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Manfred Keppeler: Administrator or Influencer?
Manfred Keppeler has run the anti-bullying forum for more than 25 years. It can be accessed through Mobbing.net, BullyingForum.... and Harcelement-Moral..... According to the forum’s statistics, it has more than 400,000 registered members and over 600,000 posts. At times, its online counter shows several thousand users at once.
The main topics are bullying at work, bullying at school and other forms of harassment and exclusion. Neighbour disputes also have their place. Above all, the forum gives people directly affected a chance to speak.
Someone who runs a forum like this for decades has influence. But does that make him an influencer?
One thing becomes clear when reading the forum: its members hold a wide range of views. The moderator and the administrator usually stay out of discussions. Their comments are brief and factual, often concerning how the forum operates. They do not try to tell members what to think.
This is particularly apparent in the more unusual posts. Some describe events over many pages that outsiders may find strange or only loosely related to bullying. Where does an account of a distressing experience end and an unrelated topic begin? The line is not always clear. What seems odd to one reader may be a painful reality for the person who wrote it. I think it is right not to dismiss such posts too quickly. An anti-bullying forum must also make room for experiences that are difficult to understand.
Restraint does not mean that an administrator has no influence. He sets rules and decides when to intervene. On this forum, that includes protecting people from being publicly exposed: real names, addresses and other details that could identify someone are removed. Anyone hoping to publicly shame a neighbour has come to the wrong place.
Perhaps that is where Keppeler’s real influence lies. He does not decide what members should think. He shapes the conditions in which they can talk to one another: open to different experiences, but with clear limits when people are identified or forum rules are broken.
The forum’s origins have a personal history. Keppeler has described a serious dispute with neighbours and various forms of bullying. A garden gate was set on fire, fruit trees were uprooted and windows were smashed. When an official asked him to give up a path, his answer was: “When hell freezes over!”
That resolve can be felt in the forum. People can also report wrongdoing in clubs or institutions. Keppeler’s own disputes, however, are not its focus. That is an important boundary: an anti-bullying forum should never become a tool for personal revenge.
Outside the forum, Manfred Keppeler is interested in art, archaeology, longevity and the possibilities of artificial intelligence. He was vice-president of an artists’ association for several years and now supports the “Friends of .......”.
So, administrator or influencer? If an influencer is someone who constantly promotes his own views to an audience, you will find little evidence of that here. If influence is understood more broadly, it is certainly present: in the forum’s liberal approach, its tolerance of unusual contributions and its firm stance against publicly exposing individuals.
There is one drawback. The forum is currently only partly usable because an overly strict security system makes it difficult to publish posts. Hopefully, this technical problem can be resolved soon.
I hope Manfred Keppeler will run the forum for another 25 years. Perhaps advances in longevity will help him—and all of us—enjoy particularly long and fulfilling lives.
Let’s stay positive!
Manfred Keppeler has run the anti-bullying forum for more than 25 years. It can be accessed through Mobbing.net, BullyingForum.... and Harcelement-Moral..... According to the forum’s statistics, it has more than 400,000 registered members and over 600,000 posts. At times, its online counter shows several thousand users at once.
The main topics are bullying at work, bullying at school and other forms of harassment and exclusion. Neighbour disputes also have their place. Above all, the forum gives people directly affected a chance to speak.
Someone who runs a forum like this for decades has influence. But does that make him an influencer?
One thing becomes clear when reading the forum: its members hold a wide range of views. The moderator and the administrator usually stay out of discussions. Their comments are brief and factual, often concerning how the forum operates. They do not try to tell members what to think.
This is particularly apparent in the more unusual posts. Some describe events over many pages that outsiders may find strange or only loosely related to bullying. Where does an account of a distressing experience end and an unrelated topic begin? The line is not always clear. What seems odd to one reader may be a painful reality for the person who wrote it. I think it is right not to dismiss such posts too quickly. An anti-bullying forum must also make room for experiences that are difficult to understand.
Restraint does not mean that an administrator has no influence. He sets rules and decides when to intervene. On this forum, that includes protecting people from being publicly exposed: real names, addresses and other details that could identify someone are removed. Anyone hoping to publicly shame a neighbour has come to the wrong place.
Perhaps that is where Keppeler’s real influence lies. He does not decide what members should think. He shapes the conditions in which they can talk to one another: open to different experiences, but with clear limits when people are identified or forum rules are broken.
The forum’s origins have a personal history. Keppeler has described a serious dispute with neighbours and various forms of bullying. A garden gate was set on fire, fruit trees were uprooted and windows were smashed. When an official asked him to give up a path, his answer was: “When hell freezes over!”
That resolve can be felt in the forum. People can also report wrongdoing in clubs or institutions. Keppeler’s own disputes, however, are not its focus. That is an important boundary: an anti-bullying forum should never become a tool for personal revenge.
Outside the forum, Manfred Keppeler is interested in art, archaeology, longevity and the possibilities of artificial intelligence. He was vice-president of an artists’ association for several years and now supports the “Friends of .......”.
So, administrator or influencer? If an influencer is someone who constantly promotes his own views to an audience, you will find little evidence of that here. If influence is understood more broadly, it is certainly present: in the forum’s liberal approach, its tolerance of unusual contributions and its firm stance against publicly exposing individuals.
There is one drawback. The forum is currently only partly usable because an overly strict security system makes it difficult to publish posts. Hopefully, this technical problem can be resolved soon.
I hope Manfred Keppeler will run the forum for another 25 years. Perhaps advances in longevity will help him—and all of us—enjoy particularly long and fulfilling lives.
Let’s stay positive!
