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Hi Nettie!
As the master of etiquette, boy oh boy do I have a doozie for ya!
I was in Flower Daze the other day (and a big WOO HOO! to the development team for that game! LOVE IT!). Now, mind you, I’m not a chatter. I’ve been with Pogo since 2001 and while I would love to chat more often, my disability sometimes makes that impossible. But I always READ chat, and I find that most everyone on Pogo is absolutely wonderful! But this day was the exception to the rule.
A lady I’ll call “Dazey” was chatting with some of the other players in the room when suddenly something is typed under her name that is completely different from everything else she’d been typing. It was rude, vulgar, hate speech. At first I thought it may be someone who had a name so similar that it was hard to tell the difference (i.e. D@zey), but no, it was indeed Dazey’s name that showed up as saying this.
Dazey immediately said afterwards “OMG! I did NOT type that!” The hate speech had certainly shut down chat, and a few players responded with “Uh huh… right” to her. Next thing I know, another player was shown as having typed something hateful and nasty, as well. And, of course, THEY immediately said “I didn’t type that!”
Basically, their names were being spoofed! Unfortunately, it was too late for Dazey as many people said they had reported her for the hate speech that showed up under her name, and she was indeed gone from the room by that point. However, as I’ve had this happen to me, as well (and since I have problems typing due to my disability, it was a double shock!), I can understand the confusion. My question is this: what do we, as players, do if this happens to us? And is there any way to protect ourselves from this happening to us?
I don’t want to open a can of worms here… I’m half afraid that some of the “problem” players that LOVE to come in and start fights in chat rooms could then use the excuse “But I didn’t type that!” when they did, but I could not imagine losing my Pogo account because someone else spoofed my name and began saying things that I would NEVER say to ANYONE, online or in person!
Any suggestions?
Flower Daze Craze-r
| Dear Flower Daze Craze-r, I’m going out on a limb here, but I’m going to guess that Spoofing has been around since the 5th day after the invention of the very first chat room, and I doubt it’s going away any time soon. I feel horrible for the sweet lady who was spoofed and so upset by it that she left the room. The abuse report will show the objectionable chat next to the name of the real Terms of Service violator, and our Customer Support reps should be able to determine that the name is a spoof. The nice thing about spoofing is that from our end, it’s pretty easy to see which account is real and which is spoofed. What should you do if your screen name is spoofed? If the player is still in the room, then use the Abuse Report Form and report them. Simply highlight their name in the “Who’s Here” list, right click, and choose “Report Abuse”. Be careful not to choose your own name, although again, if this happens, our agents will see the objectionable chat in the report and take action against the correct account. If you’re made aware of the fact that your name has been spoofed, immediately contact our Customer Support Department to make them aware of the situation. They can look into it. One other thing to keep in mind is that there are situations where two people may have the same nickname in life and want that to be their name on Pogo. For instance, Harry’s picked up “Alabama Chicken” as his nick in high school, so he may have chosen “AlabamaChicken”. Then Sean comes along later and he, too, has been called “Alabama Chicken”, but it’s taken, so he fiddles with the lettering a bit and comes up with AiabamaChicken, only using an uppercase “i” so it looks like AlabamaChicken. Thus, you’ve got two people who have what appears to be the same nick name. There are millions of players on Pogo, so it’s unlikely that the two will ever be mistaken for one another, and they’re both legitimate users who merely happen to share the same name. In other words– unless they’re actively trying to cause you problems, don’t automatically assume that your name has been spoofed. |
Dear Ms. Netiquette,
I have ADD and I am aware that I tend to talk too much in chat. No one has really called me on it directly however I have noticed off-color remarks made indirectly that I have taken personally. Whether what was said was actually intended to be a slam about me or not I don’t know. I know I often take things personally when they weren’t intended to be, so it could be paranoia on my part.
I do try to control my chatting, but it’s a compulsion. I do make an effort to slow it down or stop, but it’s very difficult to stay slowed down or stop. Sometimes folks who I think are enjoying my chat, and are conversing with me all the sudden just disappear without even saying bye. This kind of makes me feel like I must have annoyed them. More or less my yakking too much has forced them to leave before they would have had I kept my mouth shut.
I don’t believe the things I chat about are so much of a problem as is the quantity of it. I admit I often just yak yak yak and have a very difficult time typing to the speed of my thoughts. I try to say things that are witty or interesting, and I honestly don’t want to say anything purposefully to harm someone in any way and keep the topic of my conversation within the realm of conversation already in progress when I enter the room. Basically I don’t think the problem is with what I am saying, it is that I never shut up.
My purpose in writing to you isn’t so much to ask for advice. My goals here are:
- I want to apologize to my fellow players for the overkill chatting, and let them know I am aware of it and making efforts to improve my behavior.
- Inform folks that I am not chatting their ears off to upset them and run them off. I have a compulsion that makes me want to talk a lot, and fast.
- I want to encourage other players to feel free to send me a private chat message telling me I am overdoing it. If it is said rudely I may be offended, but if you approach me with that comment in a helpful demeanor, I would be very appreciative and grateful that someone took the time to make me aware. I know I have this problem, but I am not always aware when it is bothering others.
- Make folks aware that adult ADD really does exist. It doesn’t magically appear as you get older, you have it as a child and it stays with you. It’s like juvenile diabetes, once you have it… it never goes away.
Those of us with this problem have a very difficult time making and keeping friends, we tend to say the wrong thing… at the wrong time… to the wrong person… on a routine basis. I don’t do it on purpose, it’s another manifestation of our problem.
We also have difficulty being able to read people. For example. something said in jest we may interpret as a personal attack, or vice versa. Something that was said to purposefully offend us we may interpret as an off the wall funny. Not only are we bad at understanding the goal of the written conversation, verbally we are no different. And if that weren’t bad enough, many folks with ADD can’t read body language or comprehend the meaning behind the change of voice pitch and quality either.
We also have a difficult time staying on task very long, so you can rest assured the chances are good we won’t play the same game very long before moving on to another. I worry often about offend my fellow players. I do not wish to do so, honestly I don’t. I am making efforts to try new ways to calm myself and maintain quiet. I am sure my efforts won’t always be on target.
And if necessary a private message to me, letting me know my chat is a problem would be appreciated especially if said in a nice way. As I said, folks with ADD don’t easily make or keep friends and that holds very true for me.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I also hope you make the attempt to understand. Understanding helps with tolerance. Not that I expect folks to tolerate unacceptable behavior ongoing, just that the tolerance to be willing to accept that some folks are different, strange, weird, eccentric, odd, etc. et al… I accept all those descriptions. This is why the word “platypus” is part of my name… but I admire the platypus especially for his unique queerness. If everyone were alike, the world would be a really boring place.
Well-Intentioned Over-Chatter
| Dear Well-Intentioned Over-Chatter!, Thank you so much for your interesting and informative letter. You’ve certainly opened my eyes to the challenges that those with Attention Deficit Disorder face, and I appreciate it. It sounds as if you’re very self-aware, understand how your condition may appear to others, and I applaud the reflective nature of your letter. The good news is that if other players find your chat excessive, they can simply mute you. You’re not violating any Terms of Service by being chatty. In the cases where people have left, you’ll never know why, and I think it’s a safe to assume it was not due to you and your chattiness. You may want to include some of what you said in your letter in your profile to let folks know about your condition so that they, too, are given some insight into ADD. And for whatever it’s worth– please try not to worry about offending other players merely by being chatty. The “mute” feature is available to them strictly for this reason, and some people no doubt enjoy your chatty nature. You are who you are, living with the condition you have, and as you stated, if everyone were all alike, the world would be a really boring place. |
Hi Ms. Netiquette,
Although the false advertising for free gems and tokens appears in our chat frequently during games, it didn’t strike me until recently that the person perpetrating this scam has a “P” icon indicating Pogo Membership.
Is there a way for Pogo to track them down and get rid of them?
There are some pretty naive people out there and they could get taken, and our younger members need to know that cheating truly doesn’t mean winning.
Thanks for listening.
Green Ps and Spam
| Dear Green Ps and Spam, Sometimes the spammers do utilize the guest pass function on Pogo to spam the Pogo rooms with their messages. And unfortunately, as soon as we disable one of these “spammer” accounts, another one is created and is up to the same thing. We do recognize the issue, and we do have our legal team looking into it, but it’s not an easy thing to stop. As long as there are chat rooms, there will be spammers, I’m afraid. We do try to remind our players to be wary of these types of chat spam messages, and encourage everyone to dissuade others from visiting these sites. Thank you for writing. |
Have an etiquette question for Ms. Netiquette? Email msnetiquette@pogo.com
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