Hiya John

Very interesting topic I've stumbled upon.. have had a few instances of the hounding that these girls have experienced as well. From guys getting verbally abusive and upset because you don't respond to their message the instant they send them or constantly messaging you every time you're online. It gets so annoying and crazy sometimes.. partially why I left the site almost a year ago. I had one guy on MSN constantly bugging me every time I logged in and "nudging" me every time I took longer than a few moments to respond (and I absolutely HATE the nudge feature!!) My problem was that I never blocked him when I should have.. thought it was harmless although it bugged the hell out of me. I didn't log into MSN for more than 6 months.. I kid you not, within 10 seconds of signing back on there he messages me. And thats when I knew I had to block him! I've learned my lesson now and don't respond to crap messages and ignore and report the abusive ones.

And Mega, that is no reason to call yourself a "greedy bastard"! I think its called "being normal" lol! There is no way you can have a connection with someone based on pic and bio alone- you can be attracted but not connected. So you may be a bastard but not for that reasoning

Ooh chigirl he sounds a bit of a nightmare! Try signing on as "appear offline" and then you can block anyone you dont want to talk to before they know you're there. It's how I manage things sometimes

Anyway I'm glad I'm not the only one! Seems to be surprisingly (and disturbingly) common!

Known as Internet Limpets. Lots of them out there. Lots in real life too, in real life they are usually easier to avoid. And I also think in real life unless a person has a MAJOR problem with not understanding social cues, the word "no" etc. they are more likely to back off sooner.
I think its when they are hiding in their homes behind that monitor with no one else around to see just what they are doing and saying, they dont stop to think about how the recipient is feeling.
If you go up to a stranger at a bus stop and start harrassing them to talk to you, for their phone number etc. often enough there will be other people there to tell them to back off and they can see it in your facial expressions, tone of voice etc that they are overstepping your boundaries.
At home alone they got no one to tell them to quit being twonks and some hang on to every word as encouragement.
I remember once years ago in a pub a guy asked to buy me a drink and i politely said no thanks and he responded by calling me every bitch under the sun - before i had time to react, some random bloke stood beside him headbutted him! If he'd responded with that comment to me via PM he would have gotten away with merely being blocked by me or some choice written words back. But basically, he'd have gotten away with it.
I think of that Dumb and Dumber film where Carrey asks the girl what are his chances of getting it on with her and she doesnt want to offend him (and she's married) she says "One chance in a million" and he gets real excited and says "So there IS a chance- YES!!!" and he doesnt get the hint.
I like to think of myself as a reasonably adjusted person, but even I struggle with internet etiquette. If I email/PM/msn/text someone and they dont respond, at what point do you write again, or say to myself "this person isnt interested" and I back off. I live in fear of being thought of as an internet stalker! It does mean that I tend to back off too easily, thus it looks like I am not interested in making any effort, but I'd rather that than piss someone off.

Some aspects of this so-called desperation sounds a bit like the male equivalent of bunny boiling!

Maybe not weird then, but a bloody nuisance yes

I understand they're insecure, but since when was that an excuse for making a fool of yourself and annoying or even scaring someone else?

I find that when I have the courtesy to reply back to say thanks, but I'm not interested that I get the most hassle. I get asked why or just plain abuse.