Comments on: Cyber-bullying on Ravelry

By: Sydney

Sydney — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 03:36:28 +0000

Hey, I found your blog by typing ‘ravely plus bullying’ into google because I wanted to see if I was the only one.

I just closed my account there and just want to forget it exists. I had no idea that people could be so spiteful and that it could hurt so much, even though its just the internet and you can walk away, I had pictures of my baby wearing his little sweaters etc on there so it just felt a bit more creepy than that. I only went on there to look at knitting patterns and very occasionally post on the forums, but then I got a whole load of comments on one of my projects so I went searching and saw that THE MOB had been discussing me and speculating about me and making comments about my child. I reacted in the heat of the moment and the bullying escalated to a degree that I have never witnessed before and didn’t know existed.

I am strangely comforted by the fact that I am not alone (sorry!).

I think they need to moderate their forums better. Human nature can’t be controlled with a guideline that says “be excellent to each other”. Sad, but true!

By: Claire

Claire — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 21:28:07 +0000

I really enjoy your blog, and read it all the time. I’m glad that peoples’ silly arguments aren’t stopping you from blogging, because that would be really sad.
Who knew people could get so inflamed about crochet? It’s pretty funny, actually.
Hang in there, I hope that all the mean comments stop once those trolls realise you have them figured out

By: tammy

tammy — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 01:21:14 +0000

Wow, don’t you hate it when the world just blows on up? It’s all fibre people, relax. Hope you’re doing okay and that everything is settling down now.

By: frith

frith — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 19:16:27 +0000

Just remember that these people on Ravelry sound like a bunch of raging nutballs to the rest of us. Sorry they were so rude. I thought the post was funny. I knit and crochet. What the heck is wrong with these people?

By: Eve

Eve — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:05:35 +0000

“We are all sistahs in the fiber, really.”

Indeed!

By: Jo

Jo — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 03:38:27 +0000

I am so sorry that certain groups seem to be ubersensitive to what I considered a kind of “oh, hey, this is interesting, eh?” sort of post. I crochet (and have for 40 years). I hated to knit with the heat of a thousand suns, until about 4 years ago, when I first learned about “Continental” knittting. Now, I’m a combination, continental knitter, and only pick up my hooks for embellishment or repair. Or, you could say I knit the same way that I crochet! We are all sistahs in the fiber, really.

By: Whichy

Whichy — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:39:16 +0000

OMG – I have been reading for a long time – although I haven’t commented in forever. I am really sorry that you have had to deal with that kind of trouble. I hope things improve, and that taking a break from comments revives your spirit.

Good luck!

By: rebecca

rebecca — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:13:12 +0000

i’m sorry, too that so many people are so serious about the love or hatred of crochet and whatever remarks you made about it to totally attack you. must be something in the air? i liked one of the comments on your earlier post: we all play with yarn, can’t we get along? anyway, take it in stride and keep on blogging and knitting and crocheting! it certainly wasn’t nice or fair for a group of people to make you the object of the scorn, but then, you obviously hit a nerve. whether good or bad, perhaps it opened the lines of communication? keep your chin up!

By: Meredith

Meredith — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:56:27 +0000

I’m so sorry to hear about this. I don’t comment often, but you’re in my blog reader and I’m glad you decided to keep your blog open. I feel like people should be able to write what they want on their blogs (within reason) and if others don’t like it they can move along.

By: Shirley

Shirley — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 11:43:02 +0000

I’m so sorry to hear about this! Some people can be so mean. I don’t usually read comments either but I read the ones on this post. This is your blog, so if someone doesn’t like what you write, even if it is just because they misunderstand something, why don’t they just stop reading it? There are enough blogs out there to choose from. I hope you keep up your site because I enjoy it.