Just don’t do it, it’s not worth it.
When I found out I was being stalked over 30 years ago by a stranger to me, I had no idea about the first rule of being on the receiving end of being stalked, and I tried to have a cordial conversation with the person. Because they were a teenager still at school I thought I knew how to handle it, because I was an adult and a few years older, and I did not.
It wasn’t until I finally needed help from an organization and a lawyer, that I learned you should never do this. And it’s true about any attention at all, even mocking and insults are a no.
Do’s and Don’ts for Thwarting Stalkers by Jane Brody — From the New York Times August 25, 1998 Hall, an expert on criminology at California State University at Bakersfield, emphasizes the importance of taking any stalking behavior seriously and dealing with it aggressively from the outset. “If someone’s behavior seems out of line, if it is making you uncomfortable, something’s up,” she said. “You have a better chance of putting a stop to it if you don’t give it a chance to accelerate.” CUT OFF ALL CONTACT Hall compared stalkers to “naughty third graders.” “They don’t care what kind of attention they get,” she said, “as long as it’s attention.” Any kind of response on the part of the victim, no matter how negative, can be construed by the stalker as a sign that she is really interested and is trying to keep a relationship going.
This really is one of the most important advice people can get when they’re being stalked. Preferably before you get stalked, so you don’t make the mistake I did and many others make.
Even if the stalker isn’t a youth it applies, but most especially if the person is a youth – if you can just remember back to being a youth, and how any attention, or really anything at all, was blown out of proportion. Adolescents also experience less inhibitions at times. Everyone knows this because we’ve all been there to one extent or another in the past. So youths engaging in stalking behaviour should never be minimized or disregarded as unserious. It’s at best inappropriate and likely unlawful behaviour as there are stalking laws these days, and possibly unfortunately can be a prelude to violence.
Vincennes University – stalking and cyberstalking While most stalkers only want your attention, you can’t predict how intrusive a stalker may become.
At a minimum, giving attention just leads to more stalking, even in the best case scenario.
Of course making it into content is going to get loads of clicks. And anyone trying to warn the content creator is likely going to be lost in a sea of other more interesting comments or attempts to communicate with them. They may even believe that making it into viral content is some form of pushing back and claiming the upper hand, but it’s not likely to work that way sadly.
University of Pennsylvania – Penn Violence Prevention – Stalking Don’t communicate with the stalker or respond to attempts to contact you.
Remember this stuff for your potential future self even if you can’t get it across to someone else.