SOT wrote:
Jon wrote:
a lot of otherwise respectable people use what they think is the anonymity of the internet to say and do things they wouldn't dream of doing in real life. They never expect their online activity to merge with real life, and if it does - as when Sky turned up on Brenda Leyland's doorstep -it comes as a massive shock.
Lets hope the legacy of this needless tragedy is that everyday 'normal' people will be less likely to become bullies when sitting at their PC screens - but I doubt that will be the resultThe web has offered society so many positive changes, but sadly some negative changes too. There is no place for bullying & harassment anywhere, and especially in the virtual world.
Bullying via text or the net invades an individual's private space so makes it extremely personal (say, compared to a letter to a newspaper, or someone shouting abuse in the street)
Free speech is something we all take for granted, but with it comes responsibilities. Intentionally harming somebody in a malicious, unnecessary and anonymous way breaches those responsibilities - and in high profile cases you must expect to get burnt if you are playing with fire.
I do hope the Sky reporter was being sensitive, but this woman was bullying a couple who have almost certainly lost a child, and the bullying was about the same subject. What ever you feel about this couple (and I think they were negligent beyond belief that evening), they do not deserve the sort of personal and relentless attack this Twitter troll gave them
Its all very sad as surely there's already been enough grief and tears over the McCann case without this???
I and all polite people would agree.
I still feel humiliated, degraded and the victim of other people's unpleasantness when I know that the thread on Feedback, 'Frequently Asked Questions' has had thousands of views. For others to write on there as though they were talking about me and having a laugh at my expense when I had simply asked a question was not being responsible or polite.
For me, as the main target, I feel harrassed and bullied. No regret has been shown by the members who must have felt they were entitled to treat me in such a horrible way, and yet I would not behave in that way. It is like being in a classroom with other children whispering and giggling behind their hands, not caring that I was there.
This is an example of what anonymity can create, and in this case not all were anonymous to me. Both is very upsetting.
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1069'Feedback' is at the very bottom of the index underneath the 'Arts' and I started a thread with the title 'Frequently Asked Questions'.
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