Under the cloak of anonymity many commentators must have felt untouchable. That was, until recently. (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
The internet can be a breeding ground for trolling and it’s none more so evident than on one online forum which actively encourages others to pass comment on people in the public eye.
Called Tattle Life, the infamous site has been described as the ‘the most hate-filled corner of the web’. Yet despite petitions to shut it down, it’s more popular than ever, with new members now forced to join a waitlist due to demand.
A delve into the site can soon unearth thousands of vicious threads posted by an army of devoted users.
‘What a rough looking ugly, greasy bleep. Look at that manky tan line near her greasy hairline,’ one commenter called officially2020 said in a post about a reality star.
Another, who goes under the name of teshhco-tart, described a famous cleaning influencer as ‘the most low energy, uncreative, ungrateful, lazy, ugly and unhygienic hating witch there is!’.
There’s also a thread all about how ugly the children of one TV presenter are.
Tattle Life rules state a zero-tolerance policy to any content that is abusive, hateful or harmful – but it’s clear many users say whatever they want about anyone they want without any fear of accountability.
Despite petitions to shut Tattle Life down, it’s more popular than ever (Picture: Getty Images)
Although the site claims to have zero-tolerance policy to any content that is abusive, hateful or harmful, it includes comments like this
Under the cloak of anonymity that the site offers, some commentators must have felt untouchable. That was, until recently.
While a wave of Instagram accounts have sought to expose the trolls that stalk the site’s pages in the same manner over the last few years, there’s one that has recently taken one step further.
Called Tattlers_Unmasked, the private account has 28,000 followers and over the last few months has sporadically revealed the people they say are behind the hurtful comments on Tattle Life.
One private Instagram account has begun posting pictures of the people said to be behind Tattle Life accounts. (Pictures: Tattlers_Unmasked)
Those being exposed come from all walks of life, from charity workers to retail assistants, and not only are their names and pictures posted, but workplaces are tagged and linkedin profiles screengrabbed.
After ‘outing’ one troll, the account declared: ‘I hope now she knows what it feels like to be scrutinised.’
Speaking exclusively to Metro, the woman behind Tattle Unmasked says that she made the decision to reveal the identity of the ‘trolls’ posting on the site because ‘no one else is standing up for the people who have threads’.
‘Unmasking them is my way of clapping back for the influencers’ (Pictures: Tattlers_Unmasked)
‘They just have to take it,’ explains Michelle, who has asked to go under a pseudonym to protect her own identity.
‘Tattlers take it upon themselves to contact brands, contact the press, report influencers to RSPCA, Social Services and anyone else they can report people to. What gives them the right to do that? Unmasking them is my way of clapping back for the influencers.
‘Having spoken to many people who have threads, it is the not knowing what their tattlers look like that is the most frightening. They could be anyone. Tattlers_Unmasked gives my followers the chance to see for themselves that tattlers are just normal people, like you and me.’
How it all began
Initially called Tattle.life, the site first appeared online in 2017 with Helen McDougall named as its originator. She’s quoted on the forum as saying that the motivation to set up Tattle was due to some influencers “brazenly breaking the guidelines for adverts” in posts where they were paid to promote brands or products.
‘ It is the not knowing what their tattlers look like that is the most frightening’ (Credits: Getty Images/Tetra images RF)
Yet it’s not just a breach of advertising standards that influencers and celebrities are being attacked for. While the site claims to have a team of moderators online 24/7 to remove any content that breaks its strict rules, a search exposes thousands of forums tearing women apart for everything from their looks, to their mental health or even their children.
While Katie Price, Kate Garraway and Alice Evans are constant subjects of scrutiny, it’s not just household celebrities and influencers with millions of followers that can fall victim.
Anyone can be a target… or a troll
Vicky Saynor runs the Bethnal & Bec holiday rental company with husband Chris and found herself facing 10 days of terrifying trolling back in 2020 when they opened up their properties for survivors of domestic abuse to use as safe housing.
‘The abuse felt constant,’ she tells Metro. ‘We worked with local authorities and social services to ensure everything was above board and posted about our decision on Instagram.’
Although the couple never identified the women who sought shelter, someone decided to set up a Tattle thread accusing them of offering her refuge to make themselves look good.
Vicky became the subject of a Tattle thread after she opened her properties to survivors of domestic abuse (Picture: Owner supplied)
‘They said we weren’t qualified and were putting the women’s lives at risk,’ remembers Vicky. ‘Someone encouraged others to troll our social accounts and we started to get 20-30 messages a day on Instagram.’
Although she was too scared to view the actual thread on Tattle, Vicky asked a friend to keep an eye in case things took a nasty turn.
‘They knew our address as we lived near our rental properties and people were threatening to turn up,’ she remembers. ‘There was so much anger, I was terrified. The abuse lasted for about 10 days before it died down, but it felt like forever. I’m not an influencer with a huge following, I’m just a business owner who tried to do a nice thing during the pandemic.’
Tattle famously hit the headlines back in 2019 when prominent influencer Clemmie Hooper, known then as Mother of Daughters, was found to be a troll on the site attacking fellow blogger Candice Brathwaite.
Clemmie Hooper was exposed as a Tattle Life troll (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
When her identity was outed by internet sleuths, midwife Clemmie confessed to being behind the comments and quit social media. While the scandal not only rocked the world of mummy influencers, it also proved that no one could hide behind the safety of a screen.
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James Bore, a Chartered Security Professional with an MSc in Cybersecurity, tells Metro that it’s not hard to uncover trolls’ real identities.
Following the digital breadcrumbs
‘It’s really down to detective work, based on finding mistakes they’ve made which tie together other sources of information to identify them,’ he explains. ‘There’s so much information online on people now that finding one or two clues can allow someone to discover a lot – usually starting with other online profiles and building from there.
‘It comes down to a method used by everyone from intelligence services, to private detectives, to hobbyists, called OSINT (Open-Source INTelligence) in most cases, following trails of digital breadcrumbs to identify times and locations from photos or other information posted and link these together.’
Michelle insist that no one is outed on her site unless she is ‘10000% confident’ they are the correct person – and she refuses to worry about the repercussions.
‘People leave such a trail of clues without even realising.’ (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
‘If Tattlers can say the most awful things about people in the name of gossip then I, like them, have no qualms about doing what I do,’ she admits. ‘At the end of the day I am only posting what is available to be viewed by anyone else if they do a deep dive. I just pull it altogether.’
Of course, there is the risk that in turn she could be unmasked herself and trolled – especially, as she claims, that she has site owners or moderators following her – although she says it’s not a concern.
‘I only have one IG account which is Tattlers_Unmasked and I have one Facebook account that is not in my name which is buried and inconspicuous,’ Michelle explains. ‘There are no photos of me online and I have no digital foot print – anywhere.’
Michelle adds that when she unmasks someone, the Tattlers who follow her head over to a thread on Tattle Life which is dedicated to trying to find out who she is.
‘The moderators then spend the next few hours removing all mention of my account,’ she says. ‘I have taken screen grabs of them telling members “do not feed the trolls the oxygen that they crave”. Its quite ironic when you think of it!’
‘What makes it odd is that these are women not a millions miles away from who I am – I even knew one of them on a personal level.’ (Picture: Getty Images)
Another person who has started outing Tattle Life users is social media influencer Chloe*. Although she does it on a ‘less public’ level, she adds.
As a content creator, she’s been the brunt of many Tattle threads. ‘It’s hard to believe such a vile place exists,’ she tells Metro.
‘I started out on quite a small level, but when my popularity grew, out came the trolls. They would comment on anything and everything and get really personal, literally picking me apart.
‘What makes it odd is that these are women not a millions miles away from who I am – I even knew one of them on a personal level. But when they thought I wouldn’t know who was saying what about me, they let rip. It’s wild.’
Chloe says it’s actually really easy to find out who the people are behind the accounts. ‘People leave such a trail of clues without even realising,’ she laughs.
But rather than confront them publicly she reports them to their workplaces instead.
‘I think the fact that people are now exposing those behind these horrible threads is wonderful, but I never wanted to do it with a big song and dance. I just want people to be held accountable in some way, so they realise that their actions have consequences. And when the evidence is presented to your boss it’s a pretty damning and serious situation to be in.’
A dangerous game
Of course, while many will say being exposed is exactly what the trolls deserve, others argue that it’s tantamount to online bullying itself.
Counsellor Georgina Sturmer believes that outing abusive commentators could lead to further destructive behaviour and that their online abuse is usually always a sign of sadness or insecurity.
‘If someone engages in trolling behaviours, it’s usually an indication that they are feeling unhappy,’ explains Georgina (Picture: Claire Jonas Photography)
‘Trolling could be someone’s coping mechanism,’ she tells Metro. ‘That’s not to say it’s right but there could be a real risk with unmasking them. This might lead to an outburst of anger, anxiety or panic.
‘If someone engages in trolling behaviours, it’s usually an indication that they are feeling unhappy or insecure about something,’ adds Georgina. ‘This might be triggered by the person who they are trolling. Some operate in isolation, but often trolls will ‘pile in’ on anothers comment or action.
‘They are drawn in to agree and support each other as it offers them a feeling of validation and a sense of belonging. This is particularly attractive if they are feeling lonely, disconnected or misunderstood in their everyday lives.’
However, Michelle – who says that none of her friends, families or colleagues, know about her unmasking site – says she has no plans of stopping any time soon.
‘My account gains new followers daily,’ she says. ‘And as long as there are Tattlers to out, the account will remain.’
*name has been changed
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