How my childhood friend became an Internet laughingstock.

#1

Post by kylelibra » Mon, Mar 14, 2011, 2:03 PM UTC

How my childhood friend became an Internet laughingstock.
slate.com

Re: How my childhood friend became an Internet laughingstock.

#2

Post by tdoggette » Mon, Mar 14, 2011, 3:17 PM UTC

Link goes to #p2: hit Page Up when you get there.

Re: How my childhood friend became an Internet laughingstock.

#3

Post by kylelibra » Mon, Mar 14, 2011, 3:26 PM UTC

http://www.slate.com/id/2287808/pagenum/all/

That is the link to the entire article instead of half way down, sorry about that.

Re: How my childhood friend became an Internet laughingstock.

#4

Post by gyardley » Mon, Mar 14, 2011, 3:32 PM UTC

It is so easy to be a snarky Internet bully until something like this happens to restore your sense of shame.

It reminds me a bit of a situation that happened back when I was blogging instead of doing, when I wrote some rather unkind things about the design and aesthetics of Wesabe. I didn't really have anything to contribute - I was just being critical for the sake of being critical. The next day, the CEO of the company wrote a long comment on my blog defending his employee's tastes and (rather politely) pointing out what a dick I was being. Reading that comment made me feel like I was three inches tall.

Since then, while I don't always succeed, I try to think before I type.

Re: How my childhood friend became an Internet laughingstock.

#5

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Mar 14, 2011, 4:22 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: How my childhood friend became an Internet laughingstock.

#6

Post by zach » Mon, Mar 14, 2011, 4:41 PM UTC

gyardley wrote: post #4

It is so easy to be a snarky Internet bully until something like this happens to restore your sense of shame. It reminds me a bit of a situation that happened back when I was blogging instead of doing, when I wrote some rather unkind things about the design and aesthetics of Wesabe. I didn't really have anything to contribute - I was just being critical for the sake of being critical. The next day, the CEO of the com…

Congratulations on having a sense of shame in the first place. That's the difference between you and someone who reacts by being excited that their "mixing it up" got the attention of the CEO.

However, I think many folks, myself included, who have a keen sense of shame then overreact in these situations. It threatens our identity, in some way.

If we can pull back a little from that, maybe a situation like that could totally end up as a "that's the crazy way I got to know this guy" story you can both laugh about now. They would be the one who convinced the tough critic, and you could be the one who's never shy with their opinion.

Re: How my childhood friend became an Internet laughingstock.

#7

Post by josefresco » Mon, Mar 14, 2011, 4:54 PM UTC

kylelibra wrote: post #3

http://www.slate.com/id/2287808/pagenum/all/ That is the link to the entire article instead of half way down, sorry about that.

So funny, I read the second half and then wondered why there wasn't an intro into who this guy was and what he did. I then realized, scrolled up and read the first half. Still a great article, I forwarded it to my Mom.

This isn't about Internet cyber bullying so much as it is about childhood, friends and sticking up for one-another. It's also about criminals and how society looks upon those who have broken our society's laws.

Re: How my childhood friend became an Internet laughingstock.

#8

Post by m0nastic » Mon, Mar 14, 2011, 4:55 PM UTC

We've been talking a lot about this article on Facebook since Luke published it.

Full disclosure: I grew up with the guy in question, and am friends with the author of the piece (both were in my Boy Scout troop). I was most struck by the fact that I hadn't heard anything about this story until he wrote this article, and feel pretty shitty about the situation.

It's easy to see things on the news and lose sight of the fact that people are people. Empathy is harder to feel when it involves reading some text and a funny caption on a web site.

I think Luke's point is that we're almost all guilty of this (himself included).

Re: How my childhood friend became an Internet laughingstock.

#9

Post by danik » Mon, Mar 14, 2011, 4:59 PM UTC

> Most of us are Internet bullies now, some of us more active than others.

Yeah right. Most people I know aren't, and most people I discuss with online aren't either.

I'd say the reality is that the blog author belongs to a minority of people acting like bullies and now he tries to defend his behaviour by saying 'everyone else does it'.

Re: How my childhood friend became an Internet laughingstock.

#10

Post by m0nastic » Mon, Mar 14, 2011, 5:08 PM UTC

danik wrote: post #9

> Most of us are Internet bullies now, some of us more active than others. Yeah right. Most people I know aren't, and most people I discuss with online aren't either. I'd say the reality is that the blog author belongs to a minority of people acting like bullies and now he tries to defend his behaviour by saying 'everyone else does it'.

It would appear that you hang around on a different internet than I do. I'm envious.

The internet I frequent is populated by people who love to forward stories around, post links to Facebook (with comments like "I can't believe how stupid this guys is", and do the same on Twitter. Web sites which showcase said stories, and maybe if they're very lucky, mainstream news will cover them as well.

I pay about $80/month for internet. I'd gladly pay twice that to access the internet you use.