Fosgate wrote:
Then say what you think the problem is. There's no way anyone can help given such a vague statement.
A year and a half ago, my daughter and I put together a little community service effort. We wanted to raise awareness about reusable cloth shopping bags as an alternative to plastic grocery bags. The idea grew and we were having fun with it. I made a little blog for her so she could chronicle her efforts. I added a "Donate Now" type of functionality to the blog hoping to raise enough money to buy tons of bags to give away for free in front of our local grocery store. And we were contacted by a couple local newspapers about what we were doing. The idea was quickly snowballing and it was a blast. My daughter was loving it.
Then, my aunt's boyfriend thought it would be a good idea to post some links to the blog on a variety of environment-centric websites/forums/blogs, etc. I discovered one of his postings here. It was clear that his posting here was regarded as spam (i agree with this), and I wanted to chime in and try to clear things up. Well, let's just say it didn't go very well.
One user in particular took it upon herself to inform me that what I was doing was illegal: collecting donations and posing as a false charity. So, the very next day I registered with the State of Florida and tried to learn more about what I might need to do to collect donations. I tried sharing my experience with this user, but I was met with distrust and intense scrutiny as if I were a common criminal instead of a volunteer-minded Dad. Bear in mind this wasn't simple scrutiny, not a raised eyebrow. This was much more like raging fit, a territorial display of venom. It was ugly.
All of this is water under the bridge. I harbor no ill-will.
However, it is worth mentioning that to this day if I Google my own name the number one result returned is an article my daughter and I were featured in, and if you follow the link and read the online comments at the bottom you will find:
"Posted by fraudalert411 on 08.29.07 @ 12:23 AM
This organization is operating as an illegal charity. They have been colecting donations illegally for some time. WARNING: Do Not Give This Organization Any Money!!!!"Similar comments were made on any online article this person could find. I can only assume this person thought it was some form of instant justice, but it is nothing more than a hurtful stain that will remain indefinitely for anyone to find later. It doesn't matter to this person that they were mistaken in their assumption that I am a criminal.
I did get an apology email from one user here. I thanked him. I don't know what else to do, there simply isn't anything else to do. But, from time to time, when I Google my own name (weird, i know) I am reminded of my bitter experience here.
It's not "this place." It's one particular person.