Best Blog Post

My two best blog posts were “Harassment Online” and “Was the Ice Bucket Challenge a Waste?” Both these blogs incorporated in class readings and lectures with additional sources to further engage the reader in a specific topic.

The “Harassment Online” post explores the topic of severe and less severe forms of online harassment. One of the additional articles referenced explained the actual effects online harassment can have on a person. This adds an emotional value to the blog because the reader can better understand what one might go through. The second article linked refers to what people are doing about the problem. This lets the reader know what steps are being taken and what steps still need to be done. The additional research included in this blog make it noteworthy because it provides a broader picture while incorporating topics from class.

The second blog post, “Was the Ice Bucket Challenge a Waste,” sparked a conversation among the class. A total of nine comments were submitted under this post making it my most successful post in regards to starting a conversation. The blog provided an alternate view to the Ice Bucket Challenge and just how wasteful it was. Coming from the west coast, I know all to well the severe drought occurring in the region which many people here do not know about. Providing alternative views and greater perspectives are the strong suits to both of these blogs.

My two best comments were made on “Sexting! The new Polaroids!” by Gary Newell and “Viral Marketing” by Eric Richardson. Both comments added to the conversation either by asking questions or providing more evidence related to the blog.

My comment in response to “Sexting! The new Polaroids” questioned how these laws have changed over the past few decades adding to the conversation. It brings up the idea that laws may have become harsher since our parents were kids and asks why is this the case. The second comment is in response to “Viral Marketing” and it provides more examples of failed marketing. This too added to the blog which was about how companies view marketing online. My comment proved that some viral campaigns have turned for the worst and actually hurt the companies they were trying to promote. Both these comments added to the conversation by asking questions or providing further evidence ultimately engaging fellow readers.

Harassment Online

A PEW research found that “40% of internet users have personally experienced online harassment [while] 73% have witnessed it.” This statistic is mind-boggling because it means that nearly 3 out of 4 people have seen some form of online harassment. Why has it become so common for the average internet user to view this terrible event?

The research distinguished between two types of online harassment: severe and less severe. Severe being sexual harassment and stalking while less severe being name-calling and embarrassment. Men more commonly deal with the less severe while women experience the more severe forms of online harassment. There is no doubt that the less severe forms of online harassment are easier to deal with. Simply ignoring or blocking the individual can go a long way when it is offensive language. But when threatening messages and stalking occurs, it can have a real effect psychologically.

An article by the Telegraph explains that online harassment is even “more dangerous than traditional” harassment, because of the anonymity, how quickly information can spread, and the shear amount of information that can be present about an individual.

“Victims may feel stress, anxiety, fear and nightmares, as well as enduring eating and sleeping difficulties…”

It is this shield of anonymity that allows for so much hateful things to be said and often rarely prosecuted. Since the connectivity of the internet is world-wide, it is entirely possible that an online harasser is from another country which makes it nearly impossible to prosecute according to one Newsweek article.  Many harassers reside in countries that have no online harassment laws making it all the more difficult.

Countries in the European Union are attempting to resolve this issue of cross border online harassment, especially with stalking, but the problem is that technology moves too fast for laws to be created in order to protect people. In a real world scenario, the police could arrest the stalker within hours, but online, a warrant is required which could take up to 3 months. Internet email providers also delete user’s deleted file every 30 days meaning some “evidence may be gone for good.”

Federal and international laws need to catch up with the varying forms of online harassment. One solution is to apply real life harassment laws to online platforms allowing for a faster resolutions by authorities. Is this a good solution or is there something better that could prevent online harassment?

Twitter and Free Speech

Twitter, along with other social media sites, has begun to crack down on threatening messages and harassment on their platforms. The corporations believe it is best for their user base but others believe it is infringing on their freedom of speech.

Within this last year, Twitter has increased their efforts to limit the amount of harassing and threatening messages sent over their platform. This caused a famous internet troll, Charles Johnson, to lose his account and subsequent accounts he created thereafter. In an article about Johnson by Caitlin Dewey, the “First Amendment defines the relationship between you, as a citizen, and the government,” not a private corporation like Twitter therefore allowing Twitter to ban whomever they chose.

In an article about criminal law and social media, the law commonly follows the traditional set of laws regarding speech and abusive language. The courts and companies, like Twitter and Facebook, have to constantly assess the true intent of every threat. If the threat was directed to a “particular person or a particular group that the person already has a grievance with,” it is often seen as a viable threat. If it was directed to a community at large, then it is considered just offensive. In the case of Johnson, he specifically targeted a person but he also has a known history of trolling and using offensive language leading Twitter to ban his account to be on the safe side. Twitter’s user base is a reflection of themselves as a company so they have the right to enact policy regarding trolling and harassment. Twitter’s efforts have improved the social community and proven that they can be used for good.

The benefits of social media “far outweigh the negatives” stated in an article about social media and free speech.  Facebook, for example, has increased their Amber Alerts to help authorities locate missing children. Along with increasing their on filters to decrease abuse, they have increased programs that help children in danger reach out to authorities. Facebook and Twitter both try to increase their user experience by banning accounts and restricting abusive language. Do you believe restricting offensive language is the duty of social media corporations, the government, or the users themselves?