UPDATES FROM $realitysquared : Passwords & “Calling Out”.

PASSWORDS

This week I am once again opening the CEA update with a talk about password security.

It was not that long ago when I discussed password and account security issues but recent events have compelled me to once again bring up the subject.

Recently a listing of approximately 150 deviantART usernames and passwords was found circulating among several nests of internet trolls. Our staff responded quickly to shut down the accounts whose passwords had been compromised but not before several accounts had been vandalized by third parties.

We are slowly restoring these accounts to their rightful owners and reactivating them but during this process I discovered by speaking with the proper account owners that they pretty much all shared one careless habit among them; ninety percent of them all used the same password on multiple websites.

Another thing I noticed is that many of the passwords on the published listing were easily guessed or very simple, consisting sometimes of favorite colors or character names from cartoons.

I must once again ask each of our resident artists to take a look at the password they are using and if it is not a unique alphanumeric which you use only here I very much urge you to change it to such a password and to keep it absolutely secret.

Using the same password on multiple websites can be quite hazardous in the event that one of those websites maintains poor password security and a listing of passwords becomes public.

CALLING OUT

As most users are aware, about a year ago we ceased to intervene in situations involving our artists talking about other artists in a negative way. We actually only just officially announced this change in policy a couple of months ago.

Now this policy isn’t changing, we will continue to intervene only in situations which we believe are severe, but I need to address the issue of responsibility and reaping what you’ve sown.

A small but vocal minority have taken advantage of our ‘hands off’ policy to write a number of journals about how they dislike this artist, dislike that artwork, or how this guy is copying that guy . We do not consider this to be a problem.

The problem comes in when one of these “call out” journals, as they are typically called, results in petty schoolyard drama as some of the more objectionable or controversial journals attract a large number of people with opposing opinions or a need to ‘defend’ whatever or whoever is the subject of the journal.

In most cases these dramas never reach the point where the staff needs to intervene but all too often the helpdesk collects numerous reports for “help” in controlling the drama that the artist has caused themselves. In the vast majority of cases we will not offer such assistance.

If you feel the need to create a controversial journal or a journal which talks derisively about another artist be prepared to handle the consequences of your words. People with opposing viewpoint will show up, they will cause arguments and some of them will be rude to you and in the majority of cases none of them will step out of line far enough to justify having the staff step in to break up the situation.

In short, if you cannot deal with the consequences of writing a controversial statement then do not write one in the first place. Petty dramas will not be addressed by the staff.

This same caution also holds true regardless of where you are on site, forums, deviation pages, or elsewhere.