The Tobermory Cat Troll
Let me share a story of an online troll.
There is (was?) a cat in Tobermory. Several, actually, but one in particular who was known for his ballsy cat antics about town. The post from the bookshop owner in this thread makes it clear that the cat was known by the town for doing amusing things, and observed doing them by many--that his "celebrity," if it can be called that, came as a direct result of his own amusing cat actions. The bookshop owner contacted a publisher who contacted an author who wrote a book about a fiddle-playing cat in Tobermory who has slightly more than fuck-all to do with that or any actual Tobermory cat. The author invented the story herself, using the real cat and the real town as her inspiration.
There happened to be an artist in the town who took some photographs of cats in Tobermory and created a Facebook page for "the" Tobermory cat. It is unclear which cat, or if it matters. The bookshop owner thought that the book and the Facebook page could sort of dovetail with each other and create more publicity for one another, and in turn more publicity for the town itself, thus boosting tourism. This is the only reason the artist was approached.
The artist refused. Even though he could have benefited from the publicity, even though the town could have benefited, he insisted that the idea for the book was his. That no one could possibly have come up with a story about a Tobermory cat without stealing it from his Facebook page, even though there were multiple Tobermory cats in existence, even though one of them was known in town by everybody else for doing amusing things, even though somebody had already written a book about a Tobermory cat some time ago, even though books about cats are as commonplace as cat poop.
The writer/illustrator told the whole story only recently after nearly a year of harassment.
Two days later, the Artist started his campaign on Facebook. He had been visited by two thieves, he posted. They came to his house to steal the Tobermory cat.His followers were furious. Who were these people? How dare they? The Artist ignored this question. He posted again. And again. And again. He never missed an opportunity to make some snarky remark about robbers or thieves and then off he'd go, drawing comparisons with 'an Edinburgh illustrator' or 'an Edinburgh publisher'. And the Artist's followers lapped it up. Who were these awful people, they demanded? Poor artist, they soothed, how awful for him. Then, thankfully, the Artist stopped posting for a while. In the blissful silence, I got on with my book. [...]
By April, I was almost finished with the preparatory drawings in pencil for the book. We were all getting excited by now; watching the book take shape is a bit like seeing prints come up in the tray of developer fluid way back in the dark days of photography. I'd been keeping an occasional eye out on Facebook just to check that the Artist hadn't restarted his campaign of name-calling, and sadly, in the spring, he began again. In a cleverly targeted series of posts, he returned the Tobermory cat back to Facebook and began to post once more. On Facebook and Twitter. More comments about thieving publishers and Edinburgh illustrators. After an absence of several months, his followers were delighted to have him back. And then, on my way to do a library visit in Perth, the Artist posted on the Twitter account of the library I was about to visit. An hour before my event. He was wondering if they had any books on copyright or the theft of intellectual property.[...]
Then the Artist began to tweet to selected numbers of my @DebiGliori followers. Followers like the Edinburgh Book Festival. A fellow-author. A fellow-illustrator. Did they know, he tweeted, that someone they followed was engaged in the theft of intellectual property? Not naming me. No. This was a horrible game of cat-and-mouse, skirting perilously close to defamation, but not so close that I could make it stop.
On it went. Until, after posting a final silly thing on Facebook asking his 'friends' to fill in an online survey about who they thought the idea for the Tobermory Cat belonged to- the Artist or the Colonial Publisher, finally, with everyone howling "Who? Who? Who Is this colonial publisher and his thief of an illustrator? " the Artist posted, on the May bank holiday, a self-pitying post, the gist of which was
I can't carry on with my Facebook page any more. It's no longer any fun. Birlinn Books are going to publish a book by Debi Gliori called The Tobermory Cat. I have no option but to stop doing this Facebook page. It's been a lot of fun but....goodbye.[..]
As we drove home, the 'friends' of the Artist were massing on Facebook. They were leaving me messages. They knew where I lived. They were digging around on the Internet, Googling me, digging up whatever they could find.
The Guardian has covered this story and there's a long thread here where the artist Angus Stewart appears, insisting he's right even when presented with UK law. As far as I know, he's not consulted an IP lawyer -- real and not just someone online. Perhaps that's the only thing that'll make him listen to reason, though it's easier to wallow in willful ignorance.
Debi Gliori kept an eye on another who was verbally badmouthing her. She didn't post on his page or contact him, but she wanted to be sure he wasn't planning anything that might hurt her or her profession. She kept an eye on him because she knew he might cause trouble. I find that a reasonable thing to do, especially since she was right. In contrast, his supporters, egged on by him, threatened her and her publisher. Sadly, I bet some of Angus's supporters are now accusing her of being the harasser when all she was, in my opinion, was smart. Hopefully she screencapped and saved all those messages. [Edit] I was right..
Though these comments are chastising a poster who has a habit of deleting his posts, I wanted to highlight them, because when someone insists they're right or never said something it irks me. Willful ignorance is frustrating. I want to yell, "Are you *bleeping* blind? Are you so stubborn you can't see what's in front of your face?"
This isn't about somebody wanting to be right for the sake of being right and arguing to prove his voice is loudest. This is about (continuously?) broadcasting incorrect information about plagiarism in a writing forum and having that information corrected in a polite yet firm as possible manner. [...]
If you don't understand something, it doesn't hurt to come right out and say you don't understand something. We've dozens of experts in myriad fields who are more than willing to share that knowledge. All you need to do is ask. But when you demonstrate that lack of knowledge and hide behind "well, it's just my opinion that...", yeah, you're gonna get called on the carpet but good. Do it enough and play the butt-hurt victim whenever you get called out and, yeah, you're gonna piss people off.
I knew someone who used to get so mad when I was right. He used to whine I always had to be right. I don't. I can and have been be wrong, but when it came to certain things I just happened to be right more often because I was careful in my predictions, thus giving me a good track record. I think he resented it.
I HOPE the repercussions of that behavior make him uncomfortable. He deserves to be uncomfortable. I hope the long-term effects of his actions create pond-ripples that keep him up nights for years. He's bought and paid for that.
So do I. Not wishing him bodily harm, just that he suffers the consequences and gets what he deserves.
There is (was?) a cat in Tobermory. Several, actually, but one in particular who was known for his ballsy cat antics about town. The post from the bookshop owner in this thread makes it clear that the cat was known by the town for doing amusing things, and observed doing them by many--that his "celebrity," if it can be called that, came as a direct result of his own amusing cat actions. The bookshop owner contacted a publisher who contacted an author who wrote a book about a fiddle-playing cat in Tobermory who has slightly more than fuck-all to do with that or any actual Tobermory cat. The author invented the story herself, using the real cat and the real town as her inspiration.
There happened to be an artist in the town who took some photographs of cats in Tobermory and created a Facebook page for "the" Tobermory cat. It is unclear which cat, or if it matters. The bookshop owner thought that the book and the Facebook page could sort of dovetail with each other and create more publicity for one another, and in turn more publicity for the town itself, thus boosting tourism. This is the only reason the artist was approached.
The artist refused. Even though he could have benefited from the publicity, even though the town could have benefited, he insisted that the idea for the book was his. That no one could possibly have come up with a story about a Tobermory cat without stealing it from his Facebook page, even though there were multiple Tobermory cats in existence, even though one of them was known in town by everybody else for doing amusing things, even though somebody had already written a book about a Tobermory cat some time ago, even though books about cats are as commonplace as cat poop.
The writer/illustrator told the whole story only recently after nearly a year of harassment.
Two days later, the Artist started his campaign on Facebook. He had been visited by two thieves, he posted. They came to his house to steal the Tobermory cat.His followers were furious. Who were these people? How dare they? The Artist ignored this question. He posted again. And again. And again. He never missed an opportunity to make some snarky remark about robbers or thieves and then off he'd go, drawing comparisons with 'an Edinburgh illustrator' or 'an Edinburgh publisher'. And the Artist's followers lapped it up. Who were these awful people, they demanded? Poor artist, they soothed, how awful for him. Then, thankfully, the Artist stopped posting for a while. In the blissful silence, I got on with my book. [...]
By April, I was almost finished with the preparatory drawings in pencil for the book. We were all getting excited by now; watching the book take shape is a bit like seeing prints come up in the tray of developer fluid way back in the dark days of photography. I'd been keeping an occasional eye out on Facebook just to check that the Artist hadn't restarted his campaign of name-calling, and sadly, in the spring, he began again. In a cleverly targeted series of posts, he returned the Tobermory cat back to Facebook and began to post once more. On Facebook and Twitter. More comments about thieving publishers and Edinburgh illustrators. After an absence of several months, his followers were delighted to have him back. And then, on my way to do a library visit in Perth, the Artist posted on the Twitter account of the library I was about to visit. An hour before my event. He was wondering if they had any books on copyright or the theft of intellectual property.[...]
Then the Artist began to tweet to selected numbers of my @DebiGliori followers. Followers like the Edinburgh Book Festival. A fellow-author. A fellow-illustrator. Did they know, he tweeted, that someone they followed was engaged in the theft of intellectual property? Not naming me. No. This was a horrible game of cat-and-mouse, skirting perilously close to defamation, but not so close that I could make it stop.
On it went. Until, after posting a final silly thing on Facebook asking his 'friends' to fill in an online survey about who they thought the idea for the Tobermory Cat belonged to- the Artist or the Colonial Publisher, finally, with everyone howling "Who? Who? Who Is this colonial publisher and his thief of an illustrator? " the Artist posted, on the May bank holiday, a self-pitying post, the gist of which was
I can't carry on with my Facebook page any more. It's no longer any fun. Birlinn Books are going to publish a book by Debi Gliori called The Tobermory Cat. I have no option but to stop doing this Facebook page. It's been a lot of fun but....goodbye.[..]
As we drove home, the 'friends' of the Artist were massing on Facebook. They were leaving me messages. They knew where I lived. They were digging around on the Internet, Googling me, digging up whatever they could find.
The Guardian has covered this story and there's a long thread here where the artist Angus Stewart appears, insisting he's right even when presented with UK law. As far as I know, he's not consulted an IP lawyer -- real and not just someone online. Perhaps that's the only thing that'll make him listen to reason, though it's easier to wallow in willful ignorance.
Debi Gliori kept an eye on another who was verbally badmouthing her. She didn't post on his page or contact him, but she wanted to be sure he wasn't planning anything that might hurt her or her profession. She kept an eye on him because she knew he might cause trouble. I find that a reasonable thing to do, especially since she was right. In contrast, his supporters, egged on by him, threatened her and her publisher. Sadly, I bet some of Angus's supporters are now accusing her of being the harasser when all she was, in my opinion, was smart. Hopefully she screencapped and saved all those messages. [Edit] I was right..
Though these comments are chastising a poster who has a habit of deleting his posts, I wanted to highlight them, because when someone insists they're right or never said something it irks me. Willful ignorance is frustrating. I want to yell, "Are you *bleeping* blind? Are you so stubborn you can't see what's in front of your face?"
This isn't about somebody wanting to be right for the sake of being right and arguing to prove his voice is loudest. This is about (continuously?) broadcasting incorrect information about plagiarism in a writing forum and having that information corrected in a polite yet firm as possible manner. [...]
If you don't understand something, it doesn't hurt to come right out and say you don't understand something. We've dozens of experts in myriad fields who are more than willing to share that knowledge. All you need to do is ask. But when you demonstrate that lack of knowledge and hide behind "well, it's just my opinion that...", yeah, you're gonna get called on the carpet but good. Do it enough and play the butt-hurt victim whenever you get called out and, yeah, you're gonna piss people off.
I knew someone who used to get so mad when I was right. He used to whine I always had to be right. I don't. I can and have been be wrong, but when it came to certain things I just happened to be right more often because I was careful in my predictions, thus giving me a good track record. I think he resented it.
I HOPE the repercussions of that behavior make him uncomfortable. He deserves to be uncomfortable. I hope the long-term effects of his actions create pond-ripples that keep him up nights for years. He's bought and paid for that.
So do I. Not wishing him bodily harm, just that he suffers the consequences and gets what he deserves.