[chapter-delegates] you may find this interesting - the power of the Internet !

[Fred Baker]

A comment at the end of the blog is telling:
> ...No doubt about it, the rise of citizen cyber-police such as  
> those who tracked down and shamed the hapless Korean dog owner is a  
> development with multiple ramifications. And trying to patrol these  
> Internet lynch mobs may turn out to be just as impossible as trying  
> to keep the world free of dog poop."
I would agree; what would be necessary to prevent cyber-lynch-mobs  
like this one (whatever other facts apply, the punishment,  
humiliation so great she dropped out of university, seems to exceed  
the crime) is content control that none of us would find acceptable.

What might be a more appropriate response would be to send the cyber- 
lynch-mob after itself - blogs about the bloggers themselves. They  
might think again about what they have done to her. Certainly  
discussion of the social norms is important, and that (as you point  
out) is happening.

I think the ultimate endpoint is a development of social norms  
regarding blogging. First, a punishment must fit the crime. Second,  
there must be a means of restoration of the offending member of  
society. The girl's picture needs to expire, and the comments about  
her personally need to expire. Freedom of the press extends to  
bloggers; I should hope that the possibility of repentance extends to  
the people mentioned in blogs.

My two yen...



On Jul 15, 2005, at 8:03 AM, Veni Markovski wrote:

> http://www.textually.org/picturephoning/archives/2005/07/009078.htm
>
> A couple of weeks ago, Korean bloggers had field day over the  
> behavior of a young woman who refused to clean up the mess after  
> her dog pooped on the floor of a subway.
> [read more at the above link]
>
>
>
> I just wonder if it's not too much, but how do we know?
> best,
> veni
>