Stalking and Anti Stalking!

There are a lot of website out there created to promote stalking in many ways, such as the website Gawker.com with it's Gawker Stalker feature, such as using Gogglemaps to pin out where the celebrity was spotted.

Someone spots a celebrity and post this on the Stalker website with the directions to where he or she is, resulting in legions of fans then appearing at that spot. (that is if they read the Gawker Stalker updates) Gitika Ahuja discusses this website in her article Does Web Site Promote Celebrity Stalking? on the ABC news website.

You could also say that bloggers such as Perez Hilton, with his gossip blog on celebrities and the JakeWatch dedicated to stalk Jake Gyllenhaal are also encouraging young teenagers to follow their idols, fueling up under their obsession.

We all know that obessesion and stalking has lead to several tragic episodes, John Lennon as i have mentioned earlier in this blog is a perfect example, who was tragically killed by a deluded fan. On the bbc website there is an article found which describes the hours after the murder, when the killer was yet unknown yet already Mark Chapman, the killer was described as deranged.

There are less tragic stories as well, such as being an innocent fan coming across your favourite. Tom Willock (later well known photographer) has written an article called Confessions of a Celebrity Stakler, telling his tale of when he was a young boy trying to find his big celebrity crush Bebe Neuwirth, an hollywood actress. He tracked her down yet reciecved a very angry reply when he got in touch he finishes off with

"And real's fine for the real world, but it's hardly worth obsessing about. " (Willock,1999)

Yet we all know it is not only celebrities that can be stalked, the website Stalking behaviour talks about how to become aware of stalkers and provides a lot of information on the subject. it contains definitions such as the ones i have mentioned in a previous post. (Erotomania, predatory, rejected ++) it tells you what to do and what not to do such as trying to avoid the stalker, make it clear as early as possible that you do not wish to have any contact, make sure you have proof as documentation is the most important aspect of getting rid of a stalker. You can also have a look and find out if you are a stalker yourself, maybe it is a good idea to clam down the attention towards someone?

Another website which provides a lot of insight when it comes to help against stalking is the Antistalking website. They tell about a book called I know you really love me, which is supposed to be a very interesting resource and it contains case histories from victims, from stalkers, and more tragic cases.

According to Caslon Analytics, an Australian research website there were in 1997, passed Harassment Act in New Zealand, which states that harassment is prohibited via several means of contact. The same measures was also passed down by other countries in the world around the same time. The same website discusses cyberstalking and talks about privacy, security and social spaces etc.

I would like to say that if you feel like your are being stalked, please don't be afraid to let someone know, there's is nothing worse than feeling someone trespassing on your personal space.

My story

Yes i do have sort of a stalking story:O
My personal experience, so this is a lot more personal narrative, and i know it'll probably not be as filtered as it should be, sorry.
It might not classify as very dangerous and horrifying stalking, but i still felt a bit like a stalker over those few days.
It started with this band called Mcfly, they are a group of 4 young guys from the UK who play happy,funny pop music, which is the style of music young "kids" listen to nowadays. And i enjoy listening to them hehe.

Anyway, my story happend back in October 2006, like any young girl in UK i had tickets to see their concert called Motion in the ocean, only difference was me and my friends were coming over from Norway.
We had chosen the venue SECC in Glasgow which is a city in Scotland up north in Great Britain, nice to do two things at once eh? see scotland and mcfly, that was the idea anyway.
However, we did spend a lot of time outside the star's hotel, yes we did.
We did not leave untill about 2am the first night, after finally after soooo many hours of waiting out in the cold october air we had been able to exchange a few word with our idols.
It was the youngest one of us Kari who insisted on waiting, and we were happy we did afterwards.
But it did not stop there, we went back the day after, and had a quick chat with their security guy, who were very impressed by our dedication, flying over from Norway my home country.
Later on, he brought one of the guys over whilst we were having lunch, also outside the hotel, but a bit away from the crowd, embarrassing, but fun, i'd just taken the last bite of my sandwich when he came.
After the second concert (yes we saw the same concert twive), we returned to the hotel. And once again we were staying there till about 2-3am, and we did get to speak to the guys again, so it was fun.
I did feel a bit like a stalker at that time though, but i guess it was the only oportunity we had to actually get a word with the lads, and we enjoyed it very much, however getting up at 5am to take the train to the airport Prestwick was not as enjoyable.
My weekend of stalking everyone, but i did infact have a great time, and met a few fellow McStalkers. I do assure you i am not among the worst, and i pray to god i never will be haha..
(is it a bad idea to tell you i went back to uk later that same month to go to a signing with mcfly? and i would probably be lying if i said it was to visit a friend, even though i did do that as well hehe.. lucky coincidence it both happened at the same time hehe)
So this is the confession of a teenage stalker,
I know someone is bound to have a story similar, hehe..or am i the only one who find it fun to travel to other countries meet other people and do some innocent stalking for a few days?

We pretty aren't we?
anyway, I'd better stop it, before you get the wrong impression of me, i am not a pshyco nor am i crazy (i guess that would be an interesting discussion)
But the class is over as well, so i have to log off hehe.


Ida xxx

Is stalking itself a OK thing to do?

Like u said, stalking happens to celebtiries all the time, right? And I'm sure that some of them do stalk because they think they are "guardians" of their precious celebrities. Then, isn't stalking a type of voluteer work to protect them? SHould they be accused and put into jails or charged?

What is Stalking?

There are various degree's of stalking, but according to wikipedia what it comes down to in the end is unwanted contact, someone is invading your privacy against your will.
Some might be very innocent, with suttle contact methods and it does not effect the person targeted in their every day life. It is when the stalker starts following a person around, discover personal details, confidential information and things like that, that is when it is starting to get serious.

A new an growing variation of stalking is Cyberstalking, which in many ways is similar to personal stalking, and it is more of an extention of the concept, using the internet for the ways of contact, this is what Petherick writes about in this article
CYBER-STALKING: OBSESSIONAL PURSUIT AND THE DIGITAL CRIMINAL on Crime Library's website.
,I mean with new technologies comes new methods of stalking. If you are not careful enough with the information you post online it can quite easily happen to you.
How do you know that the person you are chatting to, who says he or she is your ages, from the states, bla.bla.bla, is not an old pig, living in your neighbouring city? If you don't personally know the person you can't.

There are also various types of stalkers; as i said it varies to what extent you are stalked, but also the reason for stalking can be many and I have looked at a few.
you have the Rejected stalkers, which pursue a victim to avenge, correct or reverse rejection, this could be anything from a divorce or simply being turned down.
Secondly there is the Resentful stalkers which strives to cause their victim distress by frightening them, mainly because of the feelings towards that particular person.
You also have the Intimacy seekers; the persons who wants to have an intimate relationship with you, looking at their victim as a long sought-for soulmate or something like that.
A more extreme variaty is the delusional distorder or Eroto-manic stalker which believes that their victim is in love with them, and interpret every statement to mean that their love will soon be returned and they will live according to the "happily ever after theory", celebrity stalkers are often placed in this category, but it is important to note that it is not all of them. Recently we've heard about the woman who allegdedly had an affair with Michaell Douglas and threaten to kill his wife Catherine Zeta Jones
Incompetent suitor is another type which may be a person that lacks social skills, but still have a fixation of someone who attracts their interest It is every interesting to read that among Female stalkers 12 out of 18 would classify themselves as Eroto/manic according to A study of Women Who Stalk
Lastly there is what has been called the Predatory stalker who spy on their victims in order to plan an attack, in some cases sexually, or maybe even fatal, we've all heard the story about John Lennon who was shot by a fan. (Mullen)

And throughout history there is so many examples of this type. I will probably talk more about this in the context of celebrity stalking later on in my blog, where there are a few example with fatal outcomes.
I will also look into some stories I have come across and maybe tell one of my own, hehe. very innocent though, and hopefully not very disturbing;)

But I think this is enough for one post, but keep checking in, because i will be adding more as we go along, and i love to hear your input, and your stories of course, if you have one. It can be funny, embarrassing or even serious if you have any, it is you who read who will in the end help me make my blog as interesting as possible.

Ida xxx
(I still feel like I need a catch phrase haha)

And we're off

So this is my iwrite blog, it's nice and pretty:P

Hehe i know there's a lot of pink going around on here, but i like pink and it fits well with the concept so i don't care, hopefully it won't blind you in any way or revolt you, because it's staying this way

So yeh, you guys should know who i am by now,

if not, shame on you:O

Anyway, I've chosen the topic of Stalking, and i will probably post some stories and some information on the phenomenon as well.

I do believe that we all have the curiosity of a stalker in us, but not everyone let it loose in such extreme ways. And not all stalking is necessarily horrifying stories.

I guess it is more the whole concept that scare people, and knowing that someone is following you around.

I can only imagine how hard it must be to be a celebrity, there's even blogs devoted to stalking them.

I know Jake Gyllenhaal has a blog devoted to stalking him.

How freaky is that? And how many blogs are there that actually gossip about celebrities? There's even bloggers who's become famous for doing exactly that.

Perez Hilton is probably one of the most well-known, both for his honesty and the similarites between his name and the Hilton heir's.

I find this topic quite interesting and i have indeed come across some fun stories, as well as some fatal stories concerning stalking, which i will probably be adding at a later date.

But now you know the background for my title and i hope you're intrigued to keep on reading my blog

I need a cool sign off, hehe, any suggestions?

Ida

xxx