'I put on my Harriet the Spy raincoat and went to work': Heroic stranger vanquishes a cyberbully, hanging the culprit's dirty laundry in the college Dean's office

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Mar 23, 2024 6:00 PM EDT

Who has your back? We can sometimes count on our friends to be in our corner, but when they're not around, who will step up and be a hero? If you're lucky (like the girl in our next story) the heroic white knight backing you up might just be a silent stranger online.

We all remember the days of the 'mean Internet'. Although there are still folks online hiding behind their screens and commenting vile things they'd never say to a person in real life, there was an era online where posters were completely unhinged. It was cyber warfare out there and the bullies were king. 

Our story begins back in the peak of this decade, in 2013, and we can find our hero solemnly scrolling Reddit online. They quickly discovered a cruel subreddit dedicated to fat-shaming strangers where people would post a covert photo of someone and then, like feral hyenas, the commenters would come for their pound of flesh with biting comments and mean jabs. 

Well, our hero wouldn't stand for that. Scroll for the entire story of how a hero became a sleuth, clearing out the worst offender on the sub and nearly getting them expelled from their college campus. 

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  • 01
    C52650 CD74180617852DB07919 "Not revenge but justice" ติ 00
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  • 02
    Posted by u/metricmeteor 2 hours ago I outed a woman terrorizing her overweight classmate. Back in 2013ish, there was a subreddit specifically for shaming overweight people. Basically, unhappy people would take photos of overweight people and post them publicly for other unhappy people to ridicule.
    via metricmeteor
  • 03
    When I found out the sub existed, I had to see it for myself. I clicked on a couple of posts and it was just as awful as you'd think. (The subreddit was taken down a few years ago for being hateful, thank god.)
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  • 04
    One post in particular was extra horrific. A college girl posted a photo of her classmate while INSIDE OF A CLASSROOM. I was absolutely fuming. A classroom should be the one place people feel safe, and this woman was using it to find material for one of the worst places on the Internet.
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  • 05
    I clicked on the poster's username and was horrified to find that they had been doing this dozen posts of her classmates inside of for months. There were at least a classrooms. I was so angry and sad for the woman in the photo and I couldn't let this fly.
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  • 06
    I put on my Harriet the Spy raincoat and went to work. I went through every single post and comment she'd made on the account. I figured out what college she went to, where she worked, and I had an idea of her name. After a couple of hours of digging, I figured out her full name. Searched her name on the school database and on social media and found photos of her at work, confirming her ID.
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  • 07
    I went to the website of the college she went to and emailed her Dean's assistant letting her know what was going on. I sent in screenshots of the posts, photos that confirmed her name and I told her exactly how I figured out her identity. I expected to never hear back.
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  • 08
    An hour later, the assistant told me she was forwarding my email to the Dean and thanked me. Just an hour after that, I received an email from the Dean herself, thanking me for alerting her to what was happening, and letting me know she would do an investigation. I assumed it was lip service.
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  • 09
    Two days later, every single one of the poster's posts and comments had been removed, and she deleted all of her social media accounts. I hope she learned an important lesson that day. What an
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  • 10
    To sweeten the deal, I did all my investigative work while on a paid internship for a company I hated, so I got paid to do it.
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  • 11
    TI; Dr: found a woman posting pictures of her classmates on a fat shaming subreddit. Found out the poster's identity and emailed the Dean of her college. Two days later, the poster's comments, posts, and social media accounts were deleted.
    via metricmeteor
  • 12
    PoppyStaff 1 hr. ago Not really revenge; more like pest eradication. 750 Reply Share TeenageShitStorm 38 min. ago The Eradicator! 29 Reply Share ... DangerousDave303 7 min. ago The Verminator!
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    JEWCEY 34 min. ago I declare there was a fumigation this day. And it was good.
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    Belgianwaffle4444 1 hr. ago. edited 1 hr. ago Why would anyone dedicate their life to body shaming others is beyond me. Like just pick up gardening or woodworking or something.
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    Tamalene 54 min. ago Miserable people do miserable things to make them feel like their lives aren't so miserable.
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  • 16
    PresidentIvan 1 hr. ago Scary how easy it is to find someone's personal information and ruin someone's life. She deserved it though.
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  • 17
    ruby_eyed_rabbit . 1 hr. ago The cyber bully ruined her own life, OP reported the girls bullying and held her accountable for her cruel actions. Without OP's effort it's possible that her classmates would have found the posts themselves.
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  • 18
    stickthatupyourarse 27 min. ago It's a good idea never to post any personal details on reddit. Don't post photos/lie about details to avoid being doxed like this. Also why I delete my account every few months. Also don't be a in general.
    via stickthatupyourarse
  • 19
    Themurlocking96 · 13 min. ago Not revenge but justice. 3 Reply Share The DeFecto 9 min. ago Not all heros wear capes.
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  • 20
    JTD177 36 min. ago You are a hero, the world needs more people like you 4 Reply Share LookAwayPlease510 26 min. ago That's awesome! I wonder if she got expelled. What an evil person. You'd have to really hate yourself to do something like that.
    via JTD177
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    Low-Film-9770 12 min. ago You're like the Batman of social media, thank you for your service I've always hated people who take pics of others without consent even worst share to spread hate. Pure evil filth. But I'm so happy there's people like you who stand up for what's right and take action, all my love for you
    via Low-Film-9770

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investigator dean deserved hero Random Heroics epic bully deserves cyberbully sleuth random detective awesome stranger heroic Reddit college
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