I'm specifically talking about the grooming and manipulation. That's precisely the sort of stuff sociopaths and psychopaths do as a matter of course. People who are just looking for a sexual "thrill" of sorts, by and large, don't engage in predatory behavior especially not of this disturbing sort.
Sure they do. Try putting a fake attractive female 18+ year old profile up on Instagram, you'll get bombarded by predators and dick pics there too. Just not _child_ predators. Many men act monstrously on the internet, but that doesn't make them psychopaths, just losers. Something about the distance makes that sort of behavior more palatable to them.
How many of them will try to "groom" you like we see in the article, though? I'd argue that there is a qualitative difference between that and "losers" just trying to engage someone who's also unambiguously of age.
Imagine you're the sort of guy to slip into the DMs of a random hot of-age woman and she actually replies and engages you in conversation.
"Grooming" is nothing more than establishing a relationship and rapport with the aim being naked pics and ultimately in-person sex. The difference is the target here is a child, and thus more easily manipulated.
Just ask any of your attractive of-age female friends how many times they get harassed on social media by random guys they don't know if they have their DMs open. Which they probably don't.
My point is these people are acting like many horny guys on the internet. The difference is their targets are kids, but that doesn't make them psychopaths, it makes them pedophiles.
I find it quite horrifying that you’d read an article containing a description of an adult man literally teaching an 11-year-old what a blowjob is, after she told him she didn’t know, and follow that up with “meh, grooming is the same thing as Instagram courtship just like your attractive female friends experience, no psychopathy here.”
You don’t know what grooming is. Grooming is taking a kid to get ice cream for years while laying the groundwork for what you have in mind. The article shows clear grooming attempts on an accelerated timeframe. Please don’t ever speak about grooming authoritatively again, especially when others in this audience have been groomed.
If you're a horny guy on the Internet and your preferred Instagram quasi-celebrity "actually replies and engages you in conversation", you almost won't believe your luck. Even if you aren't that horny anymore, you probably will want to engage her right back - who wouldn't? The "horny guys" theory explains the initial DM, but no such explanation whatsoever is needed for what you call "grooming" that hot Instagram influencer you happen to be a fan of. A significant difference that involves far more than just your chosen "target".
