Dave’s Write Away
By Dave Scott
UFO Trolls Are Nauseating
A few years ago, I remember having a face to face, one on one conversation with the legendary George Noory from Coast-to-Coast AM. The conversation was in Vancouver at an event George was speaking. To my surprise, George knew me and all about Spaced Out Radio. I would later learn that George knows all about who his competition is, as minor as it may be. It’s the signs of a smart and intelligent businessman, which George is. During that conversation, we got into the realm of internet trolls. The way they act online is definitely not the way their mothers taught them to talk! The crass, rude comments that go beyond being critical. Sometimes it’s downright disgusting and malicious. All this over a radio show. I remember George telling me that he used to engage the critics in online forums, when forums were the way to communicate. But he gave it up and stopped putting energy into defending himself when he knew that even though he was right, the vitriol of those scorned by the ghost of Art Bell would just take it to an all-new level of abusive attacks. That advice has always stuck with me, even though I have, at times, not practiced what George preached.
Yes, the trolls are out there, and sometimes they’re right in front of your face, and you don’t even see them right in front of you. The UFO World is not much different from those who play in the cryptid field or who go play with the ghosties in the paranormal realm. The ego and the machismo run rampant through these fields, where there’s a lack of education and often times humanity in the way people treat others. Sometimes it feels like no one will ever get ahead because the minute one starts to break through, either in popularity or in advancing their research, there are always people trying to knock you back down from the pedestal that you created, whether by skill or offered opportunity. It’s a sad reality where jealousy kicks in and we’re all guilty of it. We all want that shot of being the person on top, or the next one to get a television show or headlining a big named conference.
However, in my own personal struggles with people in this field, there’s a commonality in all of tensions I’ve been brought into that I’ve noticed. No one wants to talk things out like human beings anymore. Maybe I’m old school, but if I have an issue with someone, I try my hardest to take that conversation to them. Have I failed at that before? Of course. I’m human. But I try to do the right thing. With the internet age the way it is, no one wants to communicate anymore if they have an issue. No, they’d rather fight via twitter or text message so they can play the ‘I’m offended’ card without actually dealing with the subject matter on a basic human level, which is a conversation. I recall recently how one person that I helped make a name in UFO Community decided that he was offended by the ‘WOO’ on Spaced Out Radio. After nearly two years of talking frequently and going on the air often, this person decided that he had enough ‘WOO’, and decided a great course of action would be to make me a frequent target of attacks about my credibility as a show host. Going as far as saying my promotion of the ‘WOO’ on Spaced Out Radio was dangerous to the UFO Community and to those wanting to learn about the subject on a serious matter. No, this person didn’t want to talk about it. Didn’t want any sort of explanations. No, because that would have been the right thing to do. Instead, he decided to make it constant, almost weekly attacks on my show, and namely my promotion of ET Contactee, R Keith Andrews. It’s ridiculous to the point of being laughable. But most of all, the constant attacks to the ten listeners a week he gets, (literally 10), is not really worth the time. I only bring up this example because when it comes to UFO’s you really can’t trust anyone. For example, this person states I should be ashamed as a journalist that I promote the ‘WOO’ factor. Complaining about eye catching headlines to bring people in. Apparently drawing listeners is not something I should do for my business. Yes, Spaced Out Radio is a business. There’s never anything stated by this person when I bring on experts like Dr. Bob McGwier who was one of the top scientists at Virginia Tech. No talk about our interviews with people like Luis Elizondo, or the top researcher in the world on the Dyatlov Pass Incident, Teodora Hadjiyska. No, those don’t make the cut. It’s always about one of our most popular and entertaining shows, R Keith Andrews and the ET Connection. One show a month, and I’m the bad guy for providing our audience fun and entertainment. Not good enough for an accredited journalist, I’m preached to! Honestly it’s nauseating!
It’s not just me who goes through this. It’s others right across the board. It doesn’t matter whether it’s John Greenwald from the Black Vault, Tim McMillan from The Debrief Media, Joel Dodd from uapresearch.com, Luis Elizondo, Grant Cameron, Chris Bledsoe, Richard Dolan, Third Phase of Moon, George Knapp, George Noory, Danny Silva or anyone else, the trolls are vengeful and are out to get anybody by any means. Whether it’s misconstruing a tweet from years past, or a disagreement about their stance on ufology. There are daggers being thrown in every direction. Yet for most of us who are not making a living off of the research, books, blogs or radio programs, we keep taking it and we keep going. Why? Because we are suckers for punishment! No seriously, we do it because we believe in the subject and want to do our part in bringing the best information we can to the public. But the attacking trolls will always be there. The internet cannot control these lonely people who don’t care how they punish a person, as long as they do.
The trolling won’t ever be going away. Especially as we draw closer to Disclosure, which it seems we are, the trolls will be getting stronger with their attacks and lambasting of anyone who doesn’t meet their qualifications for a ‘proper’ ufologist. But there is potential for a lot of good people to decide one way or another that enough is enough, and they’ve had enough of the abuse. Technically speaking, we should all be working together to bring the information out. But that’s in a perfect world. Until then, the best advice I have to anyone who is getting beat up by the trolls is this: Don’t feed into it. Fight the urge to snap back. Adding to the drama is only cause for more drama! You’ll be doing yourself more of a disservice than actually helping your own cause! It’s brutal, but stay strong
UFO Trolls Are Nauseating
Gail Hodson Shirk
A few years ago, I remember having a face to face, one on one conversation with the legendary George Noory from Coast-to-Coast AM. The conversation was in Vancouver at an event George was speaking. To my surprise, George knew me and all about Spaced Out Radio. I would later learn that George knows all about who his competition is, as minor as it may be. It’s the signs of a smart and intelligent businessman, which George is. During that conversation, we got into the realm of internet trolls. The way they act online is definitely not the way their mothers taught them to talk! The crass, rude comments that go beyond being critical. Sometimes it’s downright disgusting and malicious. All this over a radio show. I remember George telling me that he used to engage the critics in online forums, when forums were the way to communicate. But he gave it up and stopped putting energy into defending himself when he knew that even though he was right, the vitriol of those scorned by the ghost of Art Bell would just take it to an all-new level of abusive attacks. That advice has always stuck with me, even though I have, at times, not practiced what George preached.
Yes, the trolls are out there, and sometimes they’re right in front of your face, and you don’t even see them right in front of you. The UFO World is not much different from those who play in the cryptid field or who go play with the ghosties in the paranormal realm. The ego and the machismo run rampant through these fields, where there’s a lack of education and often times humanity in the way people treat others. Sometimes it feels like no one will ever get ahead because the minute one starts to break through, either in popularity or in advancing their research, there are always people trying to knock you back down from the pedestal that you created, whether by skill or offered opportunity. It’s a sad reality where jealousy kicks in and we’re all guilty of it. We all want that shot of being the person on top, or the next one to get a television show or headlining a big named conference.
It’s not just me who goes through this. It’s others right across the board. It doesn’t matter whether it’s John Greenwald from the Black Vault, Tim McMillan from The Debrief Media, Joel Dodd from uapresearch.com, Luis Elizondo, Grant Cameron, Chris Bledsoe, Richard Dolan, Third Phase of Moon, George Knapp, George Noory, Danny Silva or anyone else, the trolls are vengeful and are out to get anybody by any means. Whether it’s misconstruing a tweet from years past, or a disagreement about their stance on ufology. There are daggers being thrown in every direction. Yet for most of us who are not making a living off of the research, books, blogs or radio programs, we keep taking it and we keep going. Why? Because we are suckers for punishment! No seriously, we do it because we believe in the subject and want to do our part in bringing the best information we can to the public. But the attacking trolls will always be there. The internet cannot control these lonely people who don’t care how they punish a person, as long as they do.
The trolling won’t ever be going away. Especially as we draw closer to Disclosure, which it seems we are, the trolls will be getting stronger with their attacks and lambasting of anyone who doesn’t meet their qualifications for a ‘proper’ ufologist. But there is potential for a lot of good people to decide one way or another that enough is enough, and they’ve had enough of the abuse. Technically speaking, we should all be working together to bring the information out. But that’s in a perfect world. Until then, the best advice I have to anyone who is getting beat up by the trolls is this: Don’t feed into it. Fight the urge to snap back. Adding to the drama is only cause for more drama! You’ll be doing yourself more of a disservice than actually helping your own cause! It’s brutal, but stay strong