Public Internet shaming

Personally, I'm not a fan of this. The topic du jour, it seems, is a girl that dressed up as a Boston Marathon bombing victim. Sorry I don't have a link, but I'm sure you can find it via the Google machine. Was this a horrible idea with no compassion? Of course. Nobody is doubting that. But it was one dumb decision.

Now the Internet monsters have tracked her down, contacted her employees and I read somewhere death threats have been lodged. Yeah, not cool. People have the right to be offended by something they see on the Internet, but what gives them the right to contact his person and lodge a death threat, or attempt to get them fired from their job?

I always felt bad for that girl who was caught giving the bird at Arlington National Cemetery. Dumb, dumb mistake, but she was a kid. Plain and simple. We've all done some pretty dumb shit over the years, and while I'm certainly glad I didn't grow up in this day and age, the punishment for that girl never fit the crime. She did nothing illegal, but still got fired because of the pressure of the Internet monster. Same with this girl, who has done nothing illegal. Poor taste isn't illegal. And if being an asshole was against the law, I know many who would be serving life sentences.

The majority of the commenters talk about this girl in the costume and how karma will get her eventually. Those people -- and those calling for her head on a stick -- may want to watch out for karma themselves. If something doesn't impact me personally, I just let it slide right off my back. No need to spend time out of my day to deal with every asshole I cross paths with.

Thoughts?

 

There's never been a shortage of people who want to get all up in everyone else's business.

The Internet is just the most efficient avenue for them to do so.

 

First off, read this novel:

 

Second off, I hate it. I guess I'm as bad as anyone, because I linked to the funeral selfies material the other day on here. But it's gotten really out of hand. In particular, you can't tell if something's tongue-in-cheek or not. For example, at Christmas-time, someone inevitably links to teen-agers' Tweets complaining in an over-the-top fashion about their Christmas presents. I'm convinced that the vast, vast majority of them are completely joking by posting things like, "Fuck you, Dad. #NoIPhone." People also went wild when one of the three shit bags in the Oklahoma jogger murder had a Tweet that said something like, "90 percent of white people are disgusting," which he could have very likely posted to joke with his white friends.

So, I guess, at bottom, what I get most perturbed about is adult shaming of teen-age Tweeters that they probably misunderstand/misinterpret to begin with.

 

There is not a week that goes by without me thanking God that I finished high school and college before the Internet.

I thank God, and I'm not even religious.

 

Whitman, are you on Eggers' payroll?

 

I don't mind the shaming - reposting of dumb stuff people do.

I do mind getting up all in their biznuss - posting home addresses, phone numbers, and contacting employers.

 

I know, I know. But a central critique within that book is relevant here, the notion that nobody should ever be able to keep anything secret, ever.

Don't worry. I'm moving onto fellating Tom Perrotta here soon, having read his mind-blowing new collection of short stories.

For now, I'm heading over to the Baseball Postseason thread to post something about "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius."

 

Everyone loves the classics.

 

It kind of makes you wonder who will lead this country in 25 years when no one will be able to survive the presidential vetting process.

 

People love to get people fired. I don't get it.

Every time I'd ever write something as a columnist that got the lunatic fringe stirring, they went from 0 (disagreeing with it) to 60 (proposing a petition to get me fired) in about two posts.

 

Yep, some sort of reckoning will have to occur. I think it has, to a degree, in some ways. Remember what a huge deal it was that Gary Hart had an extramarital affair? Remember what a huge deal it was that Bill Clinton tried pot in college?