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Ehh... I won't argue that the Internet hasn't opened up the door for new modes of harassment. However, the "cyberbully", "stalker", or "brigade" phenomenons ar
by StevePerkins 11y ago
Ehh... I won't argue that the Internet hasn't opened up the door for new modes of harassment. However, the "cyberbully", "stalker", or "brigade" phenomenons are a totally different animal from a moral panic. Maybe they're even worse, but they're not the same.
- brighteyes 11y agoBrigades and harassment can be expressions of a moral panic. In the 80's, moral panics led people to write leaflets, call their senator, and push their local TV station to cover it. Today, technology lets the people caught up in a moral panic directly interact with the people they see as the cause of their panic. It's not surprising that we see brigades and harassment on those new front lines. Of course, that doesn't tell us that every antagonistic movement is a moral panic. But certainly the moral panics, if large enough, will have unpleasant aspects. That's just the cost of allowing easy direct interaction between anyone at any time.