Jason Irwin dot Net

Defending Online Credibility – A Futile Endeavor?

January 15, 2009 Internet

This past week has been one I hope to never repeat again as it seems that once again, what I thought was a good deed, has come back to punish me. However, unlike the last few times I’ve helped others in need; this one has affected my credibility within some social media circles. And, although I have collected quite a bit of evidence to prove my case, there will likely be no mountain of evidence tall enough to prove that I was played for a fool, rather than being the player myself.

The situation started a few weeks ago when an online friend of mine on EFNet, had mentioned that he had just lost his job and wouldn’t be able to afford the next month’s rent. This has become a common story around the world during the economic downturn but what was different in this case was that the guy was an English-speaking foreigner living in Hiroshima, Japan.

Isaak Phillips and I have been chatting for the better part of a year on the text-only chat network that is IRC, and he seemed to have been through quite a bit of personal troubles. Due to his ever-wandering eye he had gone through a difficult divorce and, apparently, was living in a weekly mansion like LeoPalace21. At first it seemed a little too dramatic but, as time went on, the story stayed the same. The consistency of his comments remained the same, and I started to give him a little more trust.

Like any place on the internet, IRC has been a hotbed for liars who want to receive sympathy for events that have never happened to them. But these stories and online personas rarely go on longer than a few weeks. IRC, by web standards, is an ancient chat platform that has long since fallen from the limelight due to the successes of other IM networks and social media sites. This usually means that the people on the network are from an older generation of computer users, and have usually grown up enough to learn that “lying is bad.”

The Website

At the start of this year, Isaak was evicted from his apartment. It seemed a little quick, since most people are given a month of leeway before something as severe as an eviction takes place, but he was in a pinch and was reportedly staying at an internet café for the night in order to plan his next steps. Suggestions ranging from the very sensible “go to Hello Work” to the very logical “fly back home” were tossed around the channel but Isaak didn’t want to do any of those. Instead he said that he would walk from Hiroshima to Hokkaido, a trek of about 1,600km.

Crazy? Oh yes. Realistic? It’s certainly possible, but I wouldn’t go far as to say it’s probable.

First off, it’s winter in Japan. That means that, aside from the cold, the guy would have to walk across mountains and through valleys where the forces of nature would beat him into submission. Regardless of how great it might seem to travel the length of a country by foot, even the explorers from centuries ago knew that it required months of planning. What Isaak was planning to do was tantamount to suicide. But, giving him the benefit of the doubt, I offered some space on my server so that he could record his trek and perhaps maintain some semblance of sanity. I bought him a domain (blogging-bum.com), quickly set up a WordPress installation, uploaded a bunch of themes that I had downloaded from the repository and SmashingMagazine, and then waited for him to make some initial entries.

This initial investment required less than $16 USD, and an hour’s worth of time. What would I get out of it? A link and maybe some residual traffic from his site.

Once all of this was done, I posted some links on Twitter and JapanSoc as a way to drive some initial traffic.

And boy did it get traffic.

The Speed of Social Media

During the next 24 hours, the site was discussed by several people on FaceBook, three websites, and four web forums. Considering the number of people that have recently created fake blogs just to drive attention or scam people out of hard-earned money, this site was put under some intense scrutiny, and rightly so. Since I am not Isaak and I don’t know him personally, I never bothered to defend him against the accusations that flew.

“If he’s homeless, why does he have a netbook and a cell phone?”
“Every foreigner in Japan has a digital camera, so why won’t he use his?”
“Natto is not green.”

Valid points. When I had fired off an email to him suggesting he back up his claims a little better for the online community, this is the message I got back:

“C’mon, man. I just spent the night sleeping in a park and hugging my netbook for warmth while it charged. Cut me some slack.”

Parks in Hiroshima have power outlets? How considerate of the city to give people free power!

At this point I started examining the access logs on my web server. What were the IP addresses he was connecting from? Were they all different? Was there a pattern as he moved from place to place? I also decided to check out the telephone listings in Hiroshima to see if I could find a name that resembled “Phillips” in Katakana.

The results weren’t very encouraging.

Since giving him space on the server, he had accessed the site from a total of four places. Those four places were not unique, either. It seemed that he would use one IP that belonged to an OCN client every night, while making use of the other three at various times during the day. This is clearly not the act of someone that has no place to stay or is half-serious about making a cross-country trek. Digging a little deeper, I checked out the IP he had used while chatting on IRC from my logs. The same IP’s were being used. I was played for a sucker. The only thing that seemed to be even half-true was the city name, as it was part of his hostname.

In retrospect, I should have waited at least a few weeks before promoting this guy’s site. This way I would have been able to see just how real it was. If his posts had included too many false references, like the “green natto”, then I would have had ample reason to decide that his near-year-long rouse on the internet was really a sham, and that I was being played for a fool. Instead, by promoting the lie with my very own name, I have come under fire as the perpetrator of this internet fraud.

Defending One’s Self

As expected, people have demanded that I “come clean” and apologize for lying to the internet community. That said, I don’t feel there is anything to “come clean” about. Like anyone else that had left a positive comment on Isaak’s site, I had fallen for the ruse. However, unlike everyone else, I am the one that looks like a lying idiot. But how can anyone seriously defend themselves against accusations that are delivered across the internet? Is it even something worth doing?

This is something I have considered over the last two days as the truth behind the matter became more apparent. Regardless of what information I make available to the internet community, I will still be considered a liar. Server logs can be faked. IRC logs can be faked. Chats over MSN and other services can be faked. Pictures can be faked. Anything that could possibly clear me of guilt can be faked. Aside from getting on the next Shinkansen to Hiroshima where I walk around town and ask every foreigner with a netbook if they’re name is Isaak (or whatever it really is), there is no way I could realistically find the instigator of this petty squabble. Even if I were successful in finding the man, what would I do? Put him on a video camera and make him apologize while standing next to me? Then what? Would I put that video on YouTube and use it as a vindication mechanism?

That wouldn’t work at all, because who’s to say that person next to me is really “Isaak”? I could have just paid someone to act as “the face” and take the heat online.

So what other options are available? Assuming the guy could be found, I could take him up to Tokyo and other cities where the main online doubters reside to apologize in person. There he could corroborate my version of the truth and let the accusers act as judge, jury, and executioner. But wouldn’t this be met with the same doubt as a YouTube video?

This would probably only act to incriminate me even more, as they are the actions of a desperate man. Such actions would also be an incredible amount of work that would require a lot of time and money on my side, which are both in short supply.

Taking the Heat

It seems that, regardless of what option is found, my name will be treated the same way as pond scum in certain online circles. Does this bother me? Yes and no. The foreign community in Japan has a lot of great members who will often open windows of opportunity for anyone that asks. Unfortunately, by losing credibility within that circle, I have essentially had some very beneficial bridges burned away.

I will probably never find anyone with the name of “Isaak Phillips,” and this site will forever be associated in some circles as the place where “yet another online scam artist writes.” People I have never personally met who look for some cheap website hosting from me will probably be sent off to WordPress.com and the 40+ sites that I manage will continue to keep my server busy for years.

This has certainly been a learning experience for me, as I have not yet had to deal with anyone who intentionally used a free website this way, and the mistakes made will never be repeated.

On that note, I apologize to anyone that was taken in by the rouse, as I should have done a little more ground work to double-check the authenticity of the man’s claims. Had I taken things a little slower, the lie would have been caught and dealt with long before it became associated with my name.

Tags: apology, blogging, lie, mistake