This post is not so much about Stealth as it is about stalking (and not Charles Johnson’s definition).

One of the amazing things about the internest (and social media in particular) is how so many people and things are interrelated – the whole 6 degrees of separation business. Lately I’ve found significantly fewer degrees.

While catching up on a bizarre twisted saga via Twitter (that Stacy McCain and others have been covering extensively) I found a reference to a group of internet warriors called “Rustle League.” They are apparently affiliated with the more well-known cybergroup Anonymous.

I’m not a fan of Anonymous (especially not the Barrett Brown Crypto-Anarchist faction that wants to mess with international affairs and destroy global economics) but occasionally the group does some good.

I came upon a recent story today about a 15 year old girl, bullied online and in real life, had given up hope and threatened to off herself on Twitter. Trolls showed up, but eventually Rustle League and Anonymous got word about it, too. They apparently prevented a distraught girl from killing herself by stalking her stalking trolls and kicking ass.

Other news outlets reported it, and they referenced The Daily Dot. Full story with Twittercaps here.

Oh yeah, about those degrees of separation.
1. I saw a Tweet from a guy I spoke with on the phone a few days ago.
2. It referenced a podcast that named Rustle League.
3. A Google search for RL led me to the Daily Dot story written by an online friend. Politically we hate each other, but we get along otherwise.

H/T to raincoaster (POUTINE!) on The Overnight Open Thread.