubt where none used to exist, threatened reputations and cracked the foundations of a community.

I'm sure the Pbase community is strong enough to overcome this and grow even stronger as a result. What would we do without it?!

Those who perpetrate these unfeeling acts are ultimately the losers. They have to live with the knowledge that they have destroyed something special. But a genuine private apology to each person affected would be a start!

On a practical note, I would urge everyone to update their profile settings so as to ensure all comments from non-Pbase account holders are moderated. This way we can protect our friends and families from getting the wrong idea about Pbase - a community that is so valued by so many!

[beverley_h]

i don't think i could have worded it any better than john.
but i have to add my pennysworth!!

i have talked to some amazing people on pbase and met others on pbase meets with whom i have forged life long friendships, without those people in my life now, it would be true to say my life would be pretty dull, i work hard all day and i look forward to catching up with my pbase gals and whats been happening in their daily routines, i also love looking at everyones images... and what a wealth of images there are.

i feel saddened that someone, whoever he may be, tried to ruin it for not just lee and myself, but lots of other people who had put in a great deal of time and effort to say a thank you to us....

to them i say a big THANK YOU!!

to him who upset a lot of people i say....GET A LIFE!!

i left that sort of behaviour behind when i left junior school...!!

[mescaleroman]