Alanah Pearce is an Australian games journalist and a YouTuber. She’s also an advocate of the mantra: “Mother knows best.”
After receiving a number of unsavory rape threats online (an unfortunately common occurrence in this day and age – especially in terms of people who chose the career path of “games journalist”), Pearce decided that reasoning with her harassers would most likely end up to no avail. Rather than firing back with a traditional response to online deviants, she reached out to the one authority that even the most heinous of trolls can’t handle – their mothers.
Read more details regarding the situation after the break.
Australian Games Journalist Reaches Out To Boy’s Mothers
As previously mentioned, Australian games journalist Alanah Pearce, the subject of abusive online messages, decided to approach the mothers of individuals who had sent her the threats. She had the following to say on her method of handling the situation:
“A while ago, I realised that a lot of the people who send disgusting or overly sexual comments to me over the internet aren’t adult males. It turns out that mostly they’re young boys and the problem is they don’t know any better, so responding to them rationally didn’t resolve the situation. It was just a way to try to reach a resolution, to productively teach young boys it’s not okay to be sexist to women, even if they’re on the internet that they are real people and that there should be actual consequences for that.”
Reportedly, Pearce successfully identified four of the boy’s mothers, and subsequently contacted each – receiving a reply from one, which can be seen below:
Sometimes young boys on Facebook send me rape threats, so I've started telling their mothers. pic.twitter.com/0Cbs81eXiE
— Alanah Pearce (@Charalanahzard) November 28, 2014
As an ultimatum of sorts, Pearce said:
“Every time this happens to me, I will do this. I won’t necessarily post it on Twitter, but I will definitely continue doing it.”
Editor’s Take: Honestly, I think this is hilarious. It’s probably the most effective manner in which to deal with immature online trolls who are ignorant of the fact that actions they take online are not ethereal, they do not simply vanish into thin air without consequence. It may seem an indirect method of confronting the true matter, but it’s really not. Bravo.
What are your thoughts? Do you feel that Pearce’s handling of online threats directed at her was satisfactory, appropriate, or entertaining? Or something else entirely?
Let us know in the comments section below! As always, stay tuned to GamerHeadlines.com for the latest in video game and technology news.
Image credits: Alanah Pearce’s YouTube channel, Blip.tv