How The Madeleine McCann Story Was Hijacked By Web Trolls
FROM the Anorak Forums - by AGW:
One of the most bizarre and troubling aspects of of the Madeleine McCann story has been the way the coverage of the story has itself become the story.
Anorak is not a site which has ever been (or ever will be) dedicated to the alleged crimes of abduction and subsequent claim and counter-claim of deeper, darker deeds involving in turn a resident Englishman in the Portuguese holiday complex where the McCann family had been staying and then the parents and their friends themselves.
Right at the beginning of all this I had predicted it was a complex story which would run and run. I confess to being bemused by the the tale’s longevity. The Madeline McCann story has become Dianaeque in its telling and re-telling, worse it is on a par with the empty and drifting ship the Mary Celeste.
The story of a photogenic, pretty little white girl from a professional and middle-class background was sure to attract attention.
I had always expressed serious doubts about the wisdom of the parents’ determination to avoid clear police advice and follow their own route to infamy…because that it what it has become.
The story divided neatly pro and anti. Not pro and anti the hunt for a little girl or her remains but pro and anti the parents. It has become a love-hate story. Every day in Anorak there are those who praise or condemn, support or vilify.
Professional journalists have watched with increasing bemusement, bordering on horror, at the activities of sites created and devoted exclusively to the Madeleine McCann story. They have risen, flowered and been cut down. The same individuals, only the names have been changed to protect the guilty, have in their turn raged or praised as each site flourished and then fell by the wayside.
The same experts and lost souls appeared again and again, and yet again, during the brief existence of these sites. Sometimes only the keystrokes or style and use of phrases and words revealed their true identity. They took full advantage and became legends in their own lunch-times, master spies, superheroes CyberMan or DigiWoman each using the Internet’s basic anonymity to change gender, location and re-invent themselves as brilliantly clear thinkers, defenders of the faith and public morale and morals or, very sad solicitors posing as desperate housewives.
The 3 Arguidos site is probably the strongest of the allegedly Madeleine McCann dedicated sites. I have no access to it nor seek any since it regularly appears to be an outrageous vipers nest of sad people, many of whom have had brief cyber-existences here. It has attracted an interesting group of supporters and helpers and we should genuinely wish them well. They are the Jerry Springer end of the coverage.
The McCann story can not sustain sites like this and they have to diversify. Recruitment from sites such as ours is one way of doing it.
The Moderators here at Anorak have noted a recent surge of activity as the once-again revamped team at the 3As have become our new friends. Avid letter writers to Anorak and when gently challenged, retreat to vent their spleen within their own site. We had such an incursion yesterday.
We are aware the 3As site has suffered dreadful problems lately and we sympathise but do have our own course to run.
There is always a suspicion, often borne out by later scurrilous attacks, the new best friends have their own agenda. That’s fine we all do…and I do not intend to give the 3As site any further creditability by association with us.
It is worth passing on one of the alleged solicitor types in there tried to publish our editor’s telephone number. Why? It is freely available on this site and he is more than well-equipped to be happily entertained by the odd moronic or dirty phone call.
We remain secure in the knowledge of many things but among them are:
Anorak is the leading site of its genre
It has the most experienced and competent team of Moderators
Its writers are skilled and entertaining
It is growing and constantly evolving which is a healthy thing
It is often not a comfortable place to be but remains vibrant and exciting
Imitation and jealous rages remain the sincerest forms of flattery.
…and the headline to this piece? It is often forgotten that the very next line in that quotation is:
“You ought to be ashamed of yourself”
Posted: 30th, June 2008 | In: Anorak Says, Madeleine McCann Comments (626) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments
June 30th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
322
Daphne Diablo
FREEDOM,heard of it ?freedom to say and belong and the whole lot…..? rings a bell?
Anorak has been apparently trashed in 3As…ok…is it the reason for us anorakian to do the same with 3As?
I dont think so…..
June 30th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Charlotte pennington is just like Tanner IMO
June 30th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
319
blondie
I really do not see why you dont name that forum by its name.Are you talking about 3 As are you? yes?
Dont see where is the problem….
June 30th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
302
lovemedo Says:
I am a member of the forum you don’t want to be named. I am proud of it. we are no trolls, trolls are not interested in a case, they only want to interrupt a forum.
I am a full time professional, university educated person with a very emotional interest in criminal cases involving children.
time will tell if our suspicions are true or not.
many of our members are your readers. why do you ridicule us? anorak was the first place in the internet I found last year, to find my way to information and public opinion.
something has changed here
_____
Your forum has changed and not for the better. Perhaps you cannot see it because you have formed a close attachment which is natural. There is no room for reasonable discussion there now because alternative viewpoints are no longer tolerated.
Your pride is misplaced my friend.
June 30th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
318
Noseycow
Read the post again,I know you”ve missed somefin
June 30th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
BF 307. I miss the mental maths test
…………………………..
I don’t. Every so often I would get it WRONG and be mortified for about three days even though no-one else knew.
June 30th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Hi Brandon Hi Lovemedo
Who is that Gandolph character? He ’s a bit gobby isn’t he??
I am also from that forum which shall remain name less!!
June 30th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Jo
sweety it would help if you said what the link was to / for and then I’d try it out.
I don’t like going to joana’s site because I can’t get back and my computers very slow…
June 30th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Whats going on with the 3As?
Why the “segragation”?
Why this ongoing unpleasant stuff all the freacking time?
I am more concerned by the stoopid squirrel than anythingelse.Curiously,it ONLY shows on anorak….
June 30th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Brandon
Do you think old mr anorak claimed royalties?
Or perhaps it was that old bugger of a maths teacher I used to have…
June 30th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
312
Marie Nicholas
I knew YOU would
June 30th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Nosey
I am sure nintendo ds nicked that idea
June 30th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Jo, thanks for the link. Very interesting.
June 30th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
302
lovemedo
What has changed?
Easy: people are just getting at each other”s throats and there is no real discussion anymore.
I have just posted a link and I am waiting for a reaction…any reaction.
Lets see what happens within the next 20 minutes and how many posters will comment.I know some will (and I could cite them) but the majority wont…..
June 30th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Lone
Please be careful one day it’ll be shut and you’ll go SPLAT
June 30th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
I don’t find the ‘other’ site very user friendly.
June 30th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Brandon PMSL
June 30th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
and Carmen leaves the window open for me now so that I can just fly in whenever i want
June 30th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
I miss the mental maths test
June 30th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
lovemedo
we don’t ridicule you or your forum, though sadly there is the odd member who can make us laugh!
You’re right many things have changed here, I can now post in forums and opinions without having to log in/out,
and then theres orange annaraccoon…
June 30th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
http://bp2.blogger.com/_mXbRBcSh0gs/SGjWUzsRGUI/AAAAAAAAB0Q/VCBZcedryos/s1600-h/03SmillingParents.jpg
June 30th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Bonjour Châtelaine! A real pleasure to read yours too!
Tomorrow, we’ll be driving to Paris, but are worried about the lorry drivers.
It is very hot here.
Everything OK in Burgundy?
June 30th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
There’s a beetle in the room…
June 30th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
I am a member of the forum you don’t want to be named. I am proud of it. we are no trolls, trolls are not interested in a case, they only want to interrupt a forum.
I am a full time professional, university educated person with a very emotional interest in criminal cases involving children.
time will tell if our suspicions are true or not.
many of our members are your readers. why do you ridicule us? anorak was the first place in the internet I found last year, to find my way to information and public opinion.
something has changed here…
June 30th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
McCanns boosted by fresh leads, 29 June 2008
McCanns boosted by fresh leads Sunday Star (No online link, appears in paper version only)
Sunday 29 June 2008
“Kate and Gerry Mccann have been boosted by a series of fresh leads in the hunt for missing daughter Madeleine.
They have been told of ’several’ potential new sightings of the five year old, who vanished without trace while on holiday in Portugal in May 07.
It has led to a ‘widening and deepening’ of the private investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance.
Last night the family’s spokesman Clarence Mitchell said Kate and Gerry remain hopeful that “a breakthrough” is near.”
Didnt they say they wanted out of the media? and they have been told of potential new sightings??? dear me……havent they any sense of riducule at all?
Surprisingly,it al comes 7 days before their famous court hearing and all
What a classical spin,init?
I seriously wonder of which “breakthrough” clarrie is talking about…is Madeleine going to “ressucitate” or something?
Anyhow I let you discover it on http://www.mccannfiles.com/id79.html
Dont forget to read the small article about…Charlotte Pennington,where was she and where has she been all that time?
Have fun
I am PRO MADELEINE by the way…..what a mess
June 30th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
See if you can spot the difference between here and the cesspit.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ian
Post subject: Re: Why Am I Being Called a Troll?
PostPosted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 12:08 pm
Offline
First Time Offender
User avatar
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 12:48 pm
Posts: 610
poppet wrote:
Slim wrote:
poppet wrote:
Last thing I posted on was condolensce thread? My felings about McCanns are my own.
would it not be wise to PM BJR and ask her personaly rather than asking the other forum members, as we have no idea why you were called a troll, only she can tell you that.
to do it public like you are is a bit like washing your dirty linen in public.
or are you trying to discredit her by doing it public?
Yes I have done so and no reply, now I have been getting PMs calling me an a****** amongst other things. Because of this:
Bjr wrote:
[We have decided to name our new forum troll Poppet, one because he likes using POP3 and two because our last pet done a wander and as the quote would say “Gentlemen, when the enemy is committed to a mistake we must not interrupt him too soon.
Horatio Nelson”.
You should stop trying to discredit people publically - you seem to be a deliberate victim to me. I have found most who do not air an opinion aout the mcCanns to be embarrassed supporters (usually because they also employ dubious child care arrangements).
I have no time for child neglectors, people who support the McCanns, actively or by claiming their right to silence, are feeding neglect.
_________________
‘We nearly took them with us - five times!!!!’
Dont be an ‘Amber Gambler’, look after your kids and they wont get across the border!
We have no evidence that DODO’s are dead…they were abducted by a DODOPHILE Ring.
June 30th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Bonjour Marie! Always a pleasure to read your posts
June 30th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
Yes make sure you do!
June 30th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Hi Brandon!!!
I am so pleased to be back on the site, and find some of us are still posting after a number of months. I am leaving tomorrow for a few days again, but will be back again and stay next to the computer until Sepember.
June 30th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Hi Marie