Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Downsides of New New Media

Every rose has its thorn. This is true for everything including new new media. New new media opens up a whole new Pandora's box of crime that now takes place in cyberspace. Crimes like cyber-stalking, cyber-bullying, and even robbery and murder have been solicited through new new media. Most of us are familiar with the joke "oh, time to Facebook stalk you!" This is making a pun on the fact that you're going to go through someone's Facebook page and give a thorough read through. Though harmless in this scenario, cyber-stalking is when someone repeatedly follows the movements of someone online through the internet. This is very scary for many people because it makes them uncomfortable and fear for their own safety. Cyber-bullying is another big issue as well. We're all familiar with gossip queens and such, but when it takes to the internet, it turns into a whole new beast. A young Irish immigrant to Massachusetts committed suicide because of what some of the people in her school were writing online about her. She was constantly harassed over her short time dating a football player at her high school and she could never settle in or feel welcome. The bullying got so bad, she took her own life. One of the most famous new new media crimes however, was the craigslist killer Philip Markoff. He was a medical school student who met people by soliciting ads on craigslist.com and then proceeded to rob them. One final time he met a young lady on craigslist and robbed her and killed her. Markoff committed suicide after being indicted on murder and armed robbery charges. Even though the internet and new new media have incredible upsides, their downsides can be very ugly. The world is a dangerous place, and cyberspace is no exception.

1 comment:

  1. and it's a good point that it's part of the real world, not different from it.

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