How To Expose Someone On The Internet
Every day on social media, someone accuses another of poor behavior. Be it getting exposed for grooming, abuse, bigotry, being a plain jerk, or a false accusation of such, online accusations are a common occurrence.
Maybe you’ve been on the receiving end of someone unpleasant and wish to expose them. Perhaps you know one of their victims. If so, you’ve come to the right place. This is a step by step guide on how to expose a fellow online influencer. Keep in mind, different online communities have differing values and etiquette. I cannot 100% guarantee your success.
1: Is It Worth It?
Firstly, ask yourself: is it really worth it?
Not everything needs to be exposed. Rational people aren’t going to care that your now ex-friend left you on read for weeks. Someone telling you they personally don’t like your art in DMs without insulting you is not a big deal. Heck, a person accidentally triggering you emotionally before knowing your triggers and then immediately apologizing isn’t worth making a big fuss about.
On the other hand, some things should be made known. Abuse, bigotry, harassment, and grooming are common examples of this. You never know who the next victim could be if the perpetrator doesn’t face the heat. However, tread carefully when it comes to victims that aren’t you. Sometimes, they don’t want the situation to go public. Respect that, but report any illegal behavior to legal authorities and warn anyone involved with the perpetrator privately. Anonymize the victims’ names if needed.
Private false accusations and gossip are somewhat of an edge case. If it’s harmless dis-or-misinformation being spread, then perhaps putting the liar on blast isn’t worth the hassle. More damaging lies such as them faking DMs to claim you’re abusive are another story. Ultimately though, in these scenarios it’s up to you.
Making public accusations against a content creator could have various negative effects. It can start drama, result in the accused being blacklisted from collaborations, and even result in outright harassment campaigns and doxxing. Some of these can be mitigated, and you are not responsible for random people’s actions. [1]
But just ensure that your target really does deserve the vitriol first. Because it is not fun.
2: Gather Your Evidence
The strongest accusations have proof to them. People do lie, after all, and good proof shows that the claim being made is true.
On the Internet, evidence comes in different forms. The main kinds are screenshots, recordings, and detailed testimony. This article will go into all of these.
Screenshots are a very common form of evidence. They can be of messages, custom statuses, screen names, and deleted posts. One should be careful on how and what to screenshot, though.
In some jurisdictions, recording private conversations is illegal. This can include one-on-one messaging. Of course, “private” can be a subjective term. Some things shouldn’t be kept secret. To add to this, legal action is costly, and the person you’re exposing likely won’t find it worthwhile to press charges over online controversy. Still, always check the laws of where you live. You don’t want to get into trouble with the law. [2]
With that being said, good screenshots are great for proving things. But it’s common knowledge by now they can be faked and manipulated [3]. There are a few things you can do to avoid such allegations:
-Use real conversations with the perpetrator. Fabricating screenshots will likely be found out and only make you look worse. Similarly, conversations with other people discussing them behind their back only prove that the person was being talked negatively about. Make sure the information shown in the photos is actually damning as well. Small talk won’t make the cut.
-Screenshot actual usernames. Many messaging platforms allow users to have generic display names [4]. These display names can be shared by multiple people on the platform, and may not match up with the actual username of the individual. They can also be changed much more easily. So when taking screenshots, ideally make sure to include at least one screenshot showing the perpetrator’s username in tandem with the messages if possible. At the same time, don’t dox the person. It’s often illegal [5].
-Don’t crop or mark up too much. Cropped screenshots contain less information and are easier to fake than uncropped ones. Also applies to heavily marked up pictures as well. Only hide what you need to.
Similar tips also somewhat apply to recordings, with the following addendums:
-Be careful where you click. You don’t want to accidentally leak your own personal information. If it does happen, either censor or record again if possible.
-For calls, make sure it’s actually recording the call. Mobile built-in screen recorders often only record the screen and device unless you explicitly tell them to record outside audio.
Testimony is the weakest form of proof, as it is simply word after the fact. However, when combined with screenshots and recordings testimonials are good for supplementing your accusations. Try to be detailed and read it over to ensure there are no holes in your story. When it comes to real-life wrongdoing, photos of weapons used by the wrongdoer during incidents can be useful.
3: Connect With Other Victims/People Involved (Optional)
Perpetrators frequently have more than one victim. Sometimes they’re all involved in the same situation, sometimes it’s different cases. Either way, having other victims succeed at backing up their claims can help strengthen yours.
That being said, don’t barge into a person’s DMs and harass them into helping you. It’s rude to them and reflects poorly on you. Be careful who you enlist long term as well. It’s not great to end up aiding someone even worse than the person you want to expose after that’s done.
4: Organize And Double Check
Once you have everything you need, you should organize it into something. Common forms include videos, documents, and social media posts. There are advantages and disadvantages to each form.
Videos have strong replay value and can even be entertaining to a point. They also require the most effort, using both audio and video timed together well. Monetizing them can also be a double edged sword. Sure, you’re making money, but it may look like you’re just doing it for shallow attention.
Documents are probably the easiest way, being text only without character limits. However, a mere Google Doc link might not grab the most attention without a prior fanbase. Make the document too long and disorganized and you could encourage an “I ain’t reading all that” mentality.
Social media posts are how most exposés get promoted. And for good reason, as social media allows easy searching of content. Some text based platforms — Twitter, notably — do have character limits [6], so be careful not to completely flood your main profile with posts exposing one person. It might look like harassment.
No matter what you do, it’s always important to double check your content before publishing. Is the grammar correct? Is the formatting good? Are there any unintentional implications which may not go over well? Does everything add up? If the answer is yes, then you’re good to go.
5: Publish And Promote
Once everything is checked over and polished, it’s time to release your exposé!
Algorithms often favour postings associated with high engagement previously. So if you’re not particularly popular, your job could be a little harder. The trick here is to use keywords and hashtags. Don’t overuse tags though, as you could look like a bot. [7]
Self-promotion channels of Discord servers may be places to promote your exposé as well. Make sure to check with the server rules, as many Discord servers have anti-drama rules.
Finally, be careful how you act in general. Being a bad person is not only morally wrong, it may also make the perpetrator look and feel superior. Don’t encourage people to harass the exposed either.
The exposed person and their allies likely won’t be happy you called them out. They may try to fight back and dig up dirt on you. Be prepared.
…
If you follow all of these steps, you should be on track to getting a wrongdoer held accountable in some way. Hopefully.
Is there anything I missed? Feel free to comment down below!
Sources
1: Cuncic, Arlin. “Mental Health Effects of Reading Negative Comments Online.” Verywell Mind, 23 November 2022, https://www.verywellmind.com/mental-health-effects-of-reading-negative-comments-online-5090287. Accessed 6 April 2024.
2: Matthiesen, Wickert & Lehrer, S.C. “RECORDING CONVERSATIONS IN ALL 50 STATES CHART (00125308).DOCX.” mwl-law.com, 14 February 2022, https://www.mwl-law.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/RECORDING-CONVERSATIONS-CHART.pdf. Accessed 6 April 2024.
3: The Gemoo Team. “How to Detect a Fake Text Message Screenshot?” Gemoo, 27 December 2023, https://gemoo.com/blog/detect-fake-text-message-screenshot.htm. Accessed 6 April 2024.
4: Dwiastuti, Linda. “What Is a Social Media Handle + Tips for Creating One.” Hostinger, 27 July 2023, https://www.hostinger.com/tutorials/what-is-social-media-handle. Accessed 6 April 2024.
5: Jones, Kelly. “Doxxing is a federal crime in some cases.” VERIFYThis.com, 5 February 2024, https://www.verifythis.com/article/news/verify/national-verify/when-doxxing-is-federal-crime/536-6ed14017-b1fc-4227-b5fa-4a3cdfa635f0. Accessed 6 April 2024.
6: Twitter. “Counting characters | Docs | Twitter Developer Platform.” Twitter Developer Platform, https://developer.twitter.com/en/docs/counting-characters. Accessed 6 April 2024.
7: Sprout Social. “Social Media Engagement: What it is and How to Improve it.” Sprout Social, 20 October 2022, https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-engagement/. Accessed 6 April 2024.
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