Ever been stalked at KudoZ?

Jessica Noyes wrote:

Armorel has some very good points about the use of KudoZ. However, Yasutomo is saying that her "stalker" enters KudoZ *through her profile*. The answerer is not posting these neutrals and disagrees as he or she comes across interesting terms to discuss, but is rather, if I understand it correctly, deliberately selecting Yasutomo's answers for criticism. This is a personal attack, and should not be allowed.

Helen Shiner wrote:

You have expressed it all very cogently and kindly, Armorel. I can only concur with everything you say. The only other thing I would wish to add would be that, unpleasant as the effect might be, I doubt that this is stalking per se. People can legitimately choose to track another peer or, indeed, a forum topic or a Kudoz question on this site. I have never tracked another peer in this way, so I do not know quite how it works when someone choses to do so, but I have recently been asked if I would mind someone tracking me - the system permits me as the trackee to choose if I will allow it. [I get the impression, however, that it used to be possible to track someone without asking him/her for permission. I may be wrong - it is just an impression, but it may be what has happened in your case, Yasutomo.] Generally I believe this is done to permit the tracker to learn from a particular peer's responses or because there is a genuine interest in them.

Equally one can check a peer's answers to Kudoz questions via his/her profile without the formality of the tracking process. Again, I am aware that others check my profile/Kudoz answers in this way. I am sure it is a wide-spread practice. People are busy and choose these short-cuts.

I hope this might throw some light on what is happening together with what others have said here, and I also hope you continue to contribute to, and benefit from, the Kudoz process. There are a lot of excellent professionals out there.

Yasutomo Kanazawa wrote:
Thank you for your comments, Armorel

Yasutomo Kanazawa wrote:
I have submitted a Support Ticket in the past, but since A's comments adhere to site rules and are not broken, Proz cannot do anything about this issue. I want A to get off my back and leave me alone, but any ideas to solve this problem?

Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote:


Honestly Yasumoto, after describing your concerns as "stalking" and accusing someone of deliberately chasing you around, and seeing Armorel's very sensible and well-explained reply, I think you should say more than a thank you. I would expect you to tell us what you think of what Armorel has taken the time to explain to you.

Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote:


Something I wanted to ask you: Have you written to this person you believe is stalking you? I sincerely feel there is some misunderstanding and that you might be misinterpreting the situation. Most probably this person wants you to be aware that you could be too confident in your knowledge in one or several language pairs to suggest solid and good Kudoz answers.

I encourage you to email this person via Proz and describe your feelings about the situation.

Yasutomo Kanazawa wrote:
But I still have one doubt. Is this kind of thing allowed at Proz? What I mean is that Proz is a site for translators, agencies and interpretors working in this industry to promote and collaborate to make the industry better, and the question is that if I'm allowed to send a "personal" message via Proz regarding my concerns and to ask the real intentions of "A". Would that be categorized as "personal" or "public"?

Tomás Cano Binder, CT wrote:


What I meant was to go to this person's profile and use the Proz email function to write to this person directly, in private. A polite description of your concerns to this person is bound to get a polite reply and explanation of this person's motives.

Armorel Young wrote:

Anyone who posts information on Proz, whether in Kudoz, in the forums or in their profile, is putting this information in the public arena and accepting that it is now there for anyone who so wishes to view (and to comment on, through the appropriate channels). If someone chooses to repeatedly access that information(and comment on it, in keeping with the rules), I'm not sure you can class that as stalking.

I think that by focusing on the language of "stalking" you run the risk of overlooking the other aspect of this, which is that A is trying to make a point to you and is presumably feeling frustrated that you aren't grasping it. You may not agree with A's implied point, but nevertheless A has a right to make it and it would be a sad day if the site were to clamp down on the right of either of you to continue expressing your opinions.

GILLES MEUNIER wrote:

May be this person is in competition with you for jobs (in the same language pair) ?
or is it purely personal ?
If he sends you rude e-mails, you can block the access to your mailbox....

Yasutomo Kanazawa wrote:

But a certain person accessing your profile once in 4 or 5 days cycle for contributed Kudoz answers and commenting on them, some totally out of linguistic nature let's you down, don't you agree? And this certain person is targetting only you, not other translators, but just you.

Yasutomo Kanazawa wrote:

If A is trying to make a point, then why doesn't one do so? If A is frustrated that I am not getting A's message, A should send me a short email or using other means to make me understand his intentions. And of course, whether I agree to A's real intentions after hearing them, that's another story.