[Foundation-l] Stalking Article

[Mark Williamson]

David Shankbone is the author of the article at the beginning of this
thread. I haven't been involved deeply enough in en.wp to have any
real familiarity with him, but apparently he has taken photographs for
many biography articles, including well-known musicians, actors, and
world politicians. He was driven off Wikipedia by a stalker.

On 10/06/2008, Ray Saintonge <saintonge at telus.net> wrote:
> Durova wrote:
>> Months ago I initiated a proposal to eliminate the word "wikistalking"
>> because of exactly the problem that has manifested in this thread: it
>> takes
>> a serious crime and trivializes it, fostering confusion on a subject where
>> victims already have a very difficult time making themselves heard and
>> believed.
>>
> Once people have started using a word in a certain way you can't start
> pretending that they haven't.  There is such a thing as cyberstalking,
> and I would tend to interpret wikistalking as a subset of that.
> Cyberstalking may very well have little if anything in common with
> "real" stalking, and use of that term may indeed result in
> trivialization.  That doesn't change the fact that people use the word
> in the way that they do.  That's why it's so important to begin by
> making sure we are all talking about the same thing.
>
> Rules and laws will generally assume an ordinary dictionary definition
> in the absence of an onsite definition to override that.  Where a word
> has multiple meanings a reader has the option to use whichever of those
> definitions suits him.  This also applies where different dictionaries
> have different definitions, or usage has already gone beyond the
> dictionary.  English dictionaries, in particular are more descriptive
> than prescriptive.  Thus we sacrifice dictionary certainty for the sake
> of having a richer environment of word formation.
>
> In cases of doubt one defines one's terms, and applies that definition
> strictly.  That does wonders for maintaining focus in a subject.
>> With the notable exception of Gerard and a few others, this conversation
>> is
>> occurring on an absurd level.
> Do we do any better by keeping it at an anecdotal level?
>> It's as if David Shankbone had stepped
>> forward to announce that his car had been stolen, and responses had
>> confused
>> real auto theft with the game "Grand Theft Auto."
>
> Who's David Shankbone?  I don't see where anyone has said that any of
> these stalking claims were only a part of some video game.
>
> Ec
>
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