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I support this discourse and hope the author of the original article will feel confident to write again. I have no idea how to solve the monstrous problems rel

by Kurimo 10y ago

I support this discourse and hope the author of the original article will feel confident to write again. I have no idea how to solve the monstrous problems related to internet harassment. It is well out of hand, especially as regards women on the internet (see: Anita Sarkeesian). I think a discourse definitely needs to happen. But maybe the only solution lies in the education and mental health systems. But again, I don't know. Wish I knew, wish I could do more to help. Wish my gender weren't responsible for the vast majority of the harassment, violence, and threats of violence. Best of luck. Please keep posting about this topic and looking for and experimenting with solutions. Progress can only be made by people like you taking the time to try to do something about an urgent problem like this.

KendraRoss 10y ago
Thank you so much for your support! I was thinking about mental health solutions while responding to an earlier comment on Medium. It's easy to talk about short term protection like anonymizing content, but I'm so frustrated that we're accepting hate and harassment as inevitable. I wonder if there's more we can be doing in schools to teach good conduct and respectful discussion on the internet.
- sosuke 10y ago
  I think you're right about trying to indoctrinate a more respectful future generation of net users. But the current environment, which no one would say is healthy, is what public personas need to be prepared for. I always modulate my writing with the Internet in mind, which is probably why I don't write as much. Is there anything that can be done to bolster the new public personas and strengthen them? Perhaps having a moderated comment section for new or unseasoned authors might be work well. Maybe only allowing an authors name to appear when the post count is under a certain threshold. Then the name and photo, then name photo and Twitter or other contact method. Overrides possible of course.
  - xherberta 10y ago
    I often wonder why there's only one internet. Is it elitist to want to be a part of a more selective net? Are there alt-net movements today?
throwwow 10y ago
> I have no idea how to solve the monstrous problems related to internet harassment. It is well out of hand, especially as regards women on the internet (see: Anita Sarkeesian). Please, she certainly profited from the "harassment". She is a provocateur, not unlike Ann Coulter. Does she deserve death threats ? of course not, but its not like provocation isn't part of her business, that's how she got exposure and all her money. She isn't an ideologue, her pal Macintosh came up with that scheme. The irony is that she fired him ...
dominotw 10y ago
>Wish my gender weren't responsible for the vast majority of the harassment, violence, and threats of violence. You are an individual not nameless member of a gang called 'men'. Its strange to hold yourself accountable for some random person on the internet.
- roughly27 10y ago
  Unfortunately, collectivism is in vogue at the moment.
  - snowwrestler 10y ago
    Fighting harassment is the opposite of collectivism. It seeks to allow each individual the greatest opportunity to express themselves freely, as themselves. It is harassment--and the apologists for harassment--who advocate for a collectivist approach to society, in which individuals must cloak their true identities if they dare to challenge the herd, or be punished.
    - roughly27 10y ago
      >Fighting harassment is the opposite of collectivism. It seeks to allow each individual the greatest opportunity to express themselves freely, as themselves. ... by curtailing the freedoms of other individuals, in the name of group wellbeing. Regardless of whether harassment is collectivist or not, I was simply pointing out that feeling guilty for actions of people in a similar demographic group to you (an overtly collectivist action) is currently wildly popular.
      - etjossem 10y ago
        Simply by virtue of participating in the same communities as others from our demographic group - in this case, Hacker News readers - we are part of a collective. We can enforce our guidelines and keep the discussion civil, so everyone involved feels comfortable bringing new ideas to the table. Or we can let HN slip in the direction unmoderated communities usually go; rife with trolling, undue negativity, and direct harassment. Whether or not to cast that downvote and show the trolls the door [1] is a choice we each have to make, but I for one feel an obligation to help build a civil community. [1] https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/free_speech.png https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/free_speech.png

by Kurimo 10y ago

KendraRoss 10y ago

Thank you so much for your support! I was thinking about mental health solutions while responding to an earlier comment on Medium. It's easy to talk about short term protection like anonymizing content, but I'm so frustrated that we're accepting hate and harassment as inevitable. I wonder if there's more we can be doing in schools to teach good conduct and respectful discussion on the internet.

sosuke 10y ago
I think you're right about trying to indoctrinate a more respectful future generation of net users. But the current environment, which no one would say is healthy, is what public personas need to be prepared for. I always modulate my writing with the Internet in mind, which is probably why I don't write as much. Is there anything that can be done to bolster the new public personas and strengthen them? Perhaps having a moderated comment section for new or unseasoned authors might be work well. Maybe only allowing an authors name to appear when the post count is under a certain threshold. Then the name and photo, then name photo and Twitter or other contact method. Overrides possible of course.
- xherberta 10y ago
  I often wonder why there's only one internet. Is it elitist to want to be a part of a more selective net? Are there alt-net movements today?

throwwow 10y ago

> I have no idea how to solve the monstrous problems related to internet harassment. It is well out of hand, especially as regards women on the internet (see: Anita Sarkeesian). Please, she certainly profited from the "harassment". She is a provocateur, not unlike Ann Coulter. Does she deserve death threats ? of course not, but its not like provocation isn't part of her business, that's how she got exposure and all her money. She isn't an ideologue, her pal Macintosh came up with that scheme. The irony is that she fired him ...

dominotw 10y ago

>Wish my gender weren't responsible for the vast majority of the harassment, violence, and threats of violence. You are an individual not nameless member of a gang called 'men'. Its strange to hold yourself accountable for some random person on the internet.

roughly27 10y ago
Unfortunately, collectivism is in vogue at the moment.
- snowwrestler 10y ago
  Fighting harassment is the opposite of collectivism. It seeks to allow each individual the greatest opportunity to express themselves freely, as themselves. It is harassment--and the apologists for harassment--who advocate for a collectivist approach to society, in which individuals must cloak their true identities if they dare to challenge the herd, or be punished.
  - roughly27 10y ago
    >Fighting harassment is the opposite of collectivism. It seeks to allow each individual the greatest opportunity to express themselves freely, as themselves. ... by curtailing the freedoms of other individuals, in the name of group wellbeing. Regardless of whether harassment is collectivist or not, I was simply pointing out that feeling guilty for actions of people in a similar demographic group to you (an overtly collectivist action) is currently wildly popular.
    - etjossem 10y ago
      Simply by virtue of participating in the same communities as others from our demographic group - in this case, Hacker News readers - we are part of a collective. We can enforce our guidelines and keep the discussion civil, so everyone involved feels comfortable bringing new ideas to the table. Or we can let HN slip in the direction unmoderated communities usually go; rife with trolling, undue negativity, and direct harassment. Whether or not to cast that downvote and show the trolls the door [1] is a choice we each have to make, but I for one feel an obligation to help build a civil community. [1] https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/free_speech.png https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/free_speech.png