Thanks for the reminder on this point! It is true, there are so many rude, uninformed, and overly obnoxious comments on iReport lately. Please, before you post, THINK! These stories are important to the people who post them and to many others who read them. You may not agree but the whole point of this is to better understand the world and the people around you, right?

ncgagirl, YOU SAID IT! good job on the comment

Yeah, I been attacked more or less on a regular basis by a small handful of people every since I began writing again.

Being called everything from a "terrorist" to an "ignornant ass" and worse. It's somewhat disconcerting to say the least.

Thanks for the reminder lila.

Lila, well said! 

The Warden, don't let that small handful get to you.

Some people don't know how to politely agree to disagree.

There are MORE people who like your writing than those who don't.  Keep writing!

Bless you!

Homegirl for...sundaycosmetics.com

Aakash,

Hang in there.  Overly aggressive "rude people" have deep insecurity issues which is why they try to cut down other people's ideas, opinions - and dreams.

I've learned to pray for them. Make your haters your motivators. Never let their negativity stop you. Keep writing! 

Homegirl for...sundaycosmetics.com

Thanks for noting Lila! More than a few of us have left the sight for a few days due to hurtful remarks or threats.

Appreciate the speedy deleting of unkind comments.

I just uploaded several posts on a South Dakota visit. The 1 star bandit hit all of them. I had nice ratings and they knocked them all down. This is another form of not being nice and playing real dirty. I can't believe ireporters do this to another reporter., especially superstar reporters acting this way. I pretty well know who is doing it and think it is really foul. We should support one another. Even though they may feel a post does not deserve a 5 star or even a 4, they certainly know what a 1 rating does to an over all rating. Somebody just tell me why?

Ryn. Star rating is more of a concept function that anything that reveals something. In the same way someone might give you a 5 that may not be deserving --. Like many have given me when I clearly did not deserve it.

Yet, there are a select few that go around just to knock stories down.

In the end the function is nearly useless and is hardly reflective of anything whatsoever.

Rudeness most likely will be there to some extent. But there are a select few that are simply hateful. Those select few are a problem.

OK, I see what you are saying TheWarden.

I have been confused with

the new rating system anyway.

You expect differences in opinions and some heavy duty debate, but the malicious hounding and relentless, cynical, name calling does nothing for the subject or the blog.

I don't understand why every topic has to turn into a political debate by some. I mean, even a sunset post has got to be Democratic or Republican. lol!

hi,im a new friend

ryn and thewarden, you're both right.

There are a few that maliciously go around just trying to make writers fools of themselves- then they turn around and try to justify themselves by twisting their own words and then, use "freedom of speech" as their tool.

I agree w/freedom of speech, don't get me wrong. However if this were so, why do we have guidelines? No one can come here and use racial slurs, right? that's wrong and unacceptable, but then isn't that freedom of speech too? No...  - what I am getting at, is there is a limit- and respect had been lost here.

Certain people stalk others JUST to humiliate them publicly. I have had nice conversations w/people who are completely opposed to my politics, so it's possible. There is NO need to torment writers, especially if that person has NO WRITTEN POSTS themselves.

There's one who thinks he's an English professor and corrects everyone's words in a sarcastic manner, but I have yet to see his own dissertation on the English language, or any post for that matter. Most of us are not reporters, so why is it so important that people write perfectly? There are many foreigners (this is an international site, and CNN is international) and there are people who at least make an effort to post, despite their limited English knowledge, be it that they live in the US or not.

In my opinion, there should be i-reporters and people who comment, distinctly differentiated; AND there should be a tool to flag people, not only their comments, because this way, someone could track that person's trail and see that it wasn't just one comment that got someone upset, it was a whole stack of them and there's a history behind the complaints.

To me, you don't need to curse or make death threats to be a harasser. If you stalk people and never have a nice comment toward anyone, and simply spew venom everywhere, then someone needs to moderate it. Being sly and choosing words carefully to show hate (just enough to not get in trouble) shows a troubled mind and should be addressed. I personally started answering back and I don't like to be on here getting upset and being like that. I find solace in writing being that I am going through difficult times, so having to defend myself or others is just a waste of energy.

I've been called: ugly, hippie, drug addict (and I am completely against ALL use of drugs, legal or illegal) hag, everything in the book... whiner because I so happen to have financial difficulties and I am posting something related to the economy. And irresponsible, accused of leaving my job irresponsibly because I had a death in the family and an illness which prevented me from working.

I've seen people called or insinuated they were ditzy, stupid, frivolous because they are not sure of who to vote for (when the assignment required that)  It's not fair that people here get assignments, make the effort to post and then get publicly ridiculed like that. What's the point? And all this 90% of the time coming from people who never have a post to their name.

Hi, rosalynd_ Welcome to ireport!

I also would like to mention some of these same malicious folks have multiple IDs and icons and use them all to do damage. Then you have those that have multiple accounts and rate themselves perfectly over and over. The ratings far out number the views in a matter of minutes.

It is so obvious who is doing it. Is there no way to control this situation?

Feed back please.

Most actual reporters try to play fair and abide by the rules. It is only a few that ruin the entire ireporting experience.

TheWarden, Jan and Bella Noel have had some excellent suggestions recently and in the past.

I like the one  from Jan about separate ireporters and and separate commenter's. It is really not right that these lonely bored hateful people can obtain superstar status just for being nasty. As BellaNoel once suggested if they do not post a report in 72 hours, they should be deleted.

What, pray tell, is this all about?

davedavedave is the same person as sankofa, who has three other profiles-

In regards to drilling, davedavedave posted the following on my report (but it doesn't end there)

DaveDaveDave:

You are guilty of the logical flaw most liberals are in discussion the oil crisis.

Nobody rational that I've read or heard says drilling for oil is the singular solution to this crisis. It was one of many things we have to do.

Why oh why do you liberals perpetuation this logical fallacy?

Now, Sankofa, whose i-report on drilling was posted on CNN, had the complete opposite to say; in fact, it was exactly my take on the subject (which posing as davedavedave he obviously criticized)

sankofa's post on CNN can be found here:

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-17161

I DON'T UNDERSTAND- what is going on? Are people playing devil's advocate or do they just have split personalities? And why the attacks, and why the double standard? - He has at least 4 profiles minimum and on one, he is liberal and the other he is opposed to "Liberal" (or "eco-terrorists" as he says in another post)

Can someone on CNN explain???

I AM TIRED OF ALL THE RACE TALK GOING ON BY THE NEWS MEDIA. YOU WOULD THINK THAT IN THE YEAR 2008 WE WOULD BE PASS THIS ISSUE. I AM BLACK, BUT WHO CARES WHAT IT IS LIKE TO BE BLACK IN AMERICA ! WHY CAN'T YOU ASK , WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE WHITE IN AMERICA ? ALL OF THIS RETORIC SHOWS THAT MANY IN THIS COUNTRY JUST CAN'T GET PASS RACE & SKIN COLOR. IT'S REALLY SAD, & THE REST OF THE WORLD IS LAUGHING AT AMERICA. WE ALL NEED TO JUST GROW UP !

Being rude is one thing. But posting comments that include your own personal website in order to sell cosmetics is even worse.

Every time " BDavis " posts, she has to attach her own personal website address to hawk her wares. I guess she thinks this is both cleavor and professional, but it's only spam, pure and simple. I guess it didn't work well enough for her on EBAY. Her advertising is inappropriate here.

Well, we have hacking going on too; people stealing other's identity. It seems Sankofa1867 is not davedavedave- sankofa has videos, davedavedave ONLY has pictures of Sankofa on his i-reports. This REALLLY NEEDS TO STOP! I got a computer virus as I was on I-report the other day. I just had to buy a new mouse and keyboard as it ruined the programs for my wireless ones. Several others have told me they did not do posts which are on there. Why is this happening?

Phileo, I agree with you- sorry it has to be that way - it's not fair; you're right.

thankyou Lila, it has been long needed.

SlickNick is sunethra .

fake .

smokey has been hacked- cannot access her account and emails were sent out to people impersonating her (asking people to deposit money in a UK bank account)

torie2 - he IS NOT. I know who that is

sunethra is someone else - it is NOT Nick.. .who are you by the way?

Well finally a sheriff in here with us.  Lila, there's a band of alligators in here with nothing more to do but rag on your Superstar's ankle---- and I kick 'em in the teeth everytime.

Mz. Ella @ Ladies' Hood Journal iReporting within.

SNicks a good case for Bi polar disorder

hey johnnB... Slick Nick is NOT sumathra- I know who that is and she is a woman, so stop accusing. On the other hand... I can see clearly when someone uses someone else's personal profile picture to send an opposite message for their own personal agenda:

I have flagged for review ... all posts of the profile belonging to davedavedave who is impersonating sankofa1867 -

he posts complete opposite views using sankofa's picture, on the posts and uses it as his own profile picture.

If you see sankofa1867's posts, you will see that much of his stuff has been on CNN (against drilling) http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-17161 and davedavedave has another opposite opinion: http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-37111

sankofa has videos - davedavedave uses sankofa's profile pic and still images of him.

torie2 and johnnybgood should do some i-reporting instead of accusing SlickNick who has been on here for a long time and does reports-

AGAIN, he is NOT sunethra and CNN I-Report knows this- they have that person's profile who is a female. Your attempt of defamation of his character is unsubstantiated.

janmarbol !!! IM DULY IMPRESSED YOU SEEM TO (1) HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS , (2) KNOW IT ALL , AND (3) CNN FEELS THE NEED TO RUN EVERYTHING PAST YOU FIRST TO GET YOUR APPROVAL ,, SUCH A GREAT POSITION !!! HAHAHAHA

DO SOMETHING MORE CONSTRUCTIVE W/UR FREE TIME LIKE -- FIND A JOB , YOU KNOW THE 'E' WORD ? EMPLOYMENT????

THE LONG DAYS OF NOT HAVING A REAL JOB GO BY QUICKER IF U HAVE SOMETHING TO DO BESIDES PLANTING URSELF ON I-REPORTS FLAGGING PEOPLE

name calling and harrassment seems a two way street -- i've noticed many so-called * super star * reporters doing their own fair share of harrassing including making fraudulent I Reports about others and ganging up on and attacking reporters they dont like

cheers  cR

actually, TERMINATOR, I have been searching for a job... just goes to show how I am attacked on here for being unemployed, thanks for proving my point.

Furthermore, I don't "seem to have all the answers" I actually know for a fact who Sunethra is, and it's not Slicknick (who is constantly harassed for no reason). And I (as well as many other reporters) also know when people use other people's identity which seems to be something very popular on this site, and which coincidentally is against the law as well.

That being said, I still don't see postings of those opposing the guidelines, which makes me wonder.

The two way street is when people get tired of being harassed, they just seem to... oh how can I put it? eventually fight back against the attacks.

and just as a reminder, here are a few pertinent guidelines on TOU (terms of use) on I-Report of which we make reference to on these comments:

7. Conduct on iReport.com

(A) If you submit any materials or participate in any online forum or any other forum or similar service within or in connection with iReport.com, you agree to abide by the following rules of conduct:

• You agree not to post or transmit through iReport.com any material that violates or infringes in any way upon the rights of others, including any statements which may defame, abuse, harass, stalk or threaten others;

• You agree not to post or transmit through iReport.com any material that is grossly offensive to the online community, including blatant expressions of bigotry, racism, abusiveness, vulgarity or profanity.

• You agree not to post or transmit through iReport.com any statements that advocate or provide instruction on illegal activity or discuss illegal activities with the intent to commit them;

• You agree not to post or transmit through iReport.com, any software or other materials which contain a virus or other harmful or disruptive component;

• You agree not to impersonate any person or entity, including, but not limited to, any CNN employee, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity;

• You agree not to interfere with any other user's right to privacy, including by harvesting or collecting personally-identifiable information about iReport.com users;

• You agree that if necessary, you have the written consent of each and every identifiable natural person in any submission to use such persons name or likeness in the manner contemplated by iReport.com, and each such person has released you from any liability that may arise in relation to such use;

notice: defame, abuse, harass, stalk or threaten others; materials which contain a virus; impersonate any person or entity... among other things mentioned here.

yea yea get a new hobby

you do plenty of it yourself

It seems there is a great competition going for and among the so called superstar ireporters. What is happening?

Superstar reporters are voting other reporters down, going on with multiple ID's and icons, posting hate and discontent. Not only this, they are multiple rating themselves 5 stars, with perfect scores of 15 and 20 five star ratings, highest rating, most viewed, most shared and most commented. How is this possible? It sure takes a lot of work, to have this many accounts.

What happened to the day everyone was friendly and supported one another? Has the competition gotten to be such a big deal that is worth tearing your ireport friends to shreds?

This once was a very enjoyable site for headline news as well as human interest posts. Now it is just a blog for argument that can not be called debate. You can hear this sort of thing on any elementary school in the USA.

So many excellent ireporters have left the site for this very issue.

Some of us are old timers at ireporting now, we have known each other awhile. We at least know the "ireport personalities" of one another and are quick to defend one another.

this is what I put up with when I post something:

TERMINATOR  // 1 hour ago      

--HUBBY'S ' GONE ' OR ' TRAVELING WITH HIS JOB ' 7 DAYS A WK.?? HELL I WOULD TOO IF I HAD THIS @ HOME --

srs // 2 hours ago      

A nation of whiners...

CCJ // 4 hours ago      

every thing this reporter posts is some conspiracy theory . shes a jobless hypochondriac chronic complainer

HOW AM I SUPPOSED to put up with this kind of slander? AND then I am the whiner????

Being called: "a jobless hypochondriac chronic complainer", or that my husband is "TRAVELING WITH HIS JOB ' 7 DAYS A WK.?? HELL I WOULD TOO IF I HAD THIS @ HOME"

If you don't like my posts YOU CAN ALWAYS IGNORE THEM!

I NEVER attack ANYONE unless they have attacked me first, and even then I put up with it until I can't anymore- AND I REMIND YOU HARASSMENT IS NOT ONLY NOT ALLOWED ON HERE, BUT IT'S A CRIME!

go look again . there are no threats there lmao. you need to chill.  do you take medication???

a global news web page with open comments & blogs is not just for you  

everyone has an equal right to their viewpoints

if you don't like it then pls go elsewhere

quite a bit of psycho-babbling  ..part of your forever, on-going self therapy?  just trying to help

I suggest you brush up on the law. contrary view points arent a crime , tho under jan's law all would be tossed into the pokey who disagrees w/u .,lmao.

You need to go get a life . its clear youre coming unglued and from appearances to be a mentally unstable mess

Contrary view points, legitimate debate, difference in opinion are one thing, deliberate harassment, direct attack on personal integrity and hate mongering are another. Unedited and unfiltered does not include obnoxious comments especially made by faceless, no profile, no reports posted individuals. Internet harassment is against the law.

ccj, I suggest YOU brush up on the law AND the terms and conditions of using this site (which are posted above for your convenience) including but not limited to, for example, calling someone "mentally unstable", asking if they use medication, etc. when you have had no personal contact w/the individual, be it whoever you decide to attack on a personal level today or tomorrow.

Opposed views can be done respectfully and have been done so in the past.

But keep it up on here... your comments on this blog and your comments on many i-reporters' posts- you are helping us to prove our point as you only dig yourself deeper with your crude personal attacks.

thank you, i-report crew!

1400+ views, and it has all kinds of racists remarks, including antisemitism

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-30187

why was this even allowed to be viewed so much? Is this the freedom of speech we're talking about? or freedom to hate?

There are some rude people and thank you for pointing it out. I think these nameless, faceless and anonymous remarks comes from individuals who were not given enough hugs or candy as a kid so they tend to act out online in erratic ways that are unnecessary.

Your MOMMY would not want to know how MEAN you are for you should know better! I rest my case in trying to be nice to  the internet candyless varmits!

It never fails when there is politics, religion, race or any other hot topic the trolls and angry mobs come out. I always found it funny if you walked up and punched someone in the face you go to jail but to hurl emotionally abusive insults is completely legal dispite the fact that emotional abusive leaves far worse scars than physical abuse.