Adult bullies and you

Despite its misleading name, the anti-bullying site Bullyville recently shut down a website called Is Anyone Up, an “identity porn” site used primarily by the brokenhearted and spiteful to get back at their exes by publicly posting nudes they had exchanged prior to break-up.

Its creator, Hunter Moore, called “the most hated man on the Internet,” made the statement that he was finally burnt out from the process, the reporting, the “legal drama” and constantly being called “sleazy.”

Can’t imagine why.

In buying the amateur porn site, Bullyville challenged Moore to channel his social networking expertise into a better cause. So, he now organizes crazy parties for good causes and turns to charity in an effort to clear his image.

His farewell letter exudes little to no regret regarding the site he had created to exploit individuals’ private pictures, and in a classic non-apology apology, he thanks all his contributors and commemorates the site for his current success.

Opinion news media don’t need another article regarding how despicable, irresponsible, trashy, low-lifed and unbased Hunter Moore is (you deplorable cyber insolent).

But we’d like to call attention to the reality of bullying in the adult world.

What’s important here is that Hunter got away with it at $13,000 a month. The site survived a year and would have continued had Bullyville not given Moore a chunk of cash.

Is Anyone Up served no good. That’s a no-brainer.

But paying our bullies for their offenses, trying to conceal the identity of a bully with charities and foreclosing upon the cases of millions that contributed to the damage the site created — that’s a problem.

Adult bullies under criminal punishment are another issue, but in the closure of the site, Bullyville has trivialized the efforts of anti-bullying and everything the organization is trying to prevent.

If a child shoves another child on the playground, we don’t hand them a check, erase their shortcomings and give them a job.

We reprimand, put them in a corner and tell them, “Don’t do it again.” Moore received these backlashes. But after the slap on the wrist, he’s being sponsored. Not that many bully survivors will be quite so eager to attend an anti-bullying party put on by a former bully proprietor.

Moore deserves (well, has the right to) a second chance and different name. But his support came from the wrong source in the wrong form. And in creating a guise for the identity of a bully, we’re condoning the bully.

Adult bullies are out there, in homes, schools, businesses and online. Moore has recognized his mistake, but the effort to turn around bullies still persists.