Cyberstalking

I’m Sorry if You Find That I’ve Blocked You

Here’s why I had to block over 100 accounts

Stalking including cyberstalking is not okay. (Photo: Jeon Sang-O)

Last night I made the tough decision to block over a hundred accounts. I had to do it because I have a stalker and it’s someone I know — my ex-boyfriend’s girlfriend. This isn’t the first time this person is stalking me on social media.

In the past, my stalker has created fake accounts to stalk me on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, and I've had to delete my old Facebook and Twitter accounts and deactivate my Instagram.

I found Medium and started spending all my time here instead of other social media pages. I barely post anything elsewhere, and I’m solely focused on writing here.

But anywhere my stalker learns that I’m active and may talk about my life, she finds it, creates a fake page, and stalks me.

I can’t be that important, or am I?

Anyway, I wrote an article yesterday — by far one of the most difficult stories I’ve ever had to write, and I thought nothing about it. After all, none of my friends or anyone I know personally reads my stories. The article was about my boyfriend’s lover who wanted to have my life. It was a very long story that was brewing inside me for years, and I finally felt it was the right time to tell this story.

I was relieved when I hit publish.

Three hours later, I received a message on my new Facebook from my stalker threatening me. She didn’t like what I had to say about my own life.

I thought hello? Freedom of speech! I can write my life lessons. I can write whatever I choose to write about.

“How would you know I’ve written about you if you weren’t stalking my blog,” I asked.

I’m used to her stalking me on Instagram and other places, but I was shocked to see her stalking me on Medium.

“Am I that important?’’

I mean, I must be for someone to go through all that trouble to keep tabs on my life. I have a link tree in my Instagram profile, but because my stalker can't see any of my posts because it's private, she followed the link which led her here.

See, it wouldn’t bother me if she was reading my stories and keeping it to herself, but reading my story, getting triggered, and messaging me about my story is just crazy.

But at this point, I’ve had enough of the stalking.

Stalking is illegal, and it’s never okay. It has to stop. I went online looking for help on what to do about it. There isn’t much to do other than block them, so I decided to block her.

But the thing is, I had no idea what profile she uses to stalk me.

There are many profiles that follow me with no followers, only following me and medium staff. Most of those accounts I know are from LinkedIn, where I share my articles and people create profiles to read my stories. Some come back to read, others don’t.

I didn’t know which one was my stalkers.

I found out from her when she messaged me that she wasn’t a paying member. I wished that at least she’d pay to read, so I earn from it but of course, stalkers don’t pay. So from that, I knew the account wouldn’t have a green circle around it.

I blocked almost every account without a green circle that was only following four or less people, especially those accounts with no followers, no stories of their own, no claps, no highlights, and no responses.

That was a tough decision, and I apologize to anybody who later realizes they can’t find my stories. I didn’t block you because you did something wrong. I did it because I had to.

I know my stalker won’t stop here because her obsession runs deep, so I’ll keep an eye out for any strange accounts with strange names and no profile pictures that start to follow me.

I’ve also had to change my Medium name so she can no longer find me when she searches my name. Something I’m not very thrilled about.

I doubt this will stop my stalker as she confessed to me she has plenty of her friends watching my every move and reading my every story.

I guess I’m very popular in my stalker’s world.

But I won’t tolerate this and will take the necessary steps as soon as I get back to the states even if that means reporting this situation to the police if I feel threatened or harassed in any way.

It’s unfortunate that I lost over 100 followers. I’m sorry if I had to block you, but an account similar to yours is stalking me.

Have you ever had someone stalk you? How did you handle the situation? Do you have any tips for me? Please let me know in the comments.

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