James McGibney is the founder of sites like Cheaterville.com & Bullyville.com. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with James about what he has created and what he has planned next.
Mike Gencarelli: Tell us about the origin of Cheaterville.com & Bullyville.com?
James McGibney: I was in the Marine Corps on an overseas deployment with a good friend of mine. We came back only to discover that his wife had been having an affair during the entire deployment. I thought to myself, doesn’t everyone have the right to know if someone is cheating on them? Bullyville.com was launched much sooner than anticipated because we wanted to immediately shut down one of the worst cyber bullying websites on the web, isanyoneup.com. Which I’m proud to say we did.
MG: How do you feel that the site has helped or hurt people since starting?
JMG: Whenever the act of infidelity is injected into any relationship there will always be levels of hurt. It still amazes me to see how much help and support our end user community gives to someone who posts an alleged cheater on CheaterVille. It reminds the cheating victim that there is always light at the end of any tunnel.
MG: How do you reflect on people providing false claims?
JMG: We have been very consistent on this issue since day 1. CheaterVille is not judge nor jury which is why we don’t pick and choose which posts go live. Could you imagine if Facebook had to verify every single post that someone made on their wall or if Twitter had to verify the validity of each tweet? Having said that, we’ve teamed up with two separate arbitration companies (neither of which we are affiliated with) in an effort to help clear the names of anyone who has been falsely accused on our site.
MG: How was it being interviewed with outlets like Anderson Cooper, Dr. Drew, Wendy Williams and Howard Stern?
JMG: Although it’s always a humbling experience to be interviewed or even mentioned by high profile celebrities, it’s the grass roots interviews I love the best. My very first radio interview was with Dave & Mahoney on 107.5FM in Las Vegas. They aren’t a nationally syndicated show (although they absolutely should be) however they were the first to reach out and interview me and quite frankly, put us on the map. That will always be my most memorable interview.
MG: Where do you see these sites developing into in the coming years?
JMG: They will continue to grow and we will continue rolling out new websites that make an impact within the social networking industry.
