Linda Hall: Hurtful attack via Facebook

Linda Hall is assistant editor at Hawke's Bay Today.

My phone rang early Tuesday morning. It was my daughter. "You are a hated woman," she said.

Me: What do you mean?

Her: Have you seen Hawke's Bay Today's Facebook page?

Me: No. Why?

Her: People are saying some pretty horrible things about you over that tattoo column.

So of course I went and had a look. I was gobsmacked. I was told to: "Go bury your head in the sandpit, ignorant and Ugly Cow".

I was called a miserable cow, a prude, told that I looked like I had a carrot up my ... and that I should be fired.

Someone also commented that I had a small mouth. Not sure if this was an insult or a compliment. If you tell someone they have a big mouth it would be an insult so the opposite of that is a small mouth ... therefore it must be a compliment ... so thanks.

I was called stupid, ignorant and told I was a waste of space. That's just a taste of the abuse that was hurled at me online.

While I was reading this, Breakfast was on and television hosts were reading out online abuse aimed at them, highlighting online bullying in the wake of Charlotte Dawson's death.

I know there has been a bit of controversy over a couple of the presenters "abuse stories" being made up. But let's not let that distract from the intended message - online bullying is not okay.

The attack on me was because I dared to say that young people should think before they got a tattoo.

I know I made some pretty stupid decisions when I was 15, 16 and even 17.

I was talking about garage tattoos done by mates or being tattooed because friends had them. I was talking about people like the person who texted the paper last Monday saying she understood exactly want I meant because years ago she paid $100 for a tattoo and so far it had cost her more than $3000 to get rid of it and she still had the green to go.

That's it. Not once did I say I didn't like tattoos or the people that have them. People in my immediate family have tattoos.

As a columnist I expect opinion about what I write but this took me by surprise.

I felt discombobulated all day Tuesday. I couldn't settle at work. I wanted to keep going back to Facebook and then I didn't. I was hurt, angry and disappointed that after all the publicity about online bullying it hadn't made one bit of difference.

My daughters were upset, my sister contacted me to see if I was alright and the day just went from bad to worse as more and more people shared the link.

I think that towards the end of Tuesday and early Wednesday people weren't actually reading the column - they were just feeding off all the nasty remarks and adding to them.

By this stage I had decided I wasn't reading any more of the comments.

But one comment stuck in my mind ... don't judge a book by its cover they said.

I don't and I never have. It doesn't matter to me what colour your hair, skin, or eyes are. I don't care if you have one tattoo or a hundred, pierced ears, tongue, lip, eyebrow or navel.

What's on the outside is only visual, what matters the most is what's inside and judging by what I have experienced in the past week there are some people out there who are not so nice on the inside.

FOOTNOTE: I'm almost tempted to get a tattoo just to see what all the fuss is about.

A WORD OF WARNING: My Facebook page was hacked over the weekend. A friend request was sent to all my friends. When someone queried it the person replied that I had a virus and had to start a new page. Funny that because when that reply came through I was talking to my friend on the phone and was nowhere near a computer.

When someone did accept the imposter started a conversation with them. They then said I have some great news. I have won $100,000 and would like to share it with you. We all know what would have come next ... what are your bank details. So if you get a friend request from anyone you are already friends with, check with them before you accept.

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