Be alert for potentially creepy "friends"

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Due to a few PM's and a back room discussion we have decided that it is once again time to point out that the internet, and by extension, the Chalkbucket are great places for the wrong kind of "member" to look for victims.

If you receive friend requests that seem odd, PM's that do not make sense or requests for information or photos, feel free to ignore them or forward them to the admins to check out.

We try our best to keep the board a safe place, but part of that is the members being aware of potentially harmful situations.

Parents if you have children who are members here, it is a great time for that "internet safety" chat.

Gymnasts, if your mom and dad know you are here then maybe you can ask them about internet safety or even ask more questions here.

Stay safe out there. Feel free to discuss.
 
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Silly question, perhaps, but what is accomplished by "friending" on this board?
 
I get very concerned when I see gymnasts on this board disclosing the name of their gym or including it in their profile. As we all know, even posting scores can make it very easy to track down a person. Please be careful with your posts!
 
Silly question, perhaps, but what is accomplished by "friending" on this board?


Nothing that I know of. The younger members seem to like it, but I see no benefit, it is not Facebook.
 
A very timely post, Bog.

I received a friend request on FB a couple of days ago, that didn't seem "right". This person's name was that of a TV character and their profile picture was of 3 little gymnasts swinging on a bar, that seemed to be very 'generic'. I googled and found that the photo was from a gym website in Michigan (nowhere near where we live) but this person's info was that she was a local SAHM. She only had 4 friends, 3 of whom were my mutual (gym) friends, when I questioned my 3 friends who this person was, none known knew her. The 4th person was also connected w/gymnastics although I didn't know her. I inboxed this person and of course no response. I subsequently found out that friend requests were also received by 3 other team moms, so either this was a local Crazy Gym Mom/Dad or just a crazy creeper! That person's FB account is now gone. It's scary that this person was specifically requesting gym parents, and perhaps even some of the older kids who have FB accounts.

So please beware!
 
A very timely post, Bog.

I received a friend request on FB a couple of days ago, that didn't seem "right". This person's name was that of a TV character and their profile picture was of 3 little gymnasts swinging on a bar, that seemed to be very 'generic'. I googled and found that the photo was from a gym website in Michigan (nowhere near where we live) but this person's info was that she was a local SAHM. She only had 4 friends, 3 of whom were my mutual (gym) friends, when I questioned my 3 friends who this person was, none known knew her. The 4th person was also connected w/gymnastics although I didn't know her. I inboxed this person and of course no response. I subsequently found out that friend requests were also received by 3 other team moms, so either this was a local Crazy Gym Mom/Dad or just a crazy creeper! That person's FB account is now gone. It's scary that this person was specifically requesting gym parents, and perhaps even some of the older kids who have FB accounts.

So please beware!

That is creepy. I have has some strange requests on FB also. I probably dont worry about my FB enough. I probably should take down some of the DD's gym stuff.
 
That is creepy. I have has some strange requests on FB also. I probably dont worry about my FB enough. I probably should take down some of the DD's gym stuff.

I got another one today, this one is friending kids, it seems. Then about 1/2 hour later, my friend request disappeared, so I asked the mom of the one girl who I knew had friended this person. The girl told her mom it was a "friend of a friend". Again, all "friends" (8 of them) are gym kids from the local area not necessarily all from same gym/town. Definitely something not right.
 
Bumping this up as a reminder to all. You really do not "know" members on the CB even if they have been here for a long time. Please be mindful of that when PM'ing.

Adult members please be very careful if you decide to PM a gymnast member, probably better to include a mod in those PM's for safety.
 
Yes, there have been times when I sent a PM to a younger gymnast... one that comes to mind is when someone posted that they were accepted to a university near us and I wanted to tell her about DD's gym in case she was maybe looking to coach or something. I included Bog on the PM, just because I never want to come across as being a "creeper."
 

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