infOpinions?

Oh, I’ve been told not to write this post – many times, by many people. It needs to be said, though, and it appears I’m the only one willing to say it.

So, here we go…

This flatulent Amanda character blogger that too many seem to love, isn’t what you think. Or, maybe it is – and if that’s true, you should be ashamed.

If you didn’t know about the real Amanda, that’s still not much of an excuse. You should be especially careful before crawling into bed with the fraud known as Amanda.

Let’s get to know the real Amanda. The one that slithered in the background during the 18 months of its pitiful life. Come along. Learn the truth.

Amanda, in whatever incarnation you wish to imagine her, was and is a childish wimp. It stalked people online and off. It threatened you if you dared write anything contrary. I know. Others do, too. Oh, they can out themselves, if they wish. I won’t name them. But, they know who they are and how they were attacked behind the scenes.

Before you think something like, “Awh, tough. It couldn’t have been that bad.” – I suggest you think again. It was worse than anything you saw online.

Amanda didn’t care about righting wrongs. It didn’t care about improving the practice of PR. It cared about feeding Amanda’s addiction. That addiction? Her (their) egos. That’s all. Well, I think it also wanted to make money off the charade. That proved to be a red herring, too.

For me, the stalking and attacks happened, too. I’m tough. I can take it. The emails, the messages, the phone calls and phone messages. Really. All of that. More than you likely imagine. Vile, vulgarity-laced attacks. Even you hardened flacks and hacks would likely take a step back.

All of it took place in the back channels of Internet life. It got so bad, it became sad. Then comical. I laughed it off. Until … a line was crossed.

It went after my students. Don’t worry, they are tough, too. But the act itself confirmed what I already knew. The emails, the phone calls, the threats. Oh, yes. Threats. Lots of them.

It all confirmed that Amanda (in whatever form) is one sick twisted coward.

I confronted one of the sundry fools. You see, you never knew … was it one person? three people? more? The comments and emails could have come from any one of them. So, in my eyes, they are all guilty. They made their bed. Let them lie in it together. After all, they lied every time they posted.

Whatever. Whomever. I found one and I told it to back off of that nonsense with the students. Comment, critique … but none of the acid it had poured on me. Save the most vicious for me. I’ll take it. After all, Amanda was and is a joke. Amanda knew I wasn’t kidding. The nonsense with the students stopped.

Then … another line was crossed. If it couldn’t pick on the students, it would increase the types of attacks on me.

It called my boss. Come on, you can’t make this stuff up. Really. It threatened to go further up the ladder, too. I’m not kidding. All of the above because I wrote critiques of Amanda’s posts and quoted publicly available material. That’s all. Perhaps I touched a nerve. Please note, I did not engage in any long back and forth email fights. Everything I wrote was in this blog. You can read it for yourself. Just look around. In fact, I rarely responded to the emails and phone calls. If I did, it was with essentially the same thing. “Develop some character. Don’t be one. Stop contacting me.” That’s it. Hey, I know not to feed the troll.

So, with the heightened level of attacks and threats from Amanda, it was suggested that I no longer mention the idiot. Just ignore the child.

I agreed and stopped. The contact from the coward slowly faded away. Finally, no more emails. No more phone calls. Sweet silence.

You might ask, why write about it now? Frankly, I don’t care anymore. I really do not care anymore. I will gladly debate the fool(s) in public. But, we all know – don’t we – that it won’t step up to the challenge. It doesn’t have the character of its own fraudulent convictions. Don’t you see the hypocrisy? Even funnier since Amanda always claimed to be pointing out hypocrisy.

Why don’t I care anymore?

Look to your right. That’s the most realistic depiction of Amanda you’ll likely ever see. I doubt it has (any of them have) the true character to finally come out in the open. We’ll see.

Here it is. I know the real Amanda. I know the Amanda that never showed its face in public. Funny, isn’t it? If you know how ugly it could be in its blog and comments in the blogs of others, well … you know what I mean. What I’m talking about here is the back channel ugliness that is Amanda. Perhaps even Amanda knew that this level of crude, rude and insane behavior wouldn’t play well with even her most ardent fans. Again, a coward.

Today, I look around the PR / Marcom blog world and see so many fawning expressions of true sadness due to Amanda’s departure. It gives me that sensation … you know it. Wait, here it comes again … yes, that taste of vomit in the back of your throat. Yep, that’s it. And all of it happens because I see so many fawning over a cowardly fraud.

Sure, there have been some good, thoughtful and insightful posts about the fool’s departure. I won’t link, though. I know what that does to Amanda. It sets it off and sends it off to attack others. It isn’t gone. It is out there lurking and in many forms. So, let it/them stick with me. I was, after all, their hobby (it seemed) for months – behind the scenes.

But, that’s the real world of social media, isn’t it. The good and the bad. If you step out here, you have to realize that there are freaky people out there … and you can’t predict what they’ll do.

Still, I have a right to my opinion, too, right? So, here it is.

Amanda, you are frauds. You are cowards. You are punks.

I can only think of those that did follow Amanda with such glee as one thing. Sheep.

One thing Amanda never learned. You’ve really gotta’ have character, not try to adopt it as a persona.

Unlike Amanda, I own my opinions. Unlike Amanda, I’m not afraid. I sign my name. I’m Robert French.

So, you punks, what are your names? If you’re going to walk off the stage, at least try to do it like a grown woman or man. Not like the childish fools you’ve been for all these months … and, perhaps, all of your lives.