In this new online social world, it isn't familiarity, but anonymity that breeds contempt! The avatar, the nickname, the unknown person behind the login - these seem to give people a way to express opinions, or otherwise blurt out, what they might not say under normal circumstances!The video streaming suicide that recently played out on Justin.tv, with apparently a few who egged the suicidal teen to his death, shows that the social dynamics in an unknown Internet environment can be somewhat unpredictable. Apparently, this teen had faked this kind of episode in the past, but does that give people the right to be flippant, derogatory or hateful?
How about this other case of a teen's suicide based on others creating a fake romance on the Web - how far will this new world go?
Another word about anonymity - it is ephemeral - eventually, there'll be ways - by oversight or purposeful - by which you can be discovered on-line!
A skunk, by any other name, still stinks!
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