This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
the politicians debating online abuse mean well
Hard disagree.
That sounds awful why would you keep using a platform like that?
Presumably because all of her friends do, and if she quits using it, then she'll be left out of her friends' group chats on IG and be out of the loop on jokes and memes between her friends. Might seem unimportant to an adult, but devastating for a teenager.
Your comment is similar to saying "cyberbullying isn't real, just turn off the PC". Because getting pushed out of social spaces on the internet leaves kids feeling isolated, and deprives them of access to shared spaces that their friends use to connect with each other.
One might say "They can just connect in person!" Presumably they do, but the internet is an inescapable part of modern life and that is unlikely to change. We should push for a better internet, rather than telling people to simply stop using it if they're suffering.
I used to be bullied hard in elementary for being neurodivergent and "living under a rock", and I did not know what was cool or uncool because I didn't have WiFi at home. To illustrate how ridiculous it was, I got bullied for playing Minecraft to the point that if I left my redstone blueprints on my table they would crumple it, and whenever I ate vegetables they would say, "ew vegetables!!!".
But what’s the cost of them being forced to use these online spaces to connect? Is it greater or less than the cost of not using them at all? Seems to me the balance is going farther and farther to the side of using them being worse than not every day. Body shaming, predators, addiction. We didn’t let kids smoke because it increased their social circle did we?
This young woman is an exceptional writer. Not many her age can achieve such coherency and well laid structure in longer essays.
I hope she will continue using her skills and keep fighting against this new rise of misogyny.
Hopefully the next generation of girls and boys growing up just never starts using these shit platforms and they all collapse under their own bullshit in the next few years. Social media is absolutely not necessary and is actively detrimental to good health.
I heard a comedian once compare the Internet to driving in traffic. A lot of people in the Internet treat each other like crap. I would argue that it's even promoted on some platforms. I don't see this changing.
the politicians debating online abuse mean well
Let me stop you there
I'd give her a pass for being 15
That's fair. She'll get it.
NEVER use social media that requires your personal information. Try not to use it at all.
This is a voluntary social disease. It’s not necessary.
She doesn't know the half of it. She's a good kid
I empathize but what does she want? People are assholes. They're assholes on social media and they're assholes everywhere else.
If only we could hold social media's billionaires accountable or something. Unfortunately, that is impossible, and we can and should never imagine a better world.
(It's kind of interesting that in a thread about Flock surveillance, people are talking about destroying the nodes. While in a thread about a girl getting abused online, there's a whole lot more defeatism all around.)
I generally want to make billionaires pay, just as a general rule.
But I don't see this one specific instance being their fault.
We used to burn women alive if they knew how to do math. Since that time, things have gotten a little bit better. But not much.
People are assholes. All around you are assholes. These assholes go online and continue to be assholes.
There's a little thing called "free speech". Govt doesn't have the power to regulate speech.
Sorry what? Tech billionaires don't have to enable the free speech of sexually harassing a child online.
And if your argument is that sexually harassing a child online is "free speech" - and that's the best argument you have - that's not a good argument.
What kind of accountability were you referring to? Were you expecting tech billionaires to hold themselves accountable?
Well, uh... I think she wants people to get better. Like all of us.
Best we can do is find new ways to be assholes.
sigh
unzips
Moderation? All mainstream social media has done away with it and blatantly allows that stuff to happen.
Platforms could moderate their content. They choose not to.
In no way discounting her experience, but it's almost like she's a woman and not a man and she sees things from the woman's perspective.
It's a cruel reality, and without having to do a battle of the sexes comparison, everybody gets this bullshit, regardless of gender identity or sex.
Ever been a man and walked into a woman's online space and see the bullshit that goes on there, the horrible accusations, derogatory dialogue? Ever been falsely accused of sexual impropriety by a woman who's just looking to hold power?
People are assholes, and when you go on a platform filled with assholes, they're going to be assholes. Solution, stop going to those places and live in the real world.
Ever been a man and walked into a woman's online space
Yes, and it's miles better than most men's online spaces
Solution, stop going to those places and live in the real world.
Agreed with you until this point. You realize the people online are the same people from real life, right?
That's not how it works, perhaps you might want to close your apps for a few weeks and live in the real world and then you will realize it is nothing like the online spaces.
I might be wrong but it just seems like you stopped short of saying “not all men”. Did you forget that bit?
I would encourage you to read what is said and try to understand it, versus taking this tired, feeble, accusatory approach.
