Roneryyyyyyyyy... lololololerskates roflcoptor!!!!

They should all be ashamed of themselves for their immaturity and mob mentality. I have slowly started thumbing down the disparaging comments they made and thumbing up the positive comments which they obviously didn't care for. Just trying to help in my own way. If they continue their ways, however, I will lash out at them and tell them exactly how immature they are. They need to reexamine their lives if that is how they are going to conduct themselves. Most of them appeared to be in their 20s, but they are acting like young teenagers who just learned cuss words from their older siblings. They are tactless and have no business with you. They would argue that they are supporting their "friend," but he seems to be the type who would turn on them at a moment's notice. He has surrounded himself with mindless drones who are very much like him and will support and copy whatever he does. This kind of mentality drives me crazy. Social dysfunctionals. They are waging an unnecessary and uncalled for war on you, carelessly lambasting videos that you worked hard on which have numerous positive reviews on them. Anyone who has any sense will realize that their rhetoric is spiteful and juvenile, and will see the comments beyond and realize the truth.

Your videos are not always perfect (I have yet to see anything from anyone that I could call a perfect video), but they are always he product of a creative vision that has been realized. Objectively rating a subjectively produced art-form of any kind in any media is a daunting task, and too many people take it too lightly. Too many people think that they can just dictate whether something is of good or bad quality. Naturally, we all have the freedom to decide this for ourselves, but our assessments must always be obligatorily objective. Instead of deeming art as good or bad, our assessments should be on its effectiveness at achieving an intended goal: did it make us laugh? Did it make us cry? Did it change our mind or open our eyes? Did it tell a story? Was it a technical achievement? An artist that is producing for people must take these assessments into account, especially if they plan on marketing it in any way. However, an artist must also have an aesthetic goal for themselves. And if they are satisfied with the end result of their work and feel that they truly gave themselves to the art, then it should not matter as much whether the entire audience came away with the same feeling. That is why we have so many different art forms and genres within those forms--you cannot aim to please everyone, because some things simply don't appeal to everyone.

The mark of artistry for me personally is that the artist put effort and passion into the work, and that they are pleased with the results. I might not personally like it all of the time, but I can appreciate the creative process if I feel that a person put true effort into something. It may not have seemed effortful to them, and I always hope that the process was somewhat enjoyable; but these are caveats which do not take away from the passion of art--they enhance it.

What I appreciate about the creative minds here at DZX is that you all are passionate about what you do. Some of you put videos out every few months, and for some of you it takes a couple of years in between things in the real world to pump it out. Some of you just sit down to make a video for fun, and it may not always seem like an effort to you when it is so enjoyable. But I know that you all do enjoy what you do, and that you still do it because of that enjoyment. Creating videos, pairing audio to video, still excites you. Of course you want to show it to your friends, and you hope that it is good enough that you can enter it in a competition, but you are not soullessly putting out your work just to show off. That said, I haven't always been 100% blown away by everything that has come out of the studio (though I usually am blown away, i.e. the first time I saw D.I.N.O., and pretty much every time I have booted it up since then), but I continue to recognize the passion inherent in what you do. And that is what I appreciate about this corner of the internet. And that is why I keep coming back here.

Plus, you all aren't a bunch of pricks. You're nice people, and you're real people. You have lives outside the internet, and you don't have to put on a mask and change who you are when you come online or go out into the real world (I think). I haven't met all of you, but I just feel from my conversations with you and general interactions over the past few years that you are all loyal, genial, trustworthy individuals. And I want to make sure you all know that I appreciate what you all do here--not just making videos and running/participating in an epic RPG, but housing a small community of people. It is usually the highlight of my day to go into the Crazy Thread (2) and see what your psychotic minds have come up with again. You all do good things here.

So I guess what I am trying to say is: the scum who have been harassing you, Samantha, are not worth their salt. People will see through their game (lies and pointless, misguided, aggravated comments), and those who understand artistry in any sense will find your work for what it is: art created for the sheer enjoyment of it, which happens to be quite good and effective at achieving its goals. So I will continue to support you, but I'd also like to encourage not sinking to their level, even though their words make me angry enough that I wouldn't mind giving them a taste of their own medicine.

Goodness, this thread turned serious. And I typed too much. Oh well. Peace!

There's the spirit. And SP... your words are both powerful and well appreciated from all of us. I know you've been uber busy with your life and took the time to write your post of encouragement. It helps everyone here at DZX.

The Internet is a fickle thing. Cyber bullying and stalking is no joking matter because an Internet alias stretches so many avenues, websites, and viewers.



I have given this advice time and time again, SP. "Sinking to their level" becomes their own achieved victory and perpetuates the never ending battle. They will beat you down with their experience, allies, and insecurities.

Stay strong and remember who you are. You ARE a better individual.

Heh, this is a cool comic... Of all things, my ex sent this to me after hearing about what happened.

www.xkcd.com/481/

That would actually be a good feature, hehe. ^_^;;

Edit: Whoah... and they just DID add it as a feature; there's a Voice Preview button before leaving comments now!

...Sweeeeet! ;D

Glad your comp's doing so good now, sis.

Hope Dad'll be ok, that they can find out what went wrong with his back soon and actually do something about it...

Grr, and why can't the stalker and his mindless horde leave me alone? I can't make any comments anywhere now without them pouncing on me, CW clearly has multiple accounts PLUS his army, using them all to keep deluging me, I put one on ignore and three more come forward... I can't keep up with the re-rating comments (one can do it several times a day, so so many people doing it all day every day really adds up).

Even though it wasn't bothering me for a while, I'm in distress mode about it today... My heart won't stop pounding, I keep shaking, I can't concentrate on work... Maybe it's close to that time o' month... though actually I haven't had that last month... Must be more stressed than I thought. -_-

I just don't enjoy being told to die, die, I hope you die, all day every day with gruesome details and jabs from people who can't even justify it...

I thought it'd blow over by now but it's just growing bigger and bigger, they're getting angrier and more bitter, making more profiles or brainwashing more people, even though I'm not answering any of them and blocking and no longer approving comments on my profile...

17 (probably more soon, and some additionals who's names I deleted) is a large number of creeps to deal with... And the newest ones are accusing me of downrating their vids or stuff like that when I never even saw them. So they're renewing/building more rage against me for things I didn't even do. I'm not even telling them, cuz chances are they won't believe me or are just saying that anyway to try and make me answer. I won't. But I can't see this stopping now since they're building it bigger and bigger...

From YouTube's ReadMe:

---

Dealing with Haters and Trolls

It's hard to know what motivates someone to say mean things, but one thing nearly all haters have in common is that they are trying to get a reaction. If someone leaves a mean comment, the best thing to do is just delete it or ignore it. You can also block the username so that they can't view your other videos or leave more comments. Never reply back. Regardless of who started the argument, if you're participating in it, you're responsible too.

If anything you encounter online upsets you, tell someone you trust. Try to keep things in perspective and remember that there's more to life than the Internet. If you're not having a good time, try stepping away from the computer and taking a break.

---

Have you blocked their usernames?

When you reported them, did you mention these accounts are coincidentally made within a month and add each other as friends?

Tell youtube again. 25 is a lot more than 9, and the ignore button obviously hasn't been enough. I'll admit that the more I see, the more I want to let them have it. I've been trying to reverse their rampage of thumbing up and down, but there's only so much I can do without words. If it continues, youtube should just ban their IP addresses. I've seen people banned from sites for much less.