The Internet is a wild place. Apparently, so is Boardman, Oregon — where my current cyberstalker’s traffic originates.
I’m none too pleased.
Being a vocal gay transgender man on the Internet, I always draw both the most targeted niche website visitors and also some of the most random as well.
Considering my personal life story and much of my online content discusses identity, sexuality, and thought leadership, my content tends to attract either people who are the most secure within their identities or the complete polar opposite — those who are conflicted about some aspect of their identity, whether it be gender, sexuality, confidence in the workplace, body image, you name it. My web traffic mirrors how I am received in this world as an openly gay transgender man, author, activist, and publicist. People tend to love the fuck out of me or hate me with a passion; perhaps it’s because our government has politicized my gender identity so much that when someone like myself materializes in the lives of people who assume someone like myself should not have the confidence that I do about my own identity and professional accomplishments I have achieved, it, for lack of a better word, irks them.
Now it’s here that it defines who you are: when you see someone different from yourself, happy with something about themselves and/or their life that you do not possess. Most people aren’t haters, but then there are some people out there who are unwell and see my content as something to focus on because they are compelled to hate someone like myself. Most people are the silent type of haters, and those often tend to move along in terms of web traffic, but then there are the ones who ruminate, and that’s when it can become dangerous for someone like myself.
So I am calling it out and publicly documenting another instance where I can see I am in the early stages of being cyberstalked.
As a publicist and former marketing agency owner, I am skilled in many areas, both visible to the public and those they cannot see. This expertise includes digital forensics and analytics. I have observed an alarming behavior pattern across all five websites I maintain over the last 30 days.
The same individual from Boardman, Oregon, now visits each of these 5 websites I maintain multiple times per day, and that’s when I can see that who I am and what I’m about is taking up space in this individual’s head. They appear to be ruminating about something concerning me and/or my work, including the work I do for others.
It’s very bizarre cyberstalker behavior for this to happen and for this to be a daily pattern over the course of 30 days.
Because this individual does not at all appear to be skilled in covering their tracks, here are the 5 websites’ analytics report screenshots of this unwelcome behavior pattern happening in the last 30 days on both of my 4 websites and 1 redacted client’s website:
EXHIBIT A
EXHIBIT B
EXHIBIT C
EXHIBIT D
EXHIBIT E
So if you are this deranged individual with that much time on your hands, seek therapy.
I am not your daily entertainment.
I am not someone to study.
I am not someone to be hunted.
I am also not someone to send bots to.
I am not interested in learning why this behavior is happening; I want it to cease.
As gay and transgender people, often we get obsessively hunted by those who are fascinated with us for whatever reason. If you, as a cis-het person, wonder why we are often so guarded, it’s because it’s in our best interest to do so. After all, you all are CREEPY AS HELL A LOT OF THE TIME.
Taking this creepiness into account, I’ll note the persona profile I am building for this cyberstalker, it appears that they are of rather low intelligence as they’ve not hidden their tracks and/or low technical capabilities and an Internet knowledge-base, it’s plausible that this person is highly likely to be that of the boomer and/or silent generation eras, there’s a slight chance they could be GenX and almost zero chance this is a person from either the Millennial or Gen Z generations because these generations are much more technically savvy having been raised and socialized throughout much of their young and adult lives with the Internet and are more capable of possesing the know-how to hide web viewing behavior and not have it tied to their IPs.
This person’s clearly already made their first impression, and it’s unwelcome.
And to that I say, if you’re gonna be that up in my digital properties in this manner, state your name and business, or you can of course, fuck off — disrespectfully.
ABOUT DYLAN THOMAS COTTER:
Rebel with a cause, driven by authenticity, self-expression, and liberation for all.
Dylan Thomas Cotter is a strategist, public relations leader, and brand communications executive with more than fifteen years of experience at the intersection of entertainment, media, and technology.
Cotter is known for securing numerous Tier 1 (top-tier) and Tier 2 media placements across key markets including but not limited to GQ, Rolling Stone, Out Magazine, The Advocate, Pride, Inked Magazine, Real Simple, VICE, KTLA, Reader’s Digest, Mashable, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Life UK, Newsweek, Men’s Health, Parade Magazine, Betches, U.S. News & World Report, Women’s Health Magazine, NursingColleges.com, Women.com, South China Morning Post, Truthout, MIC, The Manual, Curl Magazine, International Business Times UK, TechRound, GB News, The Irish Star US, The Mirror, MSN and AOL.
Cotter is an advisor to founders, artists, and executives on brand positioning, reputation, corporate social responsibility, and strategic communications. As an openly gay transgender professional, Dylan Thomas Cotter is committed to fostering inclusive, respectful, and affirming work environments.
His latest book, THINK LIKE A TRANSGENDER THOUGHT LEADER, is out now, and his memoir, TRANSGENDER & TRIGGERING THE LIFE OF DYLAN THOMAS COTTER, is available now at Barnes & Noble, Harvard Book Store, Book Soup, and Skylight Books, amongst other fine retailers, and is distributed worldwide through IngramSpark.