CNN posted an article, "Police: Facebook site may have led to beating of 12-year-old", that says that it is very possible that a Facebook page titled "Kick a Ginger Day" may have led to the beating of a 12 year old boy. The pages is referring to all red-headed people. CNN states "The redheaded boy was beaten up by a group of seventh and eighth graders at A.E. Wright Middle School in Calabasas in two separate incidents." It has been said that the group was believed to be formed from a "South Park" episode. The boy was not seiously hurt, and no charges have been made as of yet.
So why is this important? Facebook is one of the largest networking site in the world. I am a member of Facebook, and see many groups that are racists, sexiest, etc. Many times people confuse media representations with the real world. In the media, it is okay to "kick a Ginger" however, that in the real world is an act of racism. What made these students think that it was okay to harm another student? How did they come to the conclusion to follow Facebook?
So what do I think? I think that the medium of internet networking sites are out of control. There are countless stories about someone being hurt, physically, mentally, or emotionally, because of Internet harassment. I would like these sites to become more strict with their no-harassment policies and or require membership to such sites for those who are 18 years and older. So what do you think? I would love to hear it.
~Lexi
oh, here's the article, just in case you want to check it out: http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/11/22/california.redhead.attack.facebook/index.html#cnnSTCText
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I am concerned, too, about the potentials that exist for social media abuse. But I'm also a big believer in the First Amendment's freedom of speech. How do we "control" people's participation in social media without violating their Constitutional rights? Is it fair to restrict the activities of countless innocent users because a relatively small number of users did something bad? Can we prevent criminal speech on Facebook, or do we have to settle for prosecuting it after it happens? Or is there some line in between?
ReplyDelete