I met God once many years ago for something trivial like buying a dvd. He was a dick, and that's how I've remembered him ever since.

Why should someone be surprised if you are a shitbag for years and then people don't like you?

The good news is, you can definitely turn it around and quickly:
1) People respect dickheads, even if they don't like them
2) Everyone loves the reformed douchebag story
3) People have short memories and care more about themselves than your past behavior

I'm in full support of this thread. I fully support people who wish to change for the better. I don't think that this is one of those lame attempts to get attention, and hope I'm right. The good news is that if you wish to change for the better you'll be surprised at how quickly the world will respond.

Good luck.

8/2/2010 10:59:46 AM

Pretty much echo what Ernie and kiljadn said. I've met a ton of people on here, mostly through playing various sports and not a single one of them was much different than they seem on here.

Since most of the time this is the only medium of contact we have with one another you will ALWAYS associate their behavior online with how they actually are in real life. Why would anyone invite someone who all they've known them as was a complete prick/douche to anything? How on earth would they know if that person is different than from what they have always seen?

If you changed the way you acted on here, then people might change their opinions of you. Then again, they might not.

[Edited on August 2, 2010 at 11:00 AM. Reason : x]

8/2/2010 11:00:01 AM

i'm a smartass in person

but i'm a sweetheart on TWW

8/2/2010 11:12:48 AM

Quote :

"Because you have so many other things to do on a sunday night at 2am than spend a couple minutes reading the OP?"

I would have read it, but it didn't make any sense

8/2/2010 11:17:06 AM

Quote :

"I would have read it, but it didn't make any sense"

This actually explains alot.

8/2/2010 11:19:03 AM

actually I just didn't try very hard cause I got bored

so, summary

or do I really have to read the rest of the thread

8/2/2010 11:19:43 AM

this took some guts, and shows a decent amount of character

I'm sorry, dude...whatever you've been in the past, today is the first day of the rest of your life, and if you're nice and considerate, people will like you

don't take the negative responses too much to heart, and take care, yo

8/2/2010 11:30:58 AM

Yeah, I was just thinking how much guts it took for him to write this

8/2/2010 12:08:00 PM

God, props for this thread and I hope you turn it around.

In the meantime I will continue to think of you as a prick.

8/2/2010 12:21:58 PM

guts? are you kidding me? posting that didn't take shit.

8/2/2010 12:29:02 PM

bahahahahaha


and you wonder why i pick on you people

8/2/2010 12:38:14 PM

^^
ever been the object of a full-scale e-pile-on?

and then, after you've been kicked and battered and left for dead, have you ever tried to pull yourself to your feet and apologize, publicly, to all the people who hurt you?

I've done it, in my days at Technician...there were times when I was receiving 15-20 hate-mails a day, and people were prank-calling my house. (And in my case, people were a lot nicer than they are on TWW, and none of them knew me personally.) Deserved or not, to be the object of this kinda shit is an awful feeling which people should not pretend to comprehend unless they have experienced it.

And in making this thread, he knew he was inviting more attacks...but he did it anyway.

It took plenty of guts.

8/2/2010 12:39:07 PM

^hahahahahahahahahaha

that is the saddest thing i've ever read

8/2/2010 12:41:32 PM

you're not very well-read, then

8/2/2010 12:42:50 PM

you go to war and tell me about how writing anything on the internet after getting "picked on" is having "guts", poindexter

8/2/2010 12:44:16 PM

I don't deny that war trumps everything in terms of guts

but that doesn't mean that other things might also require, if not "guts" in the sense of risking your life, then at least courage

8/2/2010 12:45:42 PM

Quote :

"ITT people attempt to construct the internet into serious business."

8/2/2010 12:46:04 PM

Quote :

"Yeah, I was just thinking how much guts it took for him to write this"

pfffffft

8/2/2010 12:48:32 PM

i just don't see how that's courage though. maybe i shouldn't have brought up war (had a walter moment), but courage to me is helping out someone who is being robbed or something, not making a thread on the internet concerning e-bullies. Especially at our ages. turn the computer off if it makes you cry inside.

8/2/2010 12:49:08 PM

For real

8/2/2010 12:52:22 PM

for him its on the same level as going up to a group of friends and admitting some kind of wrong doing, knowing its going to get a backlash anyway. I guess?

8/2/2010 12:53:09 PM

Quote :

"Goodbye forever."

Quote :

"Currently Online? : Yes"

8/2/2010 12:53:19 PM

^^^^
for me, courage is doing a thing you are afraid to do, because you believe it should be done

maybe you think it's weak and pussylike to be "afraid" of e-bullying

but with all the shit God has gotten lately, he's probably developed a certain reluctance to posting (as anyone would), which perhaps amounts to fear

and to overcome that reluctance, and make such a thread as this, is courage, I think

8/2/2010 12:55:28 PM

I took it to just be an attempt at getting some e-pity and to hopefully make people feel bad for calling him out as being a douche.

Also:

Quote :

"Some of you are probably going to take this as a chance to make fun of me, to post "good riddens," and to cheer my misery."

If you're going to do a dramatic exit from tww, I would suggest at least doing a spell check of your manifesto for the sake of posterity. Not doing so is like going to the White House and then drinking yourself at least fifteen Dr. Peppers.

8/2/2010 12:55:36 PM

^^ so are these his real life friends or what? because from what i have read, some of them are. If that's the case, then real "courage" or "guts" would be a face-to-face conversation.

afraid of e-bullying???? at our ages???? yes, i do believe that is absurd

[Edited on August 2, 2010 at 12:57 PM. Reason : jkhgkj]

8/2/2010 12:56:02 PM

Sounds like an angry nerd got a taste of his own medicine, couldn't handle it and wanted to post a huge "swan song" before he left.

No one really cares. Move on.

8/2/2010 12:56:58 PM

Quote :

"^^ ever been the object of a full-scale e-pile-on? and then, after you've been kicked and battered and left for dead, have you ever tried to pull yourself to your feet and apologize, publicly, to all the people who hurt you? I've done it, in my days at Technician...there were times when I was receiving 15-20 hate-mails a day, and people were prank-calling my house. (And in my case, people were a lot nicer than they are on TWW, and none of them knew me personally.) Deserved or not, to be the object of this kinda shit is an awful feeling which people should not pretend to comprehend unless they have experienced it. And in making this thread, he knew he was inviting more attacks...but he did it anyway. It took plenty of guts."

hahahahahaha

*breathe*

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

8/2/2010 12:59:49 PM

So people laugh when anonymous demolishes a loudmouthed twelve year old in chit chat threads. But when people talk smack about [user] god [/user] it's time to get up in arms about e-bullying?

8/2/2010 1:00:06 PM

^^^ I agree. Real courage would have been sticking around and dealing with the consequences of your douchery, not running away after a rant about how unhappy everyone else has made you.

I mean, if e-courage counts for anything, even though we all know that it doesn't.

8/2/2010 1:00:53 PM

^^ i agree with you...there are some real pussies on this forum who absolutely HAVE to start crying when they're "bullied"

jeebus, guise, we're in our twenties!

[Edited on August 2, 2010 at 1:01 PM. Reason : .]

8/2/2010 1:01:36 PM

^^^^
I'm not "up in arms"
just saying my piece, which is that I believe it took courage to make this thread
carry on

8/2/2010 1:03:05 PM

i didnt go through both pages, but is this clown gone foreals or he still being a douche

8/2/2010 1:13:29 PM

Quote :

"Currently Online? : Yes"

8/2/2010 1:19:53 PM

God has left the game!
Their resources have been distributed evenly

8/2/2010 1:20:53 PM

Was is this? The first time someone's ever ragequit TWW?

8/2/2010 1:24:45 PM

It's the first ragequit in the history of the internet, actually.

8/2/2010 1:26:11 PM

Consequences will never be the same.

8/2/2010 1:28:54 PM

Sidenote: The Technician is the worst paper ever.

8/2/2010 1:29:48 PM

People argue ITT


I'm shocked

8/2/2010 1:31:49 PM

I don't know the background of this so I'm just going to speak on how TWW has impacted me over the years. Although it didn't start out this way, TWW has evolved, for me, as a medium for personal growth. I have learned valuable life lessons in my 7 years on tdub. The most valuable of which are 1) that being a mean person does not lead to self-fulfillment in any way and 2) not to publicly air dirty laundry. There's no secret to my clashes with Frosh and GreatGazoo many years ago, as I am constantly reminded of them damn near every time I post in chit chat The main reason I haven't changed my user name is cause whenever past shit gets brought up it's a reminder of a much younger, more immature person that I used to be. Life is about learning, about the rest of the world and about yourself. I applaud Gronke for taking a significant step back from TWW to observe and learn from his behavior and hopefully use it as motivation for change to better himself.

8/2/2010 1:35:18 PM

8/2/2010 2:09:45 PM

Judy is straight up lying

8/2/2010 2:18:56 PM

I'm going to continue to be real with you and treat this thread as Lounge-worthy, but bear in mind that being real sometimes means being a bit harsh.

I made that thread because you blatantly plagiarized and had made no response to me calling you out for it in the original Soap Box thread you did it in. I thought it would be more entertaining if I made a tongue-in-cheek post about it instead of just cross-posting what I put in the Soap Box. My hope was that a little bit of public shaming would help to enforce better behavior; it works great in Japan, and nothing else in the past has seemed to get through to you. Could I have been a little less personal while still being funny and making the same point? Funny, yes, but I wasn't putting much effort into the thread so I took a single cheap shot about your academic foibles in the midst of a much-longer post. But I don't think the point would have gotten through to you without getting a little personal, because you've spent your whole life letting shit roll right off your back and pretending nothing gets to you.

Did I expect the thread to turn out as it did? Not really, no. I figured it would be a PSA, like qntmfred called it, we'd feign our internet outrage, maybe it would get a "10/10 gg" or "sick burns itt" or two, then we'd all move on with our lives. Instead, what happened was that people saw your violation of social mores as an opportunity for them to finally heap a little rebuke on you for what's been years of tomfoolery on this site and antagonizing its community. Your actions in the past are more to blame for how the thread turned out than anything I posted; I wasn't egging anyone on or even being inflammatory.

I'm sorry that it took an e-intervention of TWW users telling you how your jabs have made them feel over the years to finally get through to you, but make no mistake that you had been sowing the seeds of that thread for a long, long time. Most of us have known all along that what you do on the internet has repercussions in real life, so don't expect much pity because you're 10-15 years late to that party, just becase you finally felt a sting at something people said to you.

Look, I'm glad that in the end, you seem to be taking this to heart. I hope it makes you a better person. But sometimes it takes pain to learn our lessons and grow. Asking for forgiveness is tough, and you're most of the way there, but turning around and saying, "I hope that you people feel bad about this and learn a lesson" means you're not quite learning all of yours. Be humble, be a better person, and stay true to that regardless of what other people do. Part of that involves not having to assign blame to everything that happens around you and just dealing with it in the best way that you can. Look for the best in a situation; if you can use this incident and whatever happened a month ago to turn your life around, then call it a net positive.

That about sums it up, but a few small direct responses:

Quote :

"And then that thread happened. I was exposed as vulnerable. And everyone who I had ever taken a shot at on here, everyone who I had ever flamed or insulted, they all jumped on me like vultures."

Let's be honest--not everyone. A fair number of people, but hardly everyone you've ever flamed or insulted on here. Most of the people in the Soap Box probably still don't know that thread exists.

Quote :

"The part that hurt the most, though, was how personal some of you were making it. You were addressing me, not by my username, but by my last name, when you called me an idiot or a loser. You brought up my real life past, my decisions that I'd made, when you attacked me. You brought up my job. You brought up my college degree. You didn't claim to dislike my persona on the internet, you claimed to dislike me as a real person. And that's what really hit me in the core. I'm sure you all got a few chuckles and thought it was "the greatest win" or whatever. I wonder if it would even bother you if you knew how miserable I was that entire day, even the week afterwards agonizing over that."

To reiterate, personas on the internet do reflect something about who you are as a real person. I'm sure some of those people do actually dislike you as a real person. I can hardly say I knew you well, but I didn't much care for your attitude in real life back during undergrad, either.

Quote :

"I guess what I want to say is that if you're reading this, and you're someone who I've ever said anything mean to, I'm sorry. I didn't really mean it. I don't even know most of you, and you are probably a wonderful person who didn't deserve it. It was dumb stupid trolling, a way for me to get my frustration and aggression out, and it's not who I am as a person. I hope you can forgive me."

Blanket contrition rings hollow. A serious tip: think long and hard about who you've wronged and what you did, and apologize to people individually. I'm not saying you have to My Name Is Earl it up, but specificity goes a long way towards forgiveness.

Quote :

"I vowed to be a nicer, kinder person. As you can imagine, doing that on here was a most difficult task. My "reputation" precedes me, and one of two things tended to happen. Either people didn't believe my sincerity, and thought that I was somehow being sarcastic or mean, or I had to deal with other trolls on this forum. And the trolling brought out the anger in me. My god, it did. It would take ever ounce of my strength to not post a reply that involved every single vile and despicable personal attack I could think of at the moment. But I swallowed my pride and kept on. I'm sure some of you, at this point, are trying to look for examples of when I was a complete shithead in the past month. I'm sure they're there. A bad habit is hard to break, and some of you just tend to piss me off. This forum has its fair share of assholes, and it's hard to resist opportunities. But I genuinely wanted to change."

Similarly, this is a case where actions speak louder than words. Telling people you're a different person and that you're reformed doesn't mean much when you have a reputation as a cad. You have to be reformed and live it, and you have to accept that it will take time and patience, and that you'll probably be assailed for your history for a long time during the process, but you can eventually win back people's respect. But honestly, the best way to do so is to not even say anything about it, because no matter your intentions, if you have a bad reputation, it will sound some mixture of insincere, whiny, or suspicious. Just do.



... aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand, PS It's "good riddance."

8/2/2010 3:02:52 PM

Beat down with a wall o' text.

8/2/2010 3:05:21 PM

Quote :

"Goodbye forever."

Quote :

"Username : God Status : All American Posts : 27273 (9.6 per day) Currently Online? : Yes"

8/2/2010 3:08:48 PM

I'm thinking the "good riddens" thing was a tongue-in-cheek deliberate typo seeing as it was in quotes..

I would hope he'd know better than to post this without proof-reading

8/2/2010 4:01:19 PM

sick burns itt

8/2/2010 4:43:59 PM

10/10 gg

8/2/2010 4:51:52 PM

10/10 gg

[Edited on August 2, 2010 at 4:54 PM. Reason : sick burns itt]

8/2/2010 4:53:38 PM

Quote :

"khcadwal: You seem like a really interesting personan attractive female, and I hope that my reputation hasn't ruined any chance we could have at a friendship fornicating."

translated for reality

8/2/2010 5:04:43 PM