THE NET NANNY!!
HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH!!!!!!!
The personality type attracted to the post/function/role of net nanny is extremely well described in the professional literature. The description is so good that even the untrained observer after only a first reading is able to make a positive identification. It is better described than any other aberrant personality type.
According to the literature they tend to be emotionally and sexually immature. Personal relations are a nightmare for them, more so for the object of their attention. They just cannot cope with other people especially those of their preferred sex. They are described as being highly authoritarian and very seriously pedantic. Taking the highly authoritarian aspect first, they defer to and are weak with the strong (others who have some sort of control or hold on them). On the other hand they "kick the s*it" ot of those they regard as weaker or inferior to them. They are the sort of people who when asked to kill people only ask how many and how often. Pedantry, in this type of personality, is a consuming and all pervading passion. In newsgroups they tend to examine messages for spelling, punctuation, grammar, query syntax, whether the message is on topic, and general netetiquet before getting down to the message contained in the posting. If they do get down to the message they have nothing to contribute and bizarrely may even congratulate you for being on topic etc. (There are many examples around now).
A word to the wise. They are very easily offended because of their basic underlying pathology. Being rigid and unable to make concessions or to admit they may be "mistaken" every disagreement is taken as personal slight. Coupled with their inability to correct misinformed notions and their lack of adaptability they tend to have ill balanced aims way out of proportion to any perceived slight. Responses to perceived slights are always over the top. War can break out over the miss-spelling of a word, a miss-placed punctuation mark, or minor difference of opinion. Cause indeed to have you banned from the Net. They fall out at the drop of comma!
Newsgroups, especially the uk.local. ones are ideal for them partly because face to face relationships are not just a nightmare for them, but anyone within a 50 mile radius and partly because each group has a "charter" which they can refer to. A weapon with which to keep us all in line. A number of news groups are so badly infested that they either become deserted or the domain of one small "clique", ruined for everyone else. It is best to remember that inter-personal relations of any kind always become a veritable nightmare for them. Exposure to normal human beings fills them so full of pain that the only thing they can do is to dish torture.
This is not an exhaustive description but I hope it helps. I don't normally subscribe to uk.local groups but an academic friend of mine suggested that I might find considerable material here. Its been very rewarding so far.