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Make Internet Better By Killing Anonymity
Obviously these comments were made anonymously on Sierra’s blog and on two other sites. |
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Comments (56)
36 earlier comments in the full thread.
> Freedom of speech was not a concern, I explained it as we were offering a place to discuss things within a certain scope, and that things outside that scope or that you wouldn't say to your grandmother were just not relevant and therefor removed with a vengeance.
It's amazing to me that even after a clear explanation, some just can't understand, and, insist that yelling 'Fire!', followed by whatever obcenities, in the crowded theater is true 'Freedom of Speech'.
It's amazing to me that even after a clear explanation, some just can't understand, and, insist that yelling 'Fire!', followed by whatever obcenities, in the crowded theater is true 'Freedom of Speech'.
Amen!
@tuxchick: My point is that the neighborhood isn't bad to begin with...it doesn't need to change.
No one has a right to not be offended.
I'm certainly not advocating death threats, but I'm not empathetic towards a grown adult overreacting to anonymous posts on a forum, no matter how distasteful they may be. Methinks Ms. Sierra is being a bit if a drama queen: "Oh, some people (likely 13 year old males) are posting death threats and explicit sexual innuendos on my blog so I am canceling my professional engagements and telling the whole world how bad the Internet has become". If the whole thing hadn't been so self-publicized it might be a different story, but as it stands I call BS.
No one has a right to not be offended.
I'm certainly not advocating death threats, but I'm not empathetic towards a grown adult overreacting to anonymous posts on a forum, no matter how distasteful they may be. Methinks Ms. Sierra is being a bit if a drama queen: "Oh, some people (likely 13 year old males) are posting death threats and explicit sexual innuendos on my blog so I am canceling my professional engagements and telling the whole world how bad the Internet has become". If the whole thing hadn't been so self-publicized it might be a different story, but as it stands I call BS.
> a grown adult overreacting to anonymous posts
Perhaps, but you don't know that she was overreacting. Understand also that the seriousness of any threat is to a large extent dependant upon the honest perception of the person being threatened. Most have a pretty high tolerance for 'distasteful', but, If it really was an out and out death threat, it should have been handled immediately by the members, the moderators, and if necessary, the owner of the site.
As for her blog, I do think she should have done some basic security, including the limitation to registered posters for her blog, and control of the IP addressing. Not having taken those precautions is kinda lame.
> likely 13 year old males
All the more reason to track them down, report them to authority, and get them treatment.... The serial killers of the future??? perhaps that's extreme, or, maybe not...
Perhaps, but you don't know that she was overreacting. Understand also that the seriousness of any threat is to a large extent dependant upon the honest perception of the person being threatened. Most have a pretty high tolerance for 'distasteful', but, If it really was an out and out death threat, it should have been handled immediately by the members, the moderators, and if necessary, the owner of the site.
As for her blog, I do think she should have done some basic security, including the limitation to registered posters for her blog, and control of the IP addressing. Not having taken those precautions is kinda lame.
> likely 13 year old males
All the more reason to track them down, report them to authority, and get them treatment.... The serial killers of the future??? perhaps that's extreme, or, maybe not...
I'm of the mindset that if you do anything publicly, you open yourself up to both good and bad.
Just like when you're standing in the line at the bank you can't stop anyone from using the fword or robbing the place and threatening your life in the process, you can't do it online either. Simply accepting that you can't control the behavior of others is a FACT OF LIFE...whether it be online or other. I think they've made a whole lot of crap out of nothing in this instance...nothing because by being online in the first place, you are open to any and ALL criticism/threats/promises/reviews. If not, don't be online anymore.
Just like when you're standing in the line at the bank you can't stop anyone from using the fword or robbing the place and threatening your life in the process, you can't do it online either. Simply accepting that you can't control the behavior of others is a FACT OF LIFE...whether it be online or other. I think they've made a whole lot of crap out of nothing in this instance...nothing because by being online in the first place, you are open to any and ALL criticism/threats/promises/reviews. If not, don't be online anymore.
> robbing the place and threatening your life in the process
Are you saying that society doesn't have repercussions for that?. I think that there are quit a few in our jails that would disagree. True that bad people can create bad situations for everyone, but that doesn't mean we need tolerate the behavior.
That's a sad mindset you got there devnet. Even if it's a loosing battle, I've got work toward something better.
Are you saying that society doesn't have repercussions for that?. I think that there are quit a few in our jails that would disagree. True that bad people can create bad situations for everyone, but that doesn't mean we need tolerate the behavior.
That's a sad mindset you got there devnet. Even if it's a loosing battle, I've got work toward something better.
jimf: You're completely ignoring the fact that no one did anything in real life. Anonymous posting on a blog is hardly worth taking so seriously. How can you advocate administering literal repercussions for "virtual" offenses? The Internet is a stage, and ALL of us are actors. Some people play the role of the Villian, some the Damsel in Distress, some the Thought Police. It is all a game played out on a virtual stage. It's fiction. To take it so seriously is naive.
> It is all a game played out on a virtual stage.
The stage may be virtual, but it's not always a game, or at least any more than any human correspondence is a game. to regard it all as a game is the real naivety.
The stage may be virtual, but it's not always a game, or at least any more than any human correspondence is a game. to regard it all as a game is the real naivety.
Quoting:You're completely ignoring the fact that no one did anything in real life. Anonymous posting on a blog is hardly worth taking so seriously. How can you advocate administering literal repercussions for "virtual" offenses?I agree. We shouldn't ban people from an online forum for making anonymous threats. We should wait until someone is found in an alley with their throat slit then try to find the person who did it and spend the next six years trying to charge them with murder, then the next seventeen years trying to get them put in the electric chair. Better that than stomping on an individual's freedom to post.
Yup, I have always believed that being anonymous has abrogated my responsabilities and freed me from the repurcussions of being a human being. It worked out well for the unabomber after all. It continues to work for all the sexual predators that cruise the chat rooms.
Virtual Offenses?!? no such thing, there is a real person typing in threats to another real person. Its the same as mailing a letter, but with the internet it allows for everyone to read it instead of just the addressee.
Virtual Offenses?!? no such thing, there is a real person typing in threats to another real person. Its the same as mailing a letter, but with the internet it allows for everyone to read it instead of just the addressee.
@azerthoth,
On the flipside of that you have things being published under pseudonyms and anonymously for very good reasons: the author wants the content evaluated on its own merits and not their own (which I can think of at least two cases where the reputation of the author(s) was impeccable.)
On the flipside of that you have things being published under pseudonyms and anonymously for very good reasons: the author wants the content evaluated on its own merits and not their own (which I can think of at least two cases where the reputation of the author(s) was impeccable.)
> anonymously for very good reasons
Yes, that is the downside, but for the most part, anonymity is ultimately an illusion. Everyone has an IP address, and, the behavior of the irresponsible assures that anonymity will be severely curtailed at some point in the near future.
Yes, that is the downside, but for the most part, anonymity is ultimately an illusion. Everyone has an IP address, and, the behavior of the irresponsible assures that anonymity will be severely curtailed at some point in the near future.
I'm sure there are a lot of parents of college students wishing their kids had been anonymous while downloading music.
Darren: While I agree there are reasons for being anonymous, it's still up to the owner of a site whether anything should be published. It's the duty of the owner of the site to delete posts and accounts.
Darren: While I agree there are reasons for being anonymous, it's still up to the owner of a site whether anything should be published. It's the duty of the owner of the site to delete posts and accounts.
Quoting:the author wants the content evaluated on its own merits
Huh, especially if it's a death threat, yeah...
> I'm sure there are a lot of parents of college students wishing their kids had been anonymous while downloading music.
Bigg, I think if you check, it's always sharing files the RIAA goes after people for, not downloading. Not that this makes downloading legal or correct...
Bigg, I think if you check, it's always sharing files the RIAA goes after people for, not downloading. Not that this makes downloading legal or correct...
Yes, sharing, though I believe sharing and downloading are about the same in that situation.
> though I believe sharing and downloading are about the same in that situation.
By default, yes. But that's easy to fix.
By default, yes. But that's easy to fix.
@jezuch,
I had in mind names like Publius, George Sand, Andre Norton, and Mark Twain.
Who really wrote the Federalist papers? Why didn't they make themselves known?
I had in mind names like Publius, George Sand, Andre Norton, and Mark Twain.
Who really wrote the Federalist papers? Why didn't they make themselves known?
Darren - I know, I just can't stop being sarcastic, it's beyond me :)
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One of the things we did was not so much delete offensive posts, but move them into a "jail" that only the moderators could see. This let us maintain a record of IP addresses and user accounts and the details so we could reference if needed and set appropriate filters. To this day the entire country of Turkey has no access to those forums due to a DOS attack that originated and was mostly trafficked from there.
Freedom of speech was not a concern, I explained it as we were offering a place to discuss things within a certain scope, and that things outside that scope or that you wouldn't say to your grandmother were just not relevant and therefor removed with a vengeance.