How likely is an Iranian EMP attack? How likely is a zombie attack? How likely would a complete MAD MAX collapse of civilization where we're huddling behind ammo forts and setting up a harem of soccer moms willing to do anything for our canned ham?

And yet in the years I've been on this site, we've discussed and hashed out a dozen threads per each of these unlikely but catastrophic scenarios.

But in today's ever changing social world and ubiquitous web/wired population of increasingly thin skinned intolerant people, it's becoming more and more likely that somewhere we'll be harmed by what complete strangers think about us by googling our search history or by making extrapolations about what we "must be like" based on associations.

In our past this would be laughed off or ignored. But now it can go viral. But it's not unbeatable. If one catches wind of being a pariah, one can mount a relatively swift defense if one is prepared and has the PR skills.

Years ago my wife and I got snookered into buying a time share by a high pressure sales man with Bluegreen. We slept on our purchase and within the money back time period asked for our $1,000 down payment back. They refused and laughed at our suggestion that we'd get a lawyer (being they're a billion dollar company and all).

So we instead sent them a copy of a press release and notice that we'd formed an association of concerned citizens and would begin public protests the next saturday along with press releases about our case. We got our money back in a day.

The difference is that the goofy Iraqi EMP/Zombie scenarios involve threats to one's very existence. None of your scenarios do. Humiliation hurts, but it's just not the same thing.

What part about losing a job because someone "got offended" don't you understand?

The common thread is that institutions and businesses are terrified of bad publicity....so if an employee is accused by someone, anyone, online who has a following, the easiest course of action is to immediately suspend or fire that offending employee regardless of their performance, despite them not breaking any law, or being vulnerable to law suits. It's the threat of bad press that makes MOST institutions opt for termination proceedings.

But the counter-measure is for that person to get active on-line and have a following as well and generate enough heat in the opposite direction that the company or organization can feel the pain in the reverse...

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/catholic-school-reinstates-teacher-suspended-for-defending-catholic-teachin.

This teacher didn't break any laws. She didn't say anything against Church teaching. She didn't break any overt school policy.

No, she "offended" someone who had a sizable on-line following who demanded her termination and it happened - she was terminated...until another person with a large following (Prof. Robert George) picked up the story and it went viral and suddenly she got 10,000+ online friends filling up the diocesan and school's voice mails, snail mail and email accounts demanding reinstatement.....and she just got reinstated.

So it's not a matter of losing friends on facebook or being "humilitated". If only. It's about people getting fired or threatened with termination (or worse) for 'offending' someone's sensibilities. In most cases we're not even talking about egregious, overt, over the top insults. Just controversial opinions which are weaponized.

Sorry, being forced to file a wrongful termination suit still isn't even in the same ballpark as fighting off MZBs in a post-apocalyptic hell-world.

Not only that, but if you're maintaining a low profile, being "the grey man", as it were, you a lot less likely to become a target of hurtful gossip.

eta: furthermore, fighting MZBs in far fetched scenarios is fun. It's not an actually worry. It's light hearted. And normal realistic prepping is fun too and normal folks aren't really worrying as they garden, can, and train. This is all relaxing and comforting stuff.

I never said this topic is on the same level of a nuclear war or zombie apocalypse, only that it's much more likely to happen to people than those other scenarios.

We prep for floods and tornadoes, for job loss etc. but for some reason being prepped or considering what's needed to survive a PC driven threat to job (or worse) is somehow beneath contempt? I must be over the target look at all the flak!

Your other posts in this thread didn't sound like a rational discussion of avoiding job-threatening bad PR and what to do if wrongfully terminated. I'll stop bothering you.

I don't mind bothering.

So humor me.... just as we humor others' coming up with EMP scenarios...

If you or someone close to you accidentally enraged someone who had 10,000+ followers on LinkedIn or Facebook etc. and whipped them into a frenzy to destroy you....what would you do?

Suppose the first inkling something is wrong is when you get an odd phone call with someone (caller ID blocked) cursing you out and then hanging up.

The next thing you notice is 100+ emails coming in with creepy or offensive subject lines with your name on it.

Then the boss calls you in on Monday morning to ask some questions about your on-line behavior.....

do you a) grovel and beg for mercy from the on-line mob or b) go silent while feverishly changing phone numbers, doubling security, preparing your resume etc....or c) go on the offense with PR of your own figuring that it's easy to isolate the destroy any lone individual but harder to destroy a person with hundreds if not thousands of allies both on-line and physically present neighbors?

You're a good sport. Let me know when I get too annoying and I'll shut up though.

Ok. 1st, I avoid the situation by not having many friends and by not really talking to my family much. I'm pretty isolated. I don't have facebook or linked in so I'm not really aware of that drama.

2nd: no land line, so I can screen calls. Emails I would delete or forward to police if they go beyond "you should die" and into "I'm going to make you die" territory.

3rd: "Sir, it's silly internet BS that has no bearing on my job. I'm the victim of cyber bullying and I appreciate your understanding in this matter".

My resume is always prepared, my security is always tight, and I'm always ready to change my phone and email addresses. My neighbors don't give a shit, and if they did, they'd just stop talking to me or maybe say mean things as I walk by. I can say mean things too, or "haters gonna hate".

I've lost jobs, lost friends, lost apartments, been physically attacked and "cyber bullied". It's all handleable. God forbid my house burns down or I'm in a car accident, still handleable.

The big difference is that EMPs and Zombies are part of a shutdown of society itself. Your scenario, that I just addressed, is something that happens to one person. It's completely different and totally small potatoes.

yes. it's small potatoes compared with your whole zip code going 'poof'.

But for the person whose life is suddenly turned inside out, it's a big deal.

Motorcycle accidents are also relatively rare but when they happen, they can kill or seriously maim the rider.... now, some pooh pooh protective gear and some go overboard on the latest, greatest.... some ride and never crash. Others are alive thanks to their gear.

You have chosen a lifestyle that eliminates most threat via email and on-line jihads. Others are not so fortunate (or isolated). Those with large families, extended families, professions that put you in the public eye or where you might be placed in a situation where you are asked to opine about some topic....which could later become toxic and risky to have the 'wrong' opinion about....such as what happened to Brendan Eich.... he gave $1000 to a group in an anonymous way...only to have an inside job IRS person give the file of the non-profit donors to that non-profit's opposition who then found out who gave the big bucks and proceeded to come after them.

So he wasn't even being stupid. He gave a legal donation to a charity in a legal fashion which was private....only to have that charity's privacy breached and his donation made a weapon against his employment.

He lost his job.

In hind sight, he might still have it if he manned up and went on the offense challenging people to prove their tolerance (it's not tolerance if you demand everyone agree with you). But he groveled and admitted wrong doing and still lost his job.

If a mob (metaphoric or physical) comes to lynch you, the proper response is offense. Always and everywhere.

IDK, maybe your answer lies here?



 

http://www.computerworld.com/article/2849263/doxxing-defense-remove-your-personal-info-from-data-brokers.html

ar-jedi

nothing. its online so who cares.

Mob coming for you. and you have no doubts whatsoever they are...Shoot them they will scatter.

Now at 3 pages?

For a second there I was going to add something pithy.

Then I realized this was the SURVIVAL FORUM.

+100

If the only issue is on-line anonymous banter than it's no big deal.

When the trolls find your real identity and then threaten your employment or life, it's suddenly a 'survival forum' issue.

In the old days men could (and did) handle people's scorn. But nowadays it's getting to the point where scorn is simply not tolerated by some groups and they seek to destroy those who they find offensive. And by "destroy" I mean "silence" one way or another. Again, if only online then it's stupid easy to ignore. It's precisely when it leaves the realm of on-line mud slinging and enters the physical realm of "get the boss to fire you" by making you toxic to the employer that is a growing threat as I and others have presented some cases.

If you maintain opsec online...no problem. But it's when the trolls know your real name, google your address, phone number, employer, etc. and start siccing 10,000 followers to harass you and your loved ones that lines are crossed. Are you going to call 911 on 10,000 people? No. You'll need to find out who is really the ring-leader, who is the group or cause whose offense is deemed intolerable to suffer quietly and pursue legal sanctions against them for stirring up the mob. But that requires PR savvy and going on offense.

So again, if your bumper sticker caused some loon to stir up 10,000 of his online followers to begin harassing you, your employer, your spouse and her employer, your kids....home phone, cell phone, emails, work emails, etc. (by just posting it all online and encouraging people to vent their spleen).... what is the proper or best course of action. It's past the time to "just lay low and be uncontroversial". Now's time to capitulate and beg for mercy or come out swinging. But what does an effective counter measure look like?

I get what you're saying. When I read the post the first person I thought of was George Zimmerman.



 

Consider the reverse.

Tea Party group comes out of 'nowhere' in 2010 and suddenly puts the fear of God into both political parties and the government. Mom and Pop patriot running non-profit from their living room amass and mobilize tens of thousands of voters for mid-terms..... how does one come up with an effective counter to 10,000+ people using their first amendment rights etc.?

Easy. One finds out who is really in charge of that charity and sends them a letter informing them of an impending IRS audit and demanding copious amounts of paper work etc. - forcing them to get a lawyer thus diverting time and money and energy from the 'cause' into self-preservation. Without leadership those 10,000 followers suddenly begin to disperse and go their separate ways.

Just finding the harassing back the ring leader works wonders for mobs too. Mark Twain was right about men, half-men, and almost men.... the mob is powerful to the degree individuals can hide in the anonymity of crowds. But there is always an instigator or two. Once they're out of the picture the crowds begin to disperse.

In PR this typically happens with a cease and desist letter from a law firm advising that a law suit is pending against them for defamation or some similar charge. Or it can come from a counter protest at THEIR home or business. But what one can't do is engage 10,000 angry people at once. The Alynsky tactics 'work' - personalizing and freezing someone, making it fun to take them down etc. all 'works'. The moment the mob's assault becomes risky or worse "not fun" it begins to ebb and those involved begin to lose interest. It becomes work.

Make them work and they'll be less and less interested in keeping it up.

So a voice mail message or automatic email reply that warns "your email or message will be reported to the police" may dampen their spirits. If your cause can be tied to a larger coalition you win instant allies and sympathy and might roll your case into larger class action ones....again, making you less like an easy target and more like a liability to those who might be ring leaders in beating up some lone, isolated person for the fun of it.

To the degree on-line spleen venting becomes real-life threats that really silence people, it can become addictive. Instant gratification for low cost to self. But as the cost increases, the pleasure decreases. So the PR challenge for anyone being set upon is to figure out how to increase that cost of participation for the mob.

 Exactly!  Anyone who sweats on line BS has insecurity issues.

Fuuuuuuck!!!!

I can neither confirm nor deny going through something like that.

Just read this one this morning and it reminded me of this post. It never mentions if the guy had a social media account and proves to me that it is irrelevant if you have an account or even have internet access.



https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2015/05/11/creep-shamed-on-facebook-was-actually-man-taking-selfie-with-darth-vader/

I really hope OP Isn't this stupid.

ETA after reading the whole thread, I realize OP is serious. Well then, carry on.

several other posters provided links to completely innocent men whose lives got turned upside down on account of viral social media hit jobs on their reputations which resulted not in merely "on-line" bs but real world, meat space repercussions including job loss.

How many threads on this forum have dealt with how to prep for sudden job loss? Plenty!

But losing a job because the entire industry got shipped to China is one thing. Losing a job because your face is now identified with a social pariah is another.

So how would one prep for such a possibility? Mere avoidance of on-line banter isn't enough as the other posters' links show.

As I opine -which you are free to disagree with counter-reasons or counter-evidence - the only good defense in such a scenario is a quick and thought out offense....seeking allies and legal counsel so your employer has to decide which group and principle is at stake in their termination decision. But if they decide to fire you anyway, you'll need those allies to find another job.

Far fetched? Perhaps. But not more far fetched than an EMP strike by Iran!

Stay the Hell off social media and you won't have to worry about it.  

...and yet here you are. This is social media. Known as an online forum.

Still not a survival topic. Getting your feels hurt online or losing a job has naught to do with survival.

OP is paranoid about internet rep.

Surely something as serious as losing a job due to malicious 'on-line' attack, would qualify as a survival issue, in life...

There have been posts of misunderstandings that (according to the articles) were an embarrassment but nothing more, a possible criminal act perpetrated against someone who may be innocent based on evidence gained from social media, and a few cases of people having dumb stuff they said made widely known.

You can A) survive without a job
B) get another job

This isn't even remotely close to being a survival issue. Hell I'm on the verge of losing a job. that's called a financial issue. I won't die from it.

Losing a job is the beginning.

The Pizza placed closed down initially because of the death threats.

There are those who seek to get you fired and then there are those who seek to silence you any way possible. SWATTING being the least deadly.

But what fascinates me is given all the fantasy scenarios we review here, this one makes people wig out and declare it "impossible" or 'unlikely to threaten your life'.

Uh huh. Well, half the natural disasters we prep for are not life threatening but ARE inconvenient. So.... survival isn't entirely about "deadly and immediate risk of life and limb".

We'll have to disagree.  

To me SURVIVAL is an all-encompassing and comprehensive 'Lifestyle' strategy...

That when done with logic, reason and skill, puts a person far ahead of their peers.

Things that we're going to face almost with CERTAINTY, and that can make and break us if not handled appropriately.

It could be job loss, divorce, illness, tornado, house fire, hurricane, home invasion, the list is practically endless.

You know, CRITICAL things that can be life changing. Even Social Media attack...  


Not limited to trivial things like making fire by rubbing 2 sticks together, making an ammo fort in the basement, how many mags you have loaded, or the fanciest and newest 'Survival Gizmo' you can carry in your Watch Pocket.

I see the OP's point. I am pretty much insulated from attack, even though I am very active and opinionated in social media.
I am retired from a federal law enforcement agency-no job to lose, a general presumption of legitimacy.
I own everything outright and am financially secure-I could leave for a while, or stay and fight. I'm pretty much judgement-proof.
I have dealt with physical threats before-I will do what needs to be done to insure the safety of me and mine.
I underwent a smear campaign previously on a smaller scale-the people that loved me still love me. I survived.
The one scenario that is most troubling to me is a political targeting like the "John Doe" warrants in Wisconsin, or an IRS investigation/enforcement action. Being targeted by a politician with the law enforcement power of the state behind them should trouble anyone who has been paying attention these two terms. If it were combined with news or social media attack, one might not recover.

Financial flop is major to some people out there ..for some it's a whole encompassing reason for why they prepare or pick the route they have in life.some
Job loss while it may not directly "kill " you is a major event that can detour your plans...it ain't an end all but it can hurt.

IMHO survival ain't just eating grubs or running from country to country looking for greener pastures.....balance is key.


Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

Confederate flag owners just became social pariahs overnight.

I'm a Yankee (Michigan) so I have no allegiance or sympathy for the stars and bars per se.  

But the velocity of the moral panic sweeping the nation and stampeding businesses to voluntarily jettison and erase the old flag that had nothing to do with the recent shooting other than the nut's own weird ideas, struck me as an example of how quickly something that was merely a social quirk, some relatively unpopular thing can instantly be transformed into a totem of the hated 'other' to be exterminated and obliterated in order to "do something".

When mobs get a simple idea in their minds, it's almost impossible to turn the tide. "someone do something quick!" became "ban the flag!" and suddenly the hue and cry went out and everyone loses their minds - we must ban the flag, carve it off monuments, blast it off stained glass windows, remove it from historical history accounts, feel guilt and shame..... and punish anyone who is caught with one who just 3 weeks ago we'd have simply ignored.... it's breathtaking how quickly it happens.

So this is a case in real time of what people do in a panic and it has already cost people their jobs for merely having one or associating with one.

The first truck I saw in GA with that flag was owned by a 'son of the confederacy" who was black - leading me to research it and discover that many blacks fought FOR the confederacy and some of their descendents proudly fly the flag for their own personal reasons.... it opened by eyes to how complicated the war was. But we're to revert to 2nd graders using 2 dimensional moral card board cut outs again during the flag stampede of 2015.

Which makes me wonder what the next moral panic will be.

I think you are seeing the start of it.

FIFY

Lol, thanks. That's what I meant to type.

Yep. I've known two types of bullies. The ones who bark but don't bite and the silent ones whose bite is the first (and possibly the last) thing you feel.

In our public discourse most people are (thank God) the huffers and puffers who threaten to blow your house down.... but there's always the ones who aren't bluffing. Who really are deadly and will go get some dynamite and blow your brick house apart while you sleep.

So when a mob suddenly declares some formerly innocent behavior to be retroactively radioactive and toxic to your career, job, perhaps your very physical presence and demands unconditional surrender, the normal SHTF reaction - to hunker and pop mag covers - is the wrong move. When it's a mob coming you need as many warm bodies as you can muster to spread out the defense and open up possible back channels to either turn the tide or reach out for some sort of negotiated settlement.

What the Duck Dynasty guys had was their family cohesion. The network couldn't isolate Phil and his kin didn't abandon him (as I'm sure they were offered as a 'way' out). And besides the core family, their millions of fans came boiling out of the ether and declared allegiance to the family as well.....and suddenly it wasn't one guy with a toxic opinion, but a movement not so easily dismissed or cowed.....

Most people aren't blessed with this sort of cohesive family, millions in the bank and a trailer full of guns....and 10 million fans. So the rest of us need to consider the need to network and consider the counter-push via public media.

Judging by the number of confederate flag profile pics I now see on Facebook, I don't think were to the point of pariahs yet.

I am interested to see what happens with that cop who ran into some trouble because of it. That's a difficult situation due to liability.

On-line? Stay off facebook and change your email. Done.

If they don't sign your paycheck or sleep with you, what do you care what they think?

To be fair, losing a job and becoming unemployable in your chosen field because you made a silly joke (or donated to an unpopular political campaign in Eich's case) is a realistic scenario with severe consequences.

Plenty of folks have been fired for donating to the "wrong" political movements or making innocuous jokes etc.