I love online communities. I love Facebook, I love blogs, I love Second Life. Connecting with people from all over the world makes me feel worldly. However, I recognize there is a danger in the internet. There always has been. I remember when I was in middle school, my parents gave me unsupervised unlimited time on the internet. Of course, I spent it chatting with boys on AIM, but my one rule was "No Chatrooms." I'm sure my mom had a vision of some creepasaurus rex stalking and abducting me (she, like many of us, has a horrible fascination with Dateline's To Catch a Predator). But after many years of scouring the internet and "meeting" new people, I realize that, if I play my cards right, I'm not going to encounter the elusive internet predator. However, I feel that if I identify as an "other", or what Slack identifies as the "marked", I open myself up for relentless harassment. By "other", I mean by identifying as a woman.
Sexual harassment and threats are not new to the internet. The anonymity of the virtual community is a breeding ground for hate. You think The Observer is bad? Check out some of the comments on youtube. It's downright hateful. And because it's so rampant and so anonymous, it can't be pursued legally.
Which begs the question.... do you all think the internet should be monitored?
(Note: I've lost my toolbar. This seems to be a site-wide problem, according to Blogger.)
Here are the links I wanted to add: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10912603/
http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/2007/apr/12/misogyny_in_our_midst
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Whether or not we think the Internet should be monitored seems to be a kind of moot point. As the technology is now it is way to difficult to enforce guidelines when we're all blanketed by anonymity. This anonymity is what many people, myself included, enjoy about the Internet. Being able to read certain things, write things, talk to certain people without anyone knowing really anything about you. This kind of freedom is a double-edged sword as Renee points out, but for now I think all of us just have to take the good with the bad.
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