There is "truth" and there is reality
Dec. 12th, 2011 09:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
puppetmakerI read a New York Times article that points out one of the problems of believing everything on the Internet even with checking. David Carr wrote an article today in the New York Times entitled “When Truth Survives Free Speech.” You can read the article here. I’ll wait for you to read it.
Bloggers as journalists is a very old argument. Some journalists are bloggers but not all bloggers are journalists. Some bloggers have a serious agenda which they push by finding things that fit their point of view. There are bloggers who are trying to be balanced and give both sides of an issue to be examined. Honestly when you get down to it what Ms. Cox did to Mr. Padrick, it is down right scary. She, through manipulation of the Internet, destroyed his reputation to the point that it effected his business and his personal life.
The sad thing is that I have seen this before and more times than I care think about. Maybe not on this scale, but within the realms of fandom I have witnessed people get totally trashed without reason or rationality and later it is found that the evidence against them was fabricated in some way to prove how bad a person they are. That black mark seems to come back years later and haunt them again and they are back to defending themselves again. Some just throw up their hands and walk away from the whole thing. Others stay and fight.
There are people on the Internet that aren’t very happy with me. They would, if you give them a chance, tell you how bad a person I am and how I am a racist, an anti-Semite, homophobic and half a dozen other things that make me the scum of the earth. I know that I am none of the above and the people that know me in person also know the same. But some people have decided that I must be a bad person based upon heresy.
If the Internet is to be believed, Peter is much worse and things that happened 20 years ago still are marched back out and chewed on and sent back. Peter’s advantage is the same as Mr. Carr’s, (quote) Then again, I’ve got some institutional muscle when it comes to how I’m perceived on the Web. (/quote) copyright David Carr 2011 but there are some many out there that don’t. Frankly I don’t think I do at this point so I am careful about my reputation on the Internet since people do google me on occasion for different reasons.
Just something to think about the next time you check someone out on the Internet.
I am grateful for the real people who act responsibly on the Internet.
Bloggers as journalists is a very old argument. Some journalists are bloggers but not all bloggers are journalists. Some bloggers have a serious agenda which they push by finding things that fit their point of view. There are bloggers who are trying to be balanced and give both sides of an issue to be examined. Honestly when you get down to it what Ms. Cox did to Mr. Padrick, it is down right scary. She, through manipulation of the Internet, destroyed his reputation to the point that it effected his business and his personal life.
The sad thing is that I have seen this before and more times than I care think about. Maybe not on this scale, but within the realms of fandom I have witnessed people get totally trashed without reason or rationality and later it is found that the evidence against them was fabricated in some way to prove how bad a person they are. That black mark seems to come back years later and haunt them again and they are back to defending themselves again. Some just throw up their hands and walk away from the whole thing. Others stay and fight.
There are people on the Internet that aren’t very happy with me. They would, if you give them a chance, tell you how bad a person I am and how I am a racist, an anti-Semite, homophobic and half a dozen other things that make me the scum of the earth. I know that I am none of the above and the people that know me in person also know the same. But some people have decided that I must be a bad person based upon heresy.
If the Internet is to be believed, Peter is much worse and things that happened 20 years ago still are marched back out and chewed on and sent back. Peter’s advantage is the same as Mr. Carr’s, (quote) Then again, I’ve got some institutional muscle when it comes to how I’m perceived on the Web. (/quote) copyright David Carr 2011 but there are some many out there that don’t. Frankly I don’t think I do at this point so I am careful about my reputation on the Internet since people do google me on occasion for different reasons.
Just something to think about the next time you check someone out on the Internet.
I am grateful for the real people who act responsibly on the Internet.
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no subject
Date: 2011-12-12 03:04 pm (UTC)I think people confuse "disagreement" with bigotry and that's terrible.
I'm grateful for you and PAD continuing to share your opinions in the face of such nasty behavior.
no subject
Date: 2011-12-12 10:46 pm (UTC)I think my wish as how I want to be remembered when I shuffle off this mortal coil would be that I was a kind and honest person.
no subject
Date: 2011-12-13 05:52 am (UTC)I can say that with certainity and hope I am not proven right for 120 years!
no subject
Date: 2011-12-12 08:39 pm (UTC)But this is one of the many reasons why I reserve final judgement on people until I've met them in real life. No matter how amazing, the internet isn't real.
no subject
Date: 2011-12-12 09:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-12 09:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-12 09:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-25 03:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-13 09:41 am (UTC)That just boggles my mind...
no subject
Date: 2011-12-13 04:28 pm (UTC)It was one BNF with a group of followers who decided that because I pointed out an error in her thinking because I knew the writer and had discussed that point with them. I am an anti-Semite since she is Jewish and I called her on some of her bad behavior on the Internet. Honestly she is a bully and I don't take kindly to bullies.
no subject
Date: 2011-12-13 04:32 pm (UTC)