Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Internet Out of Control?
After looking at Liz and Martine's blog posts from last week I realized there are a lot of connections between free speech and the internet with specific attention to social networking sites. I think it would be really interesting to be the one in charge of monitoring a site like Facebook for inappropriate or unwelcome content. Who decides what content is deemed inappropriate? As a facebook user, I don't know specifically what content gets people kicked off. I was never directly informed that's for sure. Perhaps in the agreement when you first register they have it in small print somewhere, but I definitely don't remember seeing it. When I first started reading the Goldsmith article, it made me a little uneasy to know that there is so much uncontrollable content on the internet. Because its lack of physical space, it's so difficult to institute rules and regulations and carry out reinforcement when those standards aren't kept. I for one would never want to see the google results for Nazi paraphernalia or that there are any at all. The movie Untraceable sums up all the fears that people carry about the internet. This whole idea of anonymous spaces on the internet makes people think they can do whatever they please. Because the internet is used by so many people it makes controlling it seem, well impossible. Social standards seem to disappear when people can hide behind a screen. People get bolder online because they feel they won't have to deal with the consequences. Goldsmith doesn't ever really give a solution to this regulation failure but instead points out that territorial lines are becoming invisible and boundaries crossed. It's up to us to figure out what to do about that.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Emma,
ReplyDeleteVery interesting! I never really thought about who controls those sites. However, I do constantly think about things I see on facebook and say to myself "how is this allowed to be online?" I wonder if they have a list of things that are/are not allowed to be on their sites. It must be a busy job to try and monitor a website like facebook.
Liz
I agree. When you do nothing wrong, you don't really think about who is in control of the websites and who makes sure that everything on the site is acceptable. But Liz, you are right, some items are just too crazy to be allowed on. Maybe, for some of the things it is a "scout honor's" code. Maybe, there is too must trust in the actual users as opposed to keeping a closer eye on them. There needs to be limits on what can be uploaded and said as well. Perhaps, as more people start to join social networking sites (like Facebook and Twitter), there should be more limitations to make sure things don't get out of hand and so people won't get hurt.
ReplyDeleteI definitely see where both of you are coming from. This makes me think of the instances in which online harassment was made headline news. There have been several cases of suicide due to online harassment. It would be interesting to take a look at how these cases panned out and to see how the social networking sites responding to the criticisms and if they changed any part of their regulation.
ReplyDeleteWhile I do think that the internet can be misused because of the anonymity of it, I really don't think it is a site like Facebook's responsibility to change their regulations. People need to a)be responsible online and b) know what they're getting into when they join a SNS.
ReplyDelete