The other day, a project I have been working on for two years that involved social media and a fictional character had posts by another fictional character who pretends to be a "news service" for roleplay.
YES! NONE OF THIS MAKES SENSE BEAR WITH ME!
I roleplay on large format social media: Facebook and Twitter mainly. There are other sites, but I am not as frequent on them. I like to roleplay because it helps me write the dialogue for my fictional character's story. Roleplaying is pretending to be your favorite character in a movie or TV show or comic book and you add their mannerisms on social media. Sometimes, you can create your own character to fit in your favorite movie or TV show or comic book. That is what I did. I gave her an image, I gave her a personality, I gave her a backstory and I gave her "LIFE"! The best way to do concept artistry and is testable with the backdrop on social media.
The thing is, unless you do not mind roleplaying (RPing) by yourself, which is often the case, your story cannot be told. It is the dynamic to RP with other people--to BE SOCIALABLE. That is not easy when you have all kinds of people who have all kinds of opinions and exact them on your chosen character--especially when you create one.
I chose my character to have a sordid past and background because I thought it would add to my story I wanted to tell. Within a few weeks, I was harassed as to what it was I was doing. Not knowing any better, I was honest. I was further harassed. I thought if I changed to a new character, the harassment would stop, it was worse. A whole group of people, possibly those that held multiple accounts, placed an "all call" to block me. None of my comments had to do with them. If I wanted to make comments to people, I would say it to their faces. No, my comments, because I have a brain and do not want my character to be the "woman in the refrigerator" syndrome, took stories I read from the newspaper and made comments.
Then I was against an account that thinks women should be slaves and wanted public relations or PR to promote it. That is what is called RP to these individuals...
My RPs usually involves a script, improvised dialogue and a goal that we would like to reach. An attempt to minimize trope--such as "Mary Sue" or "Draco in Leather Pants"--literary devices that are standard for most stories to tell where the plot is going. A Mary Sue is a character that has a mysterious past, is extremely beautiful and even her enemy falls in love with her passionately. A "Draco in Leather Pants" is an bad boy image who can do no wrong, even though he just committed genocide.
Either way, I tried to follow standards set by stage acting and direction for my RP.
I got cyberbullied for it.
This was on Twitter. And their are reporting mechanisms are absent there.
So I moved to Facebook. I did the same thing. Some things are better. But the Twitter folks found me and go upset that I took screenshots of all their cyberbullying comments, posted them on my character's album as a mechanism of protection and fell they had the right to comment on them.
They felt they had the right to not only comment on them, but claim I was cyberbullying them! I had posted the images in May, 2011. They are NOW JUST COMMENTING!
Which means:
1. They had to find me so that takes effort even through a ROLLING feed, and my pages do not roll.
2. They LIKED my Facebook Fan Page
3. They reviewed my information, including my albums and looks at what it was that they said and felt I was wrong about them.
4. Then they responded in kind on my comments on each picture. It was not one or two pictures, it was every picture in that album.
Like I said, in social media time, a lot can change in 5 months. A lot has changed in both my RP, my character and what I am doing with it professionally. For these bullies to make an active effort on an illegal Facebook account to FIND ME and HARASS ME on my character's Fan Page and promote it to Twitter, is CYBERSTALKING and PSYCHOTIC!
If I had said anything to them within that time, it would be one thing. But I had left them alone. I wanted nothing to do with them. They lie, little girls are being Mary Sues to perverted men as slaves. When something REAL happens, a sex predator who actually does meet a child online, they whine reeling from their manipulation.
I ask the kids where are their parents and have they signed off on this? I took a chance for a kid being underage for social media on Twitter, and I got gaffled by him. So I implement more rules.
Good thing the young people are smarter on Facebook. Sometimes too smart.
But every young person I have worked with can SHOW THEIR WORK they have done with me. At least their scripts.
Roleplay is fun when it works, but posting on people's walls and feeds is NOT RP. Pretending to meet at a Starbucks to gossip is trying to live one's real life online because they do not have one.
My friends that RP felt the act was one of desperation. I did not engage with the person because I know me I would have called them more words than "idiot". But you are right, I reported it to Facebook. As far as I can tell, the account is gone.
What if they do get smart, well, the action plan is to block that account and report. No one wants to deal with those who cross the line between in character and out of character.
They say I do that, but that is why I have a script and I stick to it. At least my scripts have plots to them and we are trying to get that goal.
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