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^by the one and only AMAZING SilverRose, my bestest friend on AU!
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~*Ellamearil*~

Hey Ella(do you mind if I call you by this name). This is Capt.Faramir. I have read every bit of your message and you are right about your personal security. It is always correct to be safer than sorry. Even though I can hardly get you relaxed about the tough matter you are telling us about, I can tell you that you are safe here. As long as your info is kept safe with you, I believe none will try to get their hands on your private info.


All we hope for just like you do get to know as you try to do the same. You need to be careful at all times, Ella. Do not forget about that.

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Will be going to London on March of the 30th

Well, I think a little paranoia is healthy when it comes to internet. It's true, you don't know who's on the other end, but that shouldn't stop us from being nice and kind to each other.

I'm glad your friend is alright! You had me really scared for a minute, but thank goodness the police caught him in time!

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First of all, Ellamearil, I'm happy you like our forum and feel so comfortable that you want to share that story and raise the topic. It might serve as a warning to others to be cautious online but I also hope that when you get to know us A-U'ers even better that you'll be convinced that we're real and friendly people.

Therefore, my second point would be to ask the mods to move the thread to Your Life. Because more people will see it there and also because the Your Life board is password-protected so only members can access it. So you might also feel more comfortable there.

I don't know all our members here, I don't know if some of the members would be stalkers. My impression is that it would take too much time and energy for a potential stalker to single out victims on a forum and establish a trusing relationship. Even though the forum has existed for 4-5 years only a handful of A-U'ers have actually met by now. So I suppose, if you were a stalker and wanted to meet up with someone you'd probably go to a chatroom or some IM.

I've always felt safe on A-U and you never have to give out more information than you feel comfortable about. You don't have to tell about your location, name or anything like that. You can still have a nice chat about the weather or how much you swoon over Orlando Bloom! Or discuss the Council of Elrond on the LotR boards.

You may PM me if you want to know more about me, anytime!


And also you might want to have a look at a similar thread:
http://arwen-undomiel.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=20327

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>>Be the change you wish to see in the world<<



Banner credit: Shadowcat & Nurrantiel Mashiara

Thank you all for your replies! Captain Faramir, of course you can call me Ella
Ea, you are completely right. Thank you so much for your input!

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^by the one and only AMAZING SilverRose, my bestest friend on AU!
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~*Ellamearil*~

We are a nice bunch of people. That's what we do. My family is internet-safety cautious too, my dad periodically screens where I've been, who I've talked to, etc. I'm also paranoid about too much info getting out.

I think you can become friends with people, just don't share personal information like real name, where you live, or any specifics. If you have to say where you live, give generals like "south-eastern part of the USA" Also, as Ea said, stalkers stick to the chatrooms and such, not forums.

Not against the rules. Doesn't make me uncomfortable, why would it?

Erm... we don't use profanity on this forum... mostly... and hurtful words are baked into pies and thrown at the perpertraitor of the crime. Or eaten. Depends on the type of pie.

Ok... so that last part was really strange... I must be hungry. Anyway, those are my opinions on the matter. Not much... but some. If you EVER feel uncomfortable in ANY situation on here, PM the mods IMMEDIATELY. That's what they're there for...
*puts up big shiny "Volunteer the mods for awkward situations" poster, then runs away from their wrath*

(I must be really tired... that last part makes no sense at all...)

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Married Artemis Fowl on July 16, 2007
[!+^$%=#?&]
The Seemingly Nice But Actually Really Nasty Nazgul
School ate my life. *sigh*

You are welcome Ella, and by the way, I still think you should PM the Mod-account and ask to have the thread moved to Your Life. I think it's a great post and an interesting topic.

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>>Be the change you wish to see in the world<<



Banner credit: Shadowcat & Nurrantiel Mashiara

That is pretty frightening, about what happened to your friend. However, Ea is right; it's quite rare (in fact, I've never heard this happen before) for internet stalkers to happen upon a forum like this one - family atmosphere and all that - and prey on anyone. It's a LotR forum anyway (and for a forum, we have very few active members), I'd call it nigh impossible for a stalker-pedophile to be able to lure someone into their hands using a common interest for Tolkien as bait. I'm not saying that it's impossible for it to ever happen cause anything is possible on the net so you are right not to trust too easily, but from personal experience by being a member here for years, this is a very safe place to be because everyone here looks out for each other while we're all here.

But don't worry, Ellamearil; this is a very valid concern and nobody is going to resent you for bringing it up.

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Ellamearil...welcome to AU!
Even though this isn´t the `welcoming board´, I´d still like to say hello!

^ you have a most valid point and one that has been taken up in discussion here.
Our Mods are ever watchful, as are the rest of us. Noone is interested in `stalkers´ of any kind, roaming here.

This board is for Tolkien/LotR enthusiasts, especially
but does not rule out any other film, music or book interest, either.

This is the place to discuss, rant and share any interests that are close to your heart.
Take the time to check out the different threads, you´ll feel the same warmth, eveywhere you enter.

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MvL/Nurr
my Aragorn

*sigh* For some reason this makes me think of how long it's been since I've been on AU.

I'm glad you find everyone friendly and welcoming, Ell! This website is very friendly and family-oriented. And I've practically grown up on AU. Gosh it'll be 4 years for me this February... Anyway, I've never heard of something like that happening on this website, or any forum. This place is for talking about LotR or any other common intrests like PotR, CoN, or any number of things. Not to mention the RP section is fun(though has been a little dead lately).

I'm glad your friend's bad guy was caught in the end! That almost made for an epic tale!

And my family is very cautiouse on the internet, though we're probably more relaxed then some. But still, there is alot of information not told for safety. And I think as long as real name, address, or anything like that is never told, and one promises not to meet in public, we should be fine.

And I agree with Ea, to pm the mods and move this to Your Life board.

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(}--{)Imagination Inspires Ideas -Zandain(}--{)
Married Cloud Strife 9/17/08

'Llo, Ella! It's comforting to know that there are so many people with Internet-oriented paranoid families! I come from a very tight family about the Net; my pars have had me close accounts and start new ones on sites before if I even so much as gave the first letter of my nickname (which is not leaking out here ).
I too am amazed at the friendliness of everyone here, and how it seems to be like one big family. I believe the people I've spoken most with are Nerissa and Ea. It's very hard for me to make friends even in real life, so Net boundaries make it harder!
Not sure why I added those last two sentences... Maybe I've been lacking human contact from my friends as I haven't seen anyone since... 4 days. Wow. I'm getting addicted to my friends.
Anyway! I feel also like saying Welcome! And remember, people will only know as much about you as you let them here. No worries mate!

Freya Baggins wrote:

Erm... we don't use profanity on this forum... mostly... and hurtful words are baked into pies and thrown at the perpetrator of the crime. Or eaten. Depends on the type of pie.

Ok... so that last part was really strange... I must be hungry. Anyway, those are my opinions on the matter. Not much... but some. If you EVER feel uncomfortable in ANY situation on here, PM the mods IMMEDIATELY. That's what they're there for...
*puts up big shiny "Volunteer the mods for awkward situations" poster, then runs away from their wrath*

(I must be really tired... that last part makes no sense at all...)

Freya, you really make me giggle. As stated in above random paragraph, it is hard for me to make friends. I like your randomness
I felt like saying that. lol. I don't know why... I feel *very* random tonight. Oh yeah! It's the lack of comradeship! hehe

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Maybe two is better than one
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