Who's afraid of the big bad internet?
I don't blog often. Normally it gets triggered by some silly BS flooding my notification window. Today it is umbrage and outrage at people being held accountable for what they do online. Or being outed as who they are in the real world.
GASP!
So, lets imagine that every time you get onto the Internet you had to take responsibility for every single thing that you did or said. You know, like you have to in the real world.
Did most of you just shudder in horror?
For some of you out there I'm sure that a part of you screamed in terror.
And well you should.
I'm an Ancient of the Internet. Back before the public could be here, I was here. When the military released it to colleges a lot of us came on with borrowed access and marveled at the beast.
We knew each other, if not by our real names than by reputation. We were harsh sometimes but we backed up anything we said. As access was widened to the public we looked on in disgust as people made up fake persona's and began spewing venom at each other.
The virtual world offered people the unprecedented ability to behave any way they wanted, without real world consequences. As far as they knew they were completely anonymous, so anything goes. The problem is that anonymity was a lie. It was pretty easy to track people down in the real world. If you knew how to do it.
You could find the country, region, city, town, and city block from the IP address that people were accessing from. What's more, the people who had that knowledge were often the target of those that did not. To put it simply, people that didn't know better were picking fights with 9000 lb gorillas
Not a good idea.
So all of a sudden the person that told people off online would have real world woes pop up. Like getting billed for thousands of magazines they never ordered. Or having identity theft. Or getting calls from people who saw their ad on Craigslist...for special meetings...ugh.
The point is that these folks never put one and one together to get two. It was a totally unconnected case of bad luck. Except it wasn't. Fast forward to where we are now.
I have watched people unload years of hostility in a single post. Work out being ignored or marginalized in a hateful diatribe against X. I'm sure it was cathartic. But it was also incredibly stupid.
Let me explain why. I will water down the technobable to make it easier to understand.
When you post to the internet what you are doing is actually communicating between your computer and the server that hosts the website you are going to. The website records each time you log in, where you are, and does the same thing when you post.
In essence, you provide your location each time. Not only that, you have to be identified by the server to post. So your account is being tagged to each post. So if you set up a fake account you would be fine, right?
Wrong. When you set up the account you likely didn't use software to mask your Internet service provider address. Nor did you go to a coffee shop out of town or a far away library. But even if you did that you would out yourself every time you logged on from home to post.
But that information is secure and the only way someone can get it is with a subpoena, right?
Nope. With the right software, which is available for free or for a small fee, you can strip a webpage down to the code. Heck, most browsers these days have the option built in. In many cases this will show the IP that you posted from.
There are a few free or cheap services that allow you to break down IP's to actual locations. With a little cross referencing you can figure out where someone posting to the internet lives.
In the real world. You can even use Google Street View to get a picture of their house. Their car might even be parked in the driveway in the picture.
Freaked out yet?
There is a movement going on to stop bullying online. One thought is to have everyone registered under a username that is tied to their real name.
This would mean if you said something you would be responsible for it. I think it is long past time. Especially since if you have the knowledge you can already do it.
Right now the issue isn't someone tracking you down in the real world because of something you said that they disagreed with.
The issue is that you felt like you could say and do anything because the internet isn't the real world. But you're wrong. The internet is very much part of the real world and our actions matter as much here as anywhere. More even because of how easy it is to reach people with just a few keystrokes.
My mom taught me when I was a kid that if you don't do anything wrong you don't have to worry about getting in trouble. As an adult if I don't break the law I don't have to worry about being arrested. And online if I never behave like a jerk I should never have to worry about motivating someone to track me down in the real world.
That isn't going to cover every instance. But if you behave badly you should expect to be held accountable for it. Being outraged that someone pierced your perceived anonymity is silly.
You were never anonymous in the first place. Remember that and be civil to each other and most of these issues will go away.
GASP!
So, lets imagine that every time you get onto the Internet you had to take responsibility for every single thing that you did or said. You know, like you have to in the real world.
Did most of you just shudder in horror?
For some of you out there I'm sure that a part of you screamed in terror.
And well you should.
I'm an Ancient of the Internet. Back before the public could be here, I was here. When the military released it to colleges a lot of us came on with borrowed access and marveled at the beast.
We knew each other, if not by our real names than by reputation. We were harsh sometimes but we backed up anything we said. As access was widened to the public we looked on in disgust as people made up fake persona's and began spewing venom at each other.
The virtual world offered people the unprecedented ability to behave any way they wanted, without real world consequences. As far as they knew they were completely anonymous, so anything goes. The problem is that anonymity was a lie. It was pretty easy to track people down in the real world. If you knew how to do it.
You could find the country, region, city, town, and city block from the IP address that people were accessing from. What's more, the people who had that knowledge were often the target of those that did not. To put it simply, people that didn't know better were picking fights with 9000 lb gorillas
Not a good idea.
So all of a sudden the person that told people off online would have real world woes pop up. Like getting billed for thousands of magazines they never ordered. Or having identity theft. Or getting calls from people who saw their ad on Craigslist...for special meetings...ugh.
The point is that these folks never put one and one together to get two. It was a totally unconnected case of bad luck. Except it wasn't. Fast forward to where we are now.
I have watched people unload years of hostility in a single post. Work out being ignored or marginalized in a hateful diatribe against X. I'm sure it was cathartic. But it was also incredibly stupid.
Let me explain why. I will water down the technobable to make it easier to understand.
When you post to the internet what you are doing is actually communicating between your computer and the server that hosts the website you are going to. The website records each time you log in, where you are, and does the same thing when you post.
In essence, you provide your location each time. Not only that, you have to be identified by the server to post. So your account is being tagged to each post. So if you set up a fake account you would be fine, right?
Wrong. When you set up the account you likely didn't use software to mask your Internet service provider address. Nor did you go to a coffee shop out of town or a far away library. But even if you did that you would out yourself every time you logged on from home to post.
But that information is secure and the only way someone can get it is with a subpoena, right?
Nope. With the right software, which is available for free or for a small fee, you can strip a webpage down to the code. Heck, most browsers these days have the option built in. In many cases this will show the IP that you posted from.
There are a few free or cheap services that allow you to break down IP's to actual locations. With a little cross referencing you can figure out where someone posting to the internet lives.
In the real world. You can even use Google Street View to get a picture of their house. Their car might even be parked in the driveway in the picture.
Freaked out yet?
There is a movement going on to stop bullying online. One thought is to have everyone registered under a username that is tied to their real name.
This would mean if you said something you would be responsible for it. I think it is long past time. Especially since if you have the knowledge you can already do it.
Right now the issue isn't someone tracking you down in the real world because of something you said that they disagreed with.
The issue is that you felt like you could say and do anything because the internet isn't the real world. But you're wrong. The internet is very much part of the real world and our actions matter as much here as anywhere. More even because of how easy it is to reach people with just a few keystrokes.
My mom taught me when I was a kid that if you don't do anything wrong you don't have to worry about getting in trouble. As an adult if I don't break the law I don't have to worry about being arrested. And online if I never behave like a jerk I should never have to worry about motivating someone to track me down in the real world.
That isn't going to cover every instance. But if you behave badly you should expect to be held accountable for it. Being outraged that someone pierced your perceived anonymity is silly.
You were never anonymous in the first place. Remember that and be civil to each other and most of these issues will go away.
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