What To Do If Harassed On Instructables by NachoMahma
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Instructables is a family of DIYers with members world wide. Notice the emphasis on family. Sometimes (thankfully not very often) a few bad apples sneak in and disrupt our family. Dealing with this type of situation is the subject of this Instructable.

This is a family-friendly site where members are expected to follow the Be Nice policy that is shown at the bottom of message entry fields. The policy gets stretched quite a bit, but, most of the time, the members on Instructables all get along just fine. They laugh, joke, and talk like family and old friends. But there have been a few incidents where some have sent inappropriate messages and pictures to others.

Harassment will not be tolerated on Instructables! If you are being harassed, you do NOT have to put up with it.

As with any other form of bullying, victims of harassment often suffer in silence.
Perhaps they feel that the treatment they receive is somehow their own fault, as if they invited it somehow.
Perhaps they feel that to report it will invite something worse.
Perhaps they fear ridicule from other site users for not being able to deal with the harasser, or for being too sensitive about it.
Whatever the reason, there is no reason to suffer in silence. Tell somebody, even if you don't want them to take action right away.

If nobody knows about a problem, the problem cannot be solved.

If you are being harassed and don't know what to do, read on ...
 
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Step 1: What Is Harassment?

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Harassment can come in many forms and includes:

  • Threats of physical harm.
  • Demeaning or insulting comments.
  • Any comments after you have informed the sender that you do not want to communicate with them.
  • Cyber-bullying.
  • Other forms of harassment can become a very gray area, sometimes defined by the target more so than by others. If the message makes you uncomfortable, it may be harassment.

What is NOT Harassment?


  • A polite invitation to chat. If you feel comfortable contacting the person, respond with a "Thanks, but I'm not interested.", otherwise, ignore it.
  • A "compliment" is not necessarily harassment. "You're pretty" or "You have nice hair" is not always harassment, but "You're hot! I want you!" is. Continued unwanted compliments is harassment.

We do have to be careful not to be TOO overly sensitive, nor to react too quickly when it is a case of uncertainty. It can be difficult to communicate via text only and some people just have poor social skills, so the sender may not realize that their message is offensive to you.

But if you feel harassed or uncomfortable, by all means, tell someone. They can help you determine the intent of the message(s) and advise you as to what further steps to take.
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KnexFreek says: Nov 1, 2009. 7:05 PM
 Help please. i have been harassed on my slideshow. I dont know who i can report it to. Please help!

NachoMahma (author) says: Nov 3, 2009. 12:45 PM
.  Please PM myself, one of the other collaborators, or someone on staff  with some details.
taowyman says: Apr 13, 2011. 3:43 AM
what does the FLAG mean
NachoMahma (author) says: Apr 13, 2011. 6:01 AM
. Supposed to put what you flag on a list to be checked by one of Robot's minions. I sometimes get the feeling that the list is not being perused in a timely manner, but that may be just me.
Penolopy Bulnick says: Nov 8, 2012. 11:38 AM
The list is checked, at the minimum, on a daily basis. We don't want inappropriate or harassing comments left up.
taowyman says: Apr 13, 2011. 12:06 PM
ok thank you
KnexFreek says: Nov 4, 2009. 9:27 PM
an admin has now helped me. Thankyou tho.

-kevin
Randomguy65 says: Jul 11, 2010. 4:13 PM
I also realized it was K'nex....
prodo123 says: May 20, 2010. 6:22 PM
Does a lot better job than what school teaches you, eh?
acidbass says: Mar 22, 2010. 7:52 PM
 i like that this was done 
struckbyanarrow says: Mar 7, 2010. 2:54 PM
i love the picture on step one!
eulaliaaaa! says: Oct 30, 2009. 4:24 PM
You should change the main image so it shows the robot using an Altoids laptop or something.
NachoMahma (author) says: Oct 30, 2009. 7:15 PM
.  Very interesting idea, but it's much too late to be changing that graphic. Too bad you weren't around to make the suggestion when we were writing the iBle.
rimar2000 says: Oct 30, 2008. 6:02 AM
This article is very interesting and very useful. You should consider also the idiomatic problem. Instructables is a page in English, and therefore I should adapt me her, but not always (perhaps would should to say almost never) the translations express what I mean. Perhaps someone can be felt offended by some my expression, due only to a bad translation.
NachoMahma (author) says: Oct 30, 2008. 1:10 PM
. If you run into anything that doesn't translate well, please let us know and we will try to reword it.
rimar2000 says: Oct 30, 2008. 5:40 PM
Pardon, is this a fake?

If it is not, thanks by the offering and the good will.

How can I to know if the translation is or not correct?

I don't speak English, I speak Spanish. Barely I can realize some inversions of words. I use http://ets.freetranslation.com/ that is very good, but there are words in Spanish (just like in English) that signify two or more different things, and no automatic translator would be able to guess always which is the meaning that I need.
KnexFreek says: Oct 23, 2009. 8:13 PM
Actually you are doing very well. Also your grammer is very good. Good job.
 Sincerely
- your english speaking buddy

By the way, if you are worried about your grammer, private message me the message that you are about to send someone, and i will fix the grammer. After 3:30 eastern standard time, I check my messages every 15 minutes. But, If I have to leave the house, it may take a max of one hour for me to respond.
NachoMahma (author) says: Oct 30, 2008. 6:30 PM
. I meant that if anything in the instructable translates as gibberish* (eg, because of idioms), then we will try to use words that translate better.
.
. Your English can be a little hard to understand, but I always look forward to seeing your comments.

  • incoherent or meaningless
rimar2000 says: Oct 31, 2008. 3:09 AM
Oh, thanks. Now I understand.
rimar2000 says: Oct 30, 2008. 5:44 PM
When I write fake I must write joke
FrozenStar says: Sep 17, 2009. 3:27 PM
lol awesome drawings
bounty1012 says: Jul 29, 2009. 2:29 PM
is that a knex gun that "rambot" has?
casey321b says: Jul 29, 2009. 9:55 PM
Yup. 'Ible Bot POWNZ
Foaly7 says: Sep 2, 2009. 5:01 PM
Um, thats actually spelled PWNs or in your case PWNZ
bounty1012 says: Jul 29, 2009. 11:24 PM
Not instructables doggie XD its some other guy...
bounty1012 says: Jul 29, 2009. 11:23 PM
yup, so does that pic of instructablesdoggie and kiteman XD
Foaly7 says: Aug 27, 2009. 5:36 PM
I knew that was kiteman
bounty1012 says: Aug 28, 2009. 4:37 PM
ye.
skunkbait says: Oct 31, 2008. 11:57 PM
Great job! Well written, and great 'toons. As a side note, I need someone to contact Mrs. Skunkbait. She's been harassing me mercilessly lately: "Don't use my scissors to skin that deer! Don't put that big pistol in my purse, carry it yourself! Get that carburator out of my sink! Gimmie my computer back! You smell like gasoline/deisel/gunpowder! No, I won't clean another squirrel today! I don't feel like push-starting your Harley today!" I've got the patience of Job, but I need some help here!
=SMART= says: Jul 29, 2009. 9:51 AM
"You smell like gasoline/deisel/gunpowder" Uhhh BEST SMELL EVER ??!!??
skunkbait says: Jul 29, 2009. 11:28 AM
I know, right? The best smell EVER!!!!
Steamdnt says: Jun 13, 2009. 11:07 AM
You should report her to Randofo... LOL
skunkbait says: Jun 13, 2009. 8:27 PM
I might just do that!
NachoMahma (author) says: Nov 1, 2008. 3:33 PM
. Where did you find her? Most AR gals will act right if you take away their shoes and keep 'em pregnant. . Or did you just forget to buy her her own Carhartt bibs?
Lithium Rain says: Nov 2, 2008. 3:38 PM
>:(
NachoMahma (author) says: Nov 2, 2008. 5:41 PM
. >:( to you, too.
. Any self-respecting AR Hillbilly gal knows that nothing smells better on her man than gas/diesel/gunpowder. 'Cept maybe Aqua Velva.
zoltzerino says: Jun 12, 2009. 11:10 AM
Kerosene...
DrWeird117 says: Jan 23, 2009. 10:47 PM
Sigh...WHY WAS A LINK NEEDED THERE? WHY?
NachoMahma (author) says: Jan 24, 2009. 7:32 PM
. Do you understand what the WWW is about? What the HT in HTTP means?
. Others, especially those outside the US, may not know what Aqua Velva is.
bounty1012 says: Aug 28, 2009. 4:39 PM
World Wide Web and I believe the other one stands for Hyper Text
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