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
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June 30th, 2008 at 10:14 am
nosey, to be honest I haven’t contemplated the idea of there being another. I’ll get my thinking cap on though. None of the Blackpool squad that’s for sure!
June 30th, 2008 at 10:14 am
Brandon Yes - YIIPPEEE
nights from tomorrow tho’
laters
x
June 30th, 2008 at 10:13 am
Right you lot I’m off to wage war against my jungle of a front garden
Tis a far far better thing that I do now… and all that.
Bloody whinging blooming postman
he only ever delivers bills anyway - why do I care whether he gets attacked by the roses?????
later all
be good
June 30th, 2008 at 10:12 am
Every one is indeed entitled to an opinion, but the Law is very sensitive as to how that opinion is expressed, do not confuse freedom of speech with the freedom to say what you like without penalty.
June 30th, 2008 at 10:12 am
june
what happened yesterday?
June 30th, 2008 at 10:12 am
Yes Nosey, thanks, are you having a day off today?
June 30th, 2008 at 10:11 am
Cool and Calm
Actually we do get trolls on here, we do see them. They are often removed sooner sometimes rather than later, such as yesterdays incursion…
June 30th, 2008 at 10:10 am
Morning Brandon
good weekend?
June 30th, 2008 at 10:10 am
morning brandon
June 30th, 2008 at 10:09 am
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40
wtf Says:
June 30th, 2008 at 10:02 am
gandolf
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and because certain people have their suspicions of the mccs and the way they have gone about everything, does not make them mentally challenged. I for one have never posted on a forum, and i personally do not make a habit of seeking out a subject in the press just for sport. This case has angered me, therefore i have felt passionate about it enough to share my thoughts and opinions
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Me too
morning everybody
June 30th, 2008 at 10:09 am
Melanie
No - don’t buy newspapers
trying desperately to wean myself off him in case he does actually do the unthinkable
any suggestions for a sub? Theiry Henry’s getting a bit old…
June 30th, 2008 at 10:07 am
Nosey, did you see all the pics in the Sun on Friday of Ronnie
June 30th, 2008 at 10:05 am
41
Melanie Says:
June 30th, 2008 at 10:03 am
edit
I met a couple up there outside the Divorce Court and the woman was crying hysterically. All the man could say was “it’s ok, you’ll still be my sister.”
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yep sounds like Norfolk
June 30th, 2008 at 10:04 am
melanie
June 30th, 2008 at 10:03 am
wtf, I tried Friday morning but had Friday afternoon off. I am a computer-free zone at weekends - unless I need yell or the train timetable. So I didn’t know it had lasted that long
I was also in North Norfolk at the weekend and I don’t think computers have reached that far.
I met a couple up there outside the Divorce Court and the woman was crying hysterically. All the man could say was “it’s ok, you’ll still be my sister.”
June 30th, 2008 at 10:02 am
gandolf
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and because certain people have their suspicions of the mccs and the way they have gone about everything, does not make them mentally challenged. I for one have never posted on a forum, and i personally do not make a habit of seeking out a subject in the press just for sport. This case has angered me, therefore i have felt passionate about it enough to share my thoughts and opinions
June 30th, 2008 at 9:59 am
coolandcalm, I think you ar right about the misuse of the word troll. I think this country, more than anywhere else I have been, like to label and this is an example of it. We are also a fairly ignorant nation so we often throw words and labels around to cover this and because of it.
I disagree with you though about there being no trolls on here. I think there are but I think they are split personalities.
June 30th, 2008 at 9:56 am
melanie
Just how i like mine. Site went haywire at the weekend, i gave up
June 30th, 2008 at 9:56 am
It is not my intention to satisfy any ones curiosity, justice should apply as it was meant to for all, the McCanns are not exempt and should not be from that mantra. They should be afforded the protection or suffer the consequences of justice, that will be decided at a higher level. The McCanns have become a sport for the less mentally challenged to vent their unhappy lot upon, with no thought for Madeleine or the twins, the McCanns made a big mistake, no need to patronise any one with that line. If it transpires that the persecutors of the McCanns have also made a big mistake, they as is their want, will simply move on to their next target, without a single regret or any semblance of remorse.
June 30th, 2008 at 9:56 am
wtf, morning. I’ll have a tea please. White, no sugar.
June 30th, 2008 at 9:54 am
good morning melanie
No, but iv just put the kettle on
June 30th, 2008 at 9:51 am
I think there is often misinterpretation of the word troll.
A troll isn’t someone who disagrees with the majority or isn’t liked for whatever reason.
A troll is someone who doesn’t actually give a toss about the headline topic but posts to be irritating or who has a hidden agenda for being here. I don’t think there are any posters who are trolls on here, most of us are known and are regulars.
I think the word should be used advisedly and not lobbed about just to be vindictive.
June 30th, 2008 at 9:44 am
Good morning one and all. What happened on Friday? Still no real news I see.
June 30th, 2008 at 9:41 am
WTF………. Even if she wasn’t a WOC anything relating to her would be in private. She is a minor and the Family Court is private. it has to be.
Being a WOC/not being a WOC would make no difference to the right to confidentiality of a minor.
June 30th, 2008 at 9:36 am
gandolf
I think coolandcalm answered my curiosity on that one. Maybe so us the public dont get to hear the contents of the courtroom
June 30th, 2008 at 9:34 am
You can say what you like against who you like, as long as you can prove it, otherwise libel lawyers get fat. You mistake my support for justice and a fair playing field with support for the McCanns, I do not know if they are guilty of some heinous crime, just the same as no one else on these boards knows they did. I may be rather Presbyterian in my outlook on justice, it should be severe but fair, in my book that means innocent until proven otherwise. I have fortunately no idea what traumas the McCanns are going through, a little of the milk of human kindness would not go amiss towards them, who knows you may get your reward in the hereafter.
Is it not strange that Madeleine who is missing and in no imminent danger from allegedly her parents, is a ward of court, yet the twins who are to coin a phrase in the alleged firing line, are not…….
Mods and Admin
Gandolf, even though this is a fine and upstanding speech, you have repeated it from yesterday. In this instance I shall let it stand, but a third posting shall be pulled
June 30th, 2008 at 9:34 am
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21
Carmen Says:
Actually, if Anna wins, I think we should donate the prize to the troll who winds us up the most - I’m all for rough justice!
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Yeah too right! I agree whole heartedly.
June 30th, 2008 at 9:31 am
coolandcalm
Thankyou. Makes sense now why they made her a ward of court doesnt it
June 30th, 2008 at 9:30 am
As Madeleine is a ward of court and a minor and it is ‘the court’ asking for the information from the Leicester Police on her behalf it will all be in private.
June 30th, 2008 at 9:24 am
Has anyone noticed that there are now only two Articles about “Madeleine McCann” found by Google News during the last 24 hours? But both are interesting reading…