TO THE CREEPY IMPOSTER
Dear Facebook and Flickr user Makena Becker. you are not me. those photos are not yours. and those children certainly aren't yours either. your creepiness has me reeling. you have five hours to remove all my photos, all my words, and all your really skeevy claims to be someone you are not before i take legal action. you have infringed on my copyright. and i am pretty freakin' ticked off and grossed out by it.
thank you to reader paola for letting me know about this.
i would have loved to keep this a lot more vague and focused more on the idea of creating your own life, how figuring out who you are, little by little, and being true to that potential and the people you love is what makes life really great. and i think the higher road is to maybe leave names off.. but i can't. this is just too weird and violating and there is no possible explanation i can think of where someone would do this "innocently." if you have an idea, i'd love to hear it. i'd love to have something to wet the fury burning in my chest.
until then, i've got a birthday party to prepare for.
also: i have operated this blog the same way i try to live my life- based in faith and happiness and expecting the good rather than fearing and expecting the worst. this is not the worst, but it is really really weird. and i may need to adjust things around here for awhile until i figure this out..
ADDED: dear people (the non creepy ones), i love you. i sincerely do. i wish you were all here in person. i would hug you and thank you, wipe away my angry tears and take you to the park for a big picnic. we'd eat fruit, watch kids run around, soak up the sun and celebrate life (and the fact that the pictures were all taken down! hooray!!). after getting in our fill of spring at the park, you'd help me try to foster a little bit of sympathy and a little understanding for those who do things that aren't right, but then we'd let it go and move on... and after all that i'd try to sucker you into helping me make cupcakes and clean and decorate for tomorrow's party.. i've got a lot to do and am suddenly sooo very tired.
thank you again. truly.
xoxoxo
Friday, March 19, 2010 at 11:02AM
Reader Comments (537)
Holy crap, that is creepy.
This is so creepy! I'm so sorry that you have to deal with this! I love your blog and your photos and I'm always inspired by what you post. I hope this doesn't scare you from sharing your life with your readers. Stay strong and I hope this person disappears quickly!
Alison
I love your blog and I'm so sorry that that creepy woman has stolen your photos! I filed a "report abuse" form with Flickr telling them that the photos aren't hers and asking them to remove her Flickr account. I hope it helps. Please keep posting. Good luck! :)
-Brooke
Hi,
I'm too am so sorry you and your family are being violated in this way! You are sweet to share so much of your family's experiences on your blog and to be taken advantage of in this way is despicable. I would be so shaken! I hope you will continue to post because I love reading about and seeing all your creativity! You inspire me! Stay strong!
oh my god, that is insane. that person has some serious problems if they think it's okay to claim someone else's life as their own. uh, i would be completely grossed out, too. i've also flagged the flickr account. maybe consider adding watermarks to all your photos. it's small, but a start. good luck & i hope you keep posting, i love your blog!
Icky, I hope that this person get's a life! Sorry that you have to deal with this creep.
Yikes! Hope Flickr and FB take this person off their sites. Stay Strong
this is unbelievable. She/He is so sick. I took a look and I am so sorry that this is happening to you and your girls.
Oh no, so sorry Katie. Icky. I wish there was something I could do.
You can also report an impostor on facebook too. When you click on this persons profile, there is a little link in the left that says 'report this person" and one of the options is "Fake account"
from someone who has had her pictures of her daughters stolen also, i feel for you. i hope this is resolved for you in a VERY timely manner (like less then five hours!)
what terrible, freaky people are out there thinking that this is okay. she must be someone who is lost or lonely.
take care, stay strong.
Addy
That's just disgusting. I've also flagged this person. Have you reported them to facebook? If you go on Facebook you can report that they're stealing your intellectual property.
Hugs as you get through this nonsense.
I am a long time reader. Your blog is one of my favourites. Please know how supported you are. This is so unfortunate, and violating.
oh katie. i'm so sorry. i can't even understand what she is trying to do. it makes no sense! i hope you get some resolution.
I'm so sorry this happened to you. I subscribe to your feed, and I looked up this person after you posted this, and I recognize all those photos from recent posts. We are all taking a risk, I suppose, when we post photos of our children, but this is really sad and weird. I don't even really understand how someone would do this and not think people would figure it out. It seems like someone she knows would realize those weren't her kids. Good luck getting it all figured out.
ugh. so, so sorry. i hope things clear up for you. quickly and neatly. love your blog.
I reported this person on flickr and facebook. Others should do the same. Hugs.
SUPER creepy. Although imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.... outright stealing photos and masquerading as someone else is just disturbing. I know someone already suggested it, but would a watermark make a difference?? Or is it just a risk bloggers take when putting themselves out there online? Either way, it's sick and WRONG. So sorry this happened to you.
OK, I just wanted to add that I went back and looked at her status updates, and they're totally bizarre and very clearly fabricated.
I cannot believe this! Super creepy. To echo everyone else - please know your readers are in support of you and your family!
That is crazy. I looked at her flickr. What a creep. I'm so sorry this happened to you. I have found your stories about your life and family truly enjoyable. I hope she hasn't ruined that.
Ugh! My stomach is doing backflips at this. I to blog about my creative life with pictures of my small children. I have wondered where thier little faces might end up. And have pushed aside the worry because I want to think better of people. This is like being robbed. Like someone walking through your home and rummaging about the drawers. Creepy indeed. As someone looking in my first impression is that she is from else where. Distance is good. I also noted a tone of mockery (which just could be the poor english). What I want to know is who the heck are her facebook friends? Do none of them actually know this woman because you would think they would wonder who's kids these are. I hope this is over quickly. And I also hope (a bit selfishly) that you will continue on because I love your fresh perspective.
unbelievable! i hope you get this resolved as soon as possible! what a total creeper. i've your blog for a while now and hope you will still post the things you make, but i wouldn't blame you for leaving your darling girls out of the pictures!
How frightening. My own chest is tight with anger for you. I'll say a quick prayer that everything gets resolved and you can move on-I'm so sorry this happened.
Hugs!
I'm so angry on your behalf and utterly repulsed. I, too, flagged that person on flickr and facebook. I love your blog (photos, stories, inspirations) and am terribly, terribly sorry this happened.