| abstract | - Never Live It Down embodied in an Online Persona, the Internet Detective is what happens when Encyclopedia Brown gets an Internet connection. The Internet Detective, also described in part as the Archivist on Mike Reed's Flame Warriors, seemingly fancies himself or herself to be the ultimate diviner of truth from lies, a righteous warrior fighting against falsehood on the Internet. The Internet Detective will archive information on an individual or individuals from any period of time. Unlike the traditional Archivist, however, this extends well beyond one location, and may well reach into Real Life in more thorough "investigations." Internet Detectives may pose as someone else to get or compile information that is protected from the Internet public for one reason or another, or directly contact the "subject" of an "investigation" and/or his or her friends. Anything found or said will be subjected to intense examination, taken in the worst possible context (even if that involves removing it from its original context), and of course, applied with heavy doses of Never Live It Down to every Old Shame or even something that does not mean what the Internet Detective is absolutely sure it does. Even the slightest typo or perceived mismatch in facts or narrative will lead to a Conviction by Contradiction. Unfortunately, being an obsessive stalker or jumping to conclusions both lend themselves very well to the Internet Detective persona, making it a great disguise for a Single-Issue Wonk whose single issue is another person (or group of people ) or a Troll. In the most supreme of Irony, occasionally someone trying to defend a false claim or a series of false claims will become an Internet Detective under the assumption that no one will risk challenging their "authority." Sadly, it often works.
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