How to handle merverts and false profiles on Facebook?

[Stede Bonnet]

NOTE: I want to make myself abundantly clear: This must NOT become a "naming and shaming" thread.

Some people come to the mermaid community as bona fide participants - Hannah, Linden, Marina, Shelly, Raina, Iona... the list goes on and on and on. I simply can not name everyone, and not naming someone should not be considered a slight.

Others, such as myself, some as enthusiasts. My Mermaids Interest List now contains 255 pages, with another fourteen pages that I have not liked for one reason or another or from which I have been unfanned. Yes, even I have been unfanned from four pages!

Then there are the people who create multiple profiles, create false profiles, or conduct themselves disrespectfully.

When Spotted Catfish recently had to create a new page, someone suggested that we start a thread to name some of the troublemakers. Five specific individuals come to mind instantly! One man has five profiles, another has three, one is "oily," and two are women whose profile photos come from pornographic photo shoots.

I am terrified to give these people trouble on Facebook, because they could create trouble for me.

I also know for a FACT that some people were confused about my own role in the mermaid community earlier this year when I shared the list with 209 page names and addresses, and that they made comments challenging me based solely upon their ignorance.

One person's mervert could be another person's hamhanded goofball, and others might even think that the words are flirtatious and welcome.

Maybe someone who has five profiles is just extremely not tech savvy. Perhaps someone with three profiles, with a different "wife" on each profile, who asks to tag himself in all of your photos... is just phenomenally lonely. I have no idea.

The mention of cultural differences is also necessary, but very complicated. That's about all I am qualified to say about that at the moment.

I have communicated with Iona and have expressed my concerns about "naming and shaming," and that is definitely not the way to go - but what is?

Is this is an individual problem or a community problem? How do we communicate with each other to say that we have identified a questionable individual? What if that observation is categorically wrong, as objections regarding myself were?

Thanks in advance for your input!

PS: Let me answer why I "like" 255 mermaid-related pages. I thrive on community, whether that be mermaids, theaters, wineries and vineyards, entertainers (e.g., musicians), and more. I like to be well-connected and inter-connected, so that if someone raises a question, I can say "I don't know, but you should check with XYZ!" That is very rewarding for me. Along the way, I get to know about kinds of fascinating facts, see photos of wondrous sea life, and make some friendships. The fact that this ever came into question disturbs me and saddens me, but I know that there are people who would stand - or swim - in my corner.

[AniaR]

There are certain profiles that seem to be only interested in propositioning mers. I remember one guy would always post everything about wanting a mermaid girlfriend. I remember another guy who has something like 5 accounts- he's been posted about here, where he steals everyone's mer images. He keeps getting reported and taken down, and makes new ones.

I recently received some very weird emails from a guy, pretending he wanted to audition me for a commercial and I needed to be able to do a hand stand underwater for a long time. He was eerily specific on what he wanted, and gave no details as to who he represented etc. Turns out he's actually CALLED some of the mers in the community and he's totally a fetish guy trying to get people to send them videos :/

I don't have any problems with fetishes or people in the fetish community, I'm just not okay with non-consensual projecting of a fetish. I moderate my baby sisters mermaid page as she's underaged and I have banned LOADS of merverts. She's a much better swimmer than I am, and much better at breath holding, so she gets it way worse than I do.

[SeaGlass Siren]

Ok but NOT calling them out would almost be like...


Okok so let's say or example we live in a tiny village of just us. No Internet or anything. You see a potential sexual predator or someone who keeps imposing on you to (like Raina says) send you videos of doing specific stuff becaus they like it. Logically the predator should be pointed out and plastered all over the village if you sense that this person is bad.
:imagine in your mind wanted posters:
So where's the logic in not calling them out over the Internet? We basically do the same thing outside the net, plastering criminals faces everywhere, listing what crimes they've committed...

But that's my opinion. It's more complicated than that I supose but simply put, "naming and shaming" is really just saying "hey everyone be careful of this person because they're invading privacy, harassing us, etcetc"

[SeaGlass Siren]

Right now it's an individual problem but eventually it will end up being a community problem if you allow that kind Of behavior to continue . Eventually everyone will experience the same problem with one certain individual .

[Stede Bonnet]

Mermaid Andrea - I am just afraid of the "one man's trash is another man's treasure" argument. Let's say that I just genuinely don't like someone and want to start something, and because (in this example) everyone loves me and my word is worth gold (for the sake of discussion), everyone goes along with me - except, I was just being a jerk, and some innocent person gets shunned because of that.

I just don't like dishonesty. It causes some concerns with me upon learning that someone has five profiles. What could possibly be the reason for that? Why would someone have three? I am not talking about MeduSirena, for example, who has her personal profile, her personal fan page, another for The Wreck Bar, and yet another for MeduSirena's Exotica Headhunter Atoll (where nothing is as it seems). THOSE are all individual pursuits.

While most of you might have issues with people who identify as men, I see problems with people who identify as women. In order to make the point, I will have to name one (or ten - or fourteen) specifically: Ely Sirenetta.

The same profile photo is attached to the following ten profiles:
Ely Sirenetta - https://www.facebook.com/ely.sirenetta
Alba Maria Hernandez - https://www.facebook.com/albamaria.hernandez.94
Anali Sotelo Alvaraz - https://www.facebook.com/anali.alvaraz
Claire Eileen Wells Fellon - https://www.facebook.com/claireeileenw
Cristina Jolie - https://www.facebook.com/cristina.jolie.3
Maria Jose Villalobos Tusen - https://www.facebook.com/mariajose.villalobostusen
Melissa Grasso - https://www.facebook.com/melissa.grasso.33
Paula Alcorta - https://www.facebook.com/paula.alcorta.7
Terese Gackford - https://www.facebook.com/terese.gackford
Valery Rodriguez - https://www.facebook.com/valery.rodriguez.39948

10761

This is also the cover photo for
Alessa Hill - https://www.facebook.com/alessa.hill.14
Laura Montesino - https://www.facebook.com/laura.montesino.1
Martina Cabrera - https://www.facebook.com/martina.cabrera.56
Yesika Jimenes Lm - https://www.facebook.com/yesika.lm

I see no issue whatsoever with fourteen or 14,000 people having the same photo of someone such as Superman, for example, but the fact that these photos are just of two seemingly innocent young women raises flags.

Beyond that, however, a reverse-image search illustrates that this photo is actually from a set containing nude photos. Again, that is not in and of itself a problem, but the pretense is that some young woman took a bunch of photos of herself while on vacation and then lost her camera.

I'm not buying it. These are fake profiles, and my efforts to get my twenty mutual friends to unfriend Ely Sirenetta have been largely unsuccessful.

What I want to know is... why is this person trying to be part of the mer-community under a false identity? Why can't she - or he - just be herself or himself? The misleading identity raises questions about integrity and concerns about data safety.

Am I being over-protective of the community? Perhaps. Do some people make that necessary? Definitely.

[SeaGlass Siren]

Hey i believe you should be overprotective :| what if that person starts to steal identities in the long run? :over exaggerating here:

But you make a very valid point and you did a marvelous job at using your sleuthing skills. Have you reported the profiles?

[Stede Bonnet]

Hey i believe you should be overprotective :| what if that person starts to steal identities in the long run? :over exaggerating here:

But you make a very valid point and you did a marvelous job at using your sleuthing skills. Have you reported the profiles?

I have not.... It seems to me as though the process (at least the one that I tested) should involve at least one more step, specifically that I should have to write something to support my claim. The ease of the process makes me uncomfortable.

I find fake profiles ALL of the time. The other day, someone (non-mer related) messaged me, and her profile led to 15 more! A different time, I found someone with ! In all 38 of these combined cases, the profile photo has been taken from a set that ultimately contains nude/ pornographic pictures, found through a reverse-image search.

[Mermaid Dottie]

Hey hey! I love the screen name you chose, buddy. The pic, too.

[Nate Walis]

I'm always put off by the way Stede Bonnet was portrayed in the Tim Powers novel "On Stranger Tides"!

[Stede Bonnet]

Hey hey! I love the screen name you chose, buddy. The pic, too.

Thanks, Mermaid Dottie! When I (whom you know from Facebook as Matthew Morse :) ) *finally* made this profile, I originally looked at "Matthew Trewhella," the man connected with the Mermaid of Zennor. Unfortunately for me, that name is now connected with someone who has had some extreme views. I was really disappointed.

Then I thought about mermaids and pirates and Googled "Gentleman Pirate," because - as I hope you will agree - I try to conduct myself as a gentleman. Stede Bonnet - an actual historic figure - was the first result.

On another note, my Mermaids Interest List is on fire today, as all of your "liking spree" comments are showing up. hahaha You have connected today to some really wonderful people, and it's awesome of you to greet everyone as you have. I wish more people did that. :)

[Usagi]

The site that I went to after doing a reverse image search said the girl in the picture is "Mermaid Melanie McDaniel." ???

[Kanti]

But can't you now block people from viewing your page?
So are these people really trouble anymore? Just block them, no?

[SeaGlass Siren]

You can block them yes. it's just a matter of letting everyone else know about the fake profiles and merverts.

[Kanti]

I suppose
I mean unless they're being annoying or troublesome does it really matter? xD I haven't looked through all of my fans but I don't think I'd necessarily care if a pervert was on my like page if he wasn't bothering anyone? And if he did I'd just block em.
Hehe I wouldn't go looking for an excuse to get rid of my fans I guess xD

[Stede Bonnet]

The site that I went to after doing a reverse image search said the girl in the picture is "Mermaid Melanie McDaniel." ???

Syd - You are absolutely right.... about the cover photo. Ely Sirenetta's cover photo is an image of Mermaid Melanie McDaniel. Her profile photo is of two women in bikinis on a beach, and that photo is consistent as ten profile photos and four cover photos.

I would be inclined to overlook the Mermaid Melanie McDaniel thing (although I am sure there are people who think that is Ely Sirenetta), because my cover photo is of a lion. I am obviously not a lion. However, that just adds to the deception in the case of Ely Sirenetta, in my opinion.


But can't you now block people from viewing your page?
So are these people really trouble anymore? Just block them, no?


Kanti - That might be the way to go for fan pages, but they still infiltrate the mer-community as "friends," and I stand behind the statement that the misleading identity raises questions about integrity and concerns about data safety.

Then, of course, there are the merverts. Ugh. People who act like jackasses can put everyone on guard and make it difficult to develop meaningful admin/ fan relationships.

[AniaR]

you can't block people from viewing your fanpage no. Only from seeing your personal page. Some people steal someone's mer photos and then block the mer too so they can't see it. :/

I'm also annoyed with how many fan pages there are for "mermaid art" that NEVER credit the artists or link to where the image was from.