3 ms·

The dark side of the Internet (1996)

47 points by Lammy 4y ago

Lammy 4y ago
Meta: There doesn’t seem to be a title for this individual post itself — “A Pilgrim In Cyberspace” is the name of the series whose previous entries can be seen by clicking “Archives”: https://web.archive.org/web/19961220160738/http://www.aol.com/rants/pilgrim/archives/ https://web.archive.org/web/19961220160738/http://www.aol.co...
pflanze 4y ago
> I am a frequent guest on talk shows anyway, but nobody has ever called to ask me to discuss "the bright side of the Internet." Heh, that's a fun sentence. And then I'm reminded of the issue of the negative top-voted top-level comments that frequently appear on HN. I guess the same mechanisms are in effect.
mgdlbp 4y ago
(1998): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCPqB7rm8cc&t=9m17s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCPqB7rm8cc&t=9m17s
marapuru 4y ago
What a wonderful article. Given that this column is about 25 years old, it aged really well. I feel that all the points she mentions are still valid today. Even though there is so much talk about trouble in cyberspace. Indeed the solution is easy, just turn it off. I realize our society is more and more 'happening' in cyberspace. But still. Turning it all of requires nothing more than the press of a button. If only we could take a breath of fresh air once in a while. I really wish more people realised this.
- mgdlbp 4y ago
  Really, 1990s writings on the impact of the Internet I find tend to remain remarkably applicable in this way. There's a particularly notable[0] article quite relevant to the topic of digital identity and harm, and to events earlier this year: "A Rape in Cyberspace; or, How an Evil Clown, a Haitian Trickster Spirit, Two Wizards, and a Cast of Dozens Turned a Database Into a Society" (1993) http://www.juliandibbell.com/texts/bungle_vv.html http://www.juliandibbell.com/texts/bungle_vv.html 0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Rape_in_Cyberspace https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Rape_in_Cyberspace
- flyingfences 4y ago
  > she FYI https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vic_Sussman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vic_Sussman
  - marapuru 4y ago
    Thanks, hadn't properly checked.
- thomassmith65 4y ago
  it aged really well I have the opposite reaction: today, it reads like panglossian baloney. In early days of the web, many people had blinders on, because we had dreams of the internet bringing the world together in love and harmony, etc. Fewer people are like that now, because social media has made the internet's flaws hard to ignore. It's possible the author himself would have tempered his optimism if he wrote a follow-up article today, but it appears he passed away in 2004 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vic_Sussman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vic_Sussman) so we'll never know.

47 points by Lammy 4y ago

Meta: There doesn’t seem to be a title for this individual post itself — “A Pilgrim In Cyberspace” is the name of the series whose previous entries can be seen by clicking “Archives”: https://web.archive.org/web/19961220160738/http://www.aol.com/rants/pilgrim/archives/ https://web.archive.org/web/19961220160738/http://www.aol.co...

pflanze 4y ago

> I am a frequent guest on talk shows anyway, but nobody has ever called to ask me to discuss "the bright side of the Internet." Heh, that's a fun sentence. And then I'm reminded of the issue of the negative top-voted top-level comments that frequently appear on HN. I guess the same mechanisms are in effect.

mgdlbp 4y ago

(1998): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCPqB7rm8cc&t=9m17s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCPqB7rm8cc&t=9m17s

marapuru 4y ago

What a wonderful article. Given that this column is about 25 years old, it aged really well. I feel that all the points she mentions are still valid today. Even though there is so much talk about trouble in cyberspace. Indeed the solution is easy, just turn it off. I realize our society is more and more 'happening' in cyberspace. But still. Turning it all of requires nothing more than the press of a button. If only we could take a breath of fresh air once in a while. I really wish more people realised this.

mgdlbp 4y ago
Really, 1990s writings on the impact of the Internet I find tend to remain remarkably applicable in this way. There's a particularly notable[0] article quite relevant to the topic of digital identity and harm, and to events earlier this year: "A Rape in Cyberspace; or, How an Evil Clown, a Haitian Trickster Spirit, Two Wizards, and a Cast of Dozens Turned a Database Into a Society" (1993) http://www.juliandibbell.com/texts/bungle_vv.html http://www.juliandibbell.com/texts/bungle_vv.html 0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Rape_in_Cyberspace https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Rape_in_Cyberspace
flyingfences 4y ago
> she FYI https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vic_Sussman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vic_Sussman
- marapuru 4y ago
  Thanks, hadn't properly checked.
thomassmith65 4y ago
it aged really well I have the opposite reaction: today, it reads like panglossian baloney. In early days of the web, many people had blinders on, because we had dreams of the internet bringing the world together in love and harmony, etc. Fewer people are like that now, because social media has made the internet's flaws hard to ignore. It's possible the author himself would have tempered his optimism if he wrote a follow-up article today, but it appears he passed away in 2004 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vic_Sussman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vic_Sussman) so we'll never know.