A quick and easy step by step guide on how to deal with online harassment.

I was going to make a video on this but my face is too puffy from crying my eyes out last night.

If you look at what my former friends said last night, it’s pretty disgusting.

Compare that to my direct interactions with them.

Why not call them out by name? It’s called class. I don’t even call out my harasser by name.

I spent the evening discouraging people to not speak out in my defense. It leads to further problems.

Anyways, here we go.

Step 1. Google your name.

If you’re an anon account, what you need to do is Google your username in various combos with your actual name.

For example:

[username] + Sarah
[username] + home state
[username] + employer

If you can find it, someone else can, too.

Simple stuff. https://twitter.com/Sarah_Mojarad/status/1336235019891666945

Step 2. The quickest/easiest way to be identified is using the same username on multiple SoMe platforms.

Everyone is on multiple platforms. If you’re posting pics or list your name, it’ll be found.

An anon shared identities w me using this method. I ignored the info.

Step 3. Here’s where social engineering comes into play.

Understand why someone is targeting you. What’s the underlying grievance?

If you can understand that, you can understand why you’re being attacked.

For example, with the person I helped a few weeks ago, we narrowed it down to two people immediately. One of the suspects was an ex.

With that, I focused on some of the info searching using previously mentioned techniques.

The harasser was using multiple accounts to spam the target’s Instagram account. That activity also increased the likelihood of it being the ex.

The comments were immature and persistent. She wasn’t going to give up.

One of the accounts she was using was not new. She had used it previously to harass an ex a year ago.

I got lucky. A year ago, someone posted a screenshot of the harassment the other ex received.

Long story short, we reached out to the other ex and he confirmed he was harassed for six months following the breakup.

See? This stuff isn’t rocket science. Harassers can easily be identified.

I could share more basic tips, but quite frankly, I don’t care to do so.

Why help anyone who participated in the bombardment and pile-ons over the last two nights?

I’ve stated this repeatedly, not everything is about MedTwitter.

I work w other groups.

I don’t want anything to do w the young adults in MedTwitter who think that every post is about them. I want less to do w the people who encourage their harassment.

Go away. Leave me alone.

See what I mean? Everyone can benefit from having this information. https://twitter.com/sarah_mojarad/status/1354878914322026497

I’m not going to stop talking about online harassment because it makes people uncomfortable.

I’m not going to stop talking about my other topics either.

Attack my credentials and experience all you’d like.

Science communication, online professionalism, and online harassment are in my wheelhouse.