erttheking said:
Ok, so apparently she quit because of other things, but something kind of makes me uncomfortable. People flat out stating that the death threats weren't a big deal and that people just need to grow a thicker skin. Here's the thing though. Some people can't grow a thicker skin.
The thing is though... 10-15 years ago. That was the way things were on the internet. Threats were bounced off because of anonymity. And that was kinda fun. It made it a place for good things to thrive as well as bad things.
I remember about 6 years ago, when I first heard the term Cyber Bullying. I thought the thick skin argument myself as an internet veteran and troll hobbyist. I had suffered from depression myself and even tried to take my own life a few times. And the community on the net were my only friends and outlet.
I thought that girl who killed herself because someone made a fake boy's profile on myspace was weak. And that defending her was wrong. Who the fuck was she? I thought, that weakling. Now I see that I was wrong. It wasn't her weakness that pissed me off about the whole thing, nor about any of these cyber bullying bullshit bleeding heart crap about kids offing themselves.
The internet's not the problem. It's merely the same social failings that existed before seeping online. It's the fact that people use their real life and tie all their crap up and link it together. We lack mental health checks, there's still stigmas, ect. Ultimately, the cyberbulling problem, is just the standard issue bullying problem. And folks are using the internet as a scapegoat because it's easier and cheaper than building infrastructure and support systems for folks who need them in meatspace.
One of the major drawbacks, and things I personally hate about how the internet is used. Is the lack of anonymity. It robs people who need the freedom and escape and the detachment, and the agency that they provide, from people who could get some good from it. The ability to appear and disappear as anyone you wanted to present yourself as, anywhere you wanted to. At any time. It is freeing, and allows a bit of self discovery.
Now everything's tied to your fucking facebook. A clunky, trendy blue and white all encompassing tumor that you bolt on to your real life and drag around. Anything you ever do or said in either tied together and permanently logged. In a disgusting monolithic unforgetting thing from which people either don't know how to, or don't want to, escape from.
God if I had something like that when I was a kid, I would have killed myself too. It would have made all the social pressure and bullying seem inescapable.
I suppose the crux of my rambling is that internet anonymity is good as it allows for a solace like escape from reality when employed right. And that suicides are examples of the failings of society and bullying at large than on the internet specifically. And that "Cyberbullying" is a hyped up phrase used by halfassed carebears who would rather blame the new tech boogeyman than roll up their sleeves and actually make a decent, longlasting change in modern western society.
