There was a thing like this in Tolkien fandom several months ago; a woman was juggling three online personae and faked her own death from cancer. Not someone I interacted with much, but she sowed a lot of discord and took advantage of the goodwill of a lot of people, including some people I care about very much. I was pissed as hell when I found out, and I barely knew her; the people she sucked into her drama must have felt incredibly betrayed and manipulated.
I think this guy's even worse; it's fine to explore your identity in cyberspace (I'm another person who first came out online), but he put people's lives in danger with his hoax. That's not okay. There were actual Syrian activists risking their safety trying to find out what had happened to "Amina". He can claim he was trying to bring international attention to the situation in Syria all he wants, but I don't buy his BS.
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Date: 2011-06-18 09:35 pm (UTC)I think this guy's even worse; it's fine to explore your identity in cyberspace (I'm another person who first came out online), but he put people's lives in danger with his hoax. That's not okay. There were actual Syrian activists risking their safety trying to find out what had happened to "Amina". He can claim he was trying to bring international attention to the situation in Syria all he wants, but I don't buy his BS.