Friday, January 4, 2019

EXTREME MEAN: TROLLS, BULLIES AND PREDATORS ONLINE


By Paula Todd. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 2014.

Why Are We So Horrible to Each Other?

Human nature.

More specifically, with regard to Ellen Page coming out of the closet, there is a groundswell of people who have had quite enough of the lgbt agenda being shoved down their throats by mainstream media outlets, such as TV Ontario. Nature teaches, and people know in the back of their mind two roosters can’t make an egg, two tomcats can’t have kittens and two men or two women can’t make a baby, nor have the kind of truly intimate relationship that it is possible for a man and a woman to have.

Read similar in order to find an explanation for “racism”, “sexism” and “far right extremism.”

By the way, I suppose, from some of the examples of comments in defense of Page given in this chapter, that calling people names because they were calling someone else names is perfectly acceptable?

The Haunting of Amanda Todd

A question I have heard no one else ask about this case is: How did Amanda Todd not know not to expose her private parts to other people? Don’t kids learn that around three or whatever age it is when they like to pull down their pants or lift their dresses over their heads?

Also, Here is what I would do if my daughter requested to stay home from school after being up to all hours texting on her phone:

(Feels forehead)
Me: Hmmm, you aren’t sick. We weren’t on a long car trip yesterday from which we got back late. Nobody close to us is getting married or having their funeral today. Then, I guess, if the schoolboard says today’s date is one on which you have to be attending school, you’re going to school. Be more responsible getting yourself to bed on time.

Cyberstocking a Good Samaritan

What employers-and most other people don’t understand about the internet is everything is not contemporary. By this I mean just because you see something on there, even if it comes up on the first page of Google search results, that doesn’t necessarily mean it originated recently.

With most of the population being whacked out on legal or illegal drugs, it’s not surprising things like the horrible instances of extortion described in this chapter are going on.

Rebecca’s Black Friday

For one thing, we were so saturated with television and other media before the internet we lost the ability to distinguish between fantasy and reality. Society became unable to separate the public persona from the real person and the internet only made things several times worse.

I also think the hatred toward “Friday” stemmed from a groundswell of people who have had enough of having to swallow whatever Hollywood and the music industry tell them is cool. There is more of a movement these days to search out new bands, films, etc. for oneself.

Also, though I’m not a big believer in the “just let them be kids” ethos, what is a 13 year old doing recording a song? She should concentrate on being 13. If she wants to pursue a singing career, she should hone her craft at school and in competitions. Also, forget the Katie Perry, Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber garbage and start listening to people like Sarah Vaughn, Helen O’Connell, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, and Frank Sinatra.

Kids Say The Most Despicable Things

From what I’ve seen lately, no one will do anything if a bunch of kids are cursing their heads off in public.

Also, who ever thought it was a good idea to create the show “Kids Say the Darnedest Things” in the first place? Fine brothers, think of those vicious comments as similar to the content of the letters Art Linkletter and Bill Cosby (remember that version?) would have received had communication been easier and society not been as genteel, which leads into my next point.

The Fine brothers are members of a certain tribe which has a not miniscule interest in popular media and American film production. For the past few decades, fellow tribe members to the Fines have brought us “The Simpsons”, “Family Guy”, “Beavis and Butt-head”, “South Park”, and we might as well add to that mix Tom Green, “The Trailer Park Boys”, and any number of films, TV shows and the like where people constantly insult each other and treat each other like dirt, many of which, I hasten to add, appeal to children. Then the Fine brothers have the nerve to despair over all the uncivil comments their videos receive?

One also has to ask at this point how many of these bullies, and even victims such as Amanda Todd and Rebecca Black, are growing up or grew up in homes consisting of two married, opposite sex parents who sat down to dinner every night with their children and asked them how their day went. Furthermore, did those dinners consist of actual food or some take-out, home delivered or processed, microwave-heated garbage.

Adults Say The Most Despicable Things, Too

Nowadays, everyone who is engaged with others online in any capacity is a media outlet. Media outlets require content and, on the internet where things are available forever, you can’t just re-run or reprint content. Thus, there is pressure to keep coming up with new content, every moment of every hour one spends on social media every day. Thus, is it any wonder people stoop to starting ugly baby forums or captioning photos from their workplace?

For further reading, I would recommend “Trust Me, I’m Lying: confessions of a media manipulator” by Ryan Holiday.

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