If you are gossiped about, put down by others, and defamed you can try to ignore it or you can rightfully be critical of the individuals who play these games. My post above was a slight rebuff for what I've seen others do to one of my friends on this forum. What you see here in print on this forum is only the tip of the iceberg, there is a lot of bitterness, stupidity, hatefullness, and Bull Shit running neck deep offline between lots of people who are here or who were here. Personally, I was disgusted with this behavior when I was a Witness and I'm disgusted with it now. I'm really leaning towards believing that people who want to recover from their negative experiences as a JW would be best advised to tread here and other ex-dub boards lightly, or they too can become fresh meat for entertainment.
I don't believe these types of behaviors can be solely attributed to being a JW.......I truly believe that this type of behavior is human kind in general. When "cliques" form, or even loosely based social groups, there will always be different "roles" that are fulfilled in the group. Gossip in particular is something so common, its unfair to hang the JW mantle over it - how many "worldly" people do you know that gossip? Its common place to discuss what other people are doing, regardless of whether one agree's or disagrees with the behavior/personality/action. Its like creating an interactive soap opera, and for some people, its human nature.
In society, there will always be people who will defame, slam & play games with the unsuspecting in order to give themselves whatever pleasure/high/feeling of being better - whatever the reason. The trick is to learn who the "players" are, and to avoid them, building as was stated by another poster, a circle of trusted & true companions. actually, I believe that most players are so by "accident". In an effort to have a contribution to any particular group they are interested in, their offering is usually something that hurts/slanders someone else. And the "group" at large eats it up as titilating excitement. No one is actually trying to "hurt" - just giving themselves a little excitement & something to talk about.
Actually, none of the behaviors I've seen here are any different than in real life. Perhaps to some extent, its our own perceptions of what these db's, and the loosely based social groups that form around them, should be?
But for those that end up being the sacrificial lambs for others intensity junkie fix, it does hurt. I have a feeling that most, if not all, extremely active participants have been crucified, slandered, libeled or hurt in some way. What makes every one of them stronger is their willingess to continue to contribute despite these obstacles. I know I have been on the receiving end, and it made me stronger.