talkmagic.co.uk

I recently had a very disturbing email from Matt Edwards, a friend at the Ipwsich Magical Society.

He is currently appearing at The Jermyn Street Theatre in a show entitled "Late Night Magic in the West End". For more details see Magic Week

The reason his email was so disturbing is that on MagicBunny, under introductions a user called "Magical Matt Edwards" posted some messages that at first seemed to promote his show (actually another show in London, not the one I mentioned above), but then went on to insult many of the magicbunny members - and in fact make Matt Edwards appear as a very disagreeable person (to say the least!).

Bearing in mind that this imposter had nothing to do with Matt, he (Matt) is extremely upset about the whole thing, and would like to try and clear his name, so please if anyone read any of those messages on the MagicBunny site, please be aware that they have absolutely NOTHING to do with the real Matt Edwards.

I personally didnt see what was posted, and in fact the entire thread has now (thank Goodness) been removed.

It is a worry though how very easy it is to slander someones good name in forums like this.

The net is indeed full of people who need to put the mouse down, open the front door and allow some light on their face.
Why do people do this? It is a reflection on them, a warped mirror that gives them the false feelings of power and direction.
Sorry to hear about that and other stories of net bollards giving people grief.
I said this to somebody else yesterday but it is worth a repeat.
When your friends and family start telling you of your faults listen to them, when net people start telling you, laugh and take pride in being interesting enough to draw the fire.

Thanks for trying to spread some truth Banana, a nice thing to do

As some of us will know only too well, this sort of anonymous vitriol slinging is on the increase and is a very sad reflection of how so called freedom of speech is abused. The fact that the innocent party then has to try and clear their names is an additional burden and we have previously mentioned here that if any comments being made would not be appropriate face to face (on the basis that the face may get a well-deserved slap as a result) then don't make them here. As far as I know there is no remedy for this and whereas legal action would follow if such comments were made in the press or on TV, it's difficult to do the same on a forum where the postings are under an pen name/forum alias or whatever.

I'd certainly appreciate it if the real Matt received my condolences on this situation and I'm sure many others here will wish him the same. Magic Bunny is right to delete the threads and we would obviously do the same as long as we know about them so can I ask all TM members to keep an eye out for this kind of unacceptable text and notify one of the Admin crew/Mods as soon as possible. The same would apply if anyone receives individual PM's or e-mails which are in the same category as we might be able to collectively do something which the individual may not be able to manage.

From our very quiet origins on the Old Forum we have always had an atmosphere of mutual respect and courtesy which is unique and I for one will do all I can to maintain that enviable status. Even if it means I make myself very unpopular with some of these irritating lower life forms!

Mandrake the postings were done in Matt's name and linked to his web site, I'd have any legal action would be successful if the guy that did it has any money.

As the threads were already deleted I couldn't, and really didn't want to, see the actual text and I was trying to be a bit more general than Matt's case in referring to legal action. When folks resort to litigation, then everyone loses - apart from the Lawyers, of course.

Sad, isn't it - we have a lot of extremely useful tools and processes which can and ought to make lives easier yet they become subject to misuse and turn into a nightmare thanks to some folks. No idea what the answer is but we can perhaps make a very small stand for avoiding it by keeping eyes peeled on Talkmagic. (How the heck do you peel an eye? No, I really don't wanna know, thank you!)

eyes > you soak them in vinegar
errrrrr


I think the thing to take away from this is that we really shouldn't take these net episodes personaly or seriously.
Sure this guy has a rep. to look after but I'm talking in general.
These people do not matter, even in their own homes.
Lifeless, talentless, loveless people desperate to feel important.
As soon as you take notice they feel important.

That may sound a bit harsh but as an ex-admin on another site I know what these people are like and how much they enjoy upsetting people.
I am just sorry that something as wonderous and "club-like" as magic suffers from such rubbish. Sadly fools exist anywhere (they manage to fill Old Trafford every week for example, sorry couldn't help myself .

Anyway, the point I wanted to make was, pay them no mind and the trolls go away, 6 pages of abuse just gives them fuel.
I also didn't see the thread btw so feel free to ignore me

So big up the abused for you are the ones they want to be

Yeah well it was quite serious with a lot of people that had planned on going to Matt's show saying that as a result of what "he" was saying not only wouldn't they go but they would reccomend to friends that they didn't go as well. Anyway the culprit has been removed from the board and I doubt any lasting damage has been done.