The Internet Always Wins.

[WilliamPitt]

Matthew 6:6 reads, "But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you." It's my favorite verse to throw in the faces of those who make a public spectacle of their piety.

There needs to be a similar verse in the Bible Of Online Etiquette. Something like, say, Internet 6:6, which would read, "But if you're going to be an insensitive jackass, if you're going to express racist or sexist sentiments, if you're going to threaten the life of the president or other public officials, if you're going to do anything stupid or mean or grossly inappropriate, do it by yourself in an empty room. Do not do it online, because lo, the Internet sees, and the Internet always wins. Always."

Amen.

What Happens When You Dress As A Boston Marathon Victim And Post It On Twitter
A Michigan woman who posted her bombing victim costume online has apologized after receiving death threats.

Alicia Ann Lynch, a 22-year-old from Michigan, tweeted and instagrammed a photo of herself at work dressed as a Boston Marathon bombing victim for Halloween.



Twitter users were enraged at the costume, and thousands tweeted at Lynch to express their disgust....

The rest: http://www.buzzfeed.com/rachelzarrell/what-happens-when-you-dress-as-a-boston-marathon-victim

[gopiscrap]

10. I agree with you

[gopiscrap]

11. BTW welcome to DU

[NYC_SKP]

2. She's probably been punished enough.

I wish I could believe that continued punishment would have an impact on people's judgment, but I kind of doubt it.

People like this have a way of consistently disappointing us.

[rock]

3. So now we punish people for bad taste?

Are the Republicans going to go along with this new rule?

[Xipe Totec]

4. Haven't we always? nt

[Jasana]

5. I guess we punish people with bad taste who are...

stupid enough to upload it... hence the title of the OP, "The Internet Always Wins." At least that's my take on it.

[Cooley Hurd]

6. Amazingly, she did this at a WORK Halloween function??

Was she TRYING to get fired?

I wonder if, Halloween 1964, anyone dressed as JFK with his brains hanging out? Well, perhaps in "nut country" they did...

[yuiyoshida]

7. having read though the tweets, she has apologized and lost her job because of it

What she did was disgusting, but apparently there are people who feel she has not paid enough yet. People are now beginning to see that this has crossed over to cyber bullying, with her parents receiving death threats. She seems to have learned her lesson in a big way... maybe people need to back off.. now.

[dixiegrrrrl]

18. Her apology: "It seems as though my outfit was too soon"

the very first words of her apology, yet.

Wonder when the appropriate date would have been to dress like that.

[yuiyoshida]

20. I guess its obvious she is not

very smart. I don't know when an outfit like that would be appropriate... most people with common sense would say NEVER.
Betting she is a Republican....

[Archae]

8. "If you want to tell the world that you're a horse's rear...

"Put it on the Internet, where everyone will hear!"

[grantcart]

12. I am seeing increasing evidence of a lack of a moral literacy in this generation.

I am not alluding to a degenerative moral outbreak but just an increasing trend of things like this one where everyone of our age would shake our heads while a lot of people their age laugh and think its wicked.

Some recent examples

1) Yesterday I went into Staples where I was returning a printer I had on extended warranty. I told the tech guy that I never guy them but I take this printer with me so I figured it needed extra protection. He said that he bought it for his top end lap top and his high end phone. After a year he 'drops them' and makes the claim and gets another new high end lap top, and pays for another year of protection. In most cases he doesn't even have to show the damaged product and simply picks up a free computer (which it was obvious from his smirk, he could sell). It was an amazing admission to someone he just met.

2) I was talking to an AA young relative of mine who was watching Ridiculousness. I told him I thought that I found it odd because it was not only cruel but also quite unabashedly racist. He said it was racist but also funny.

3) The almost universal detachment in the electoral process. Sure there are exceptions, just like there are young folks starting non profits helping kids in Africa. The fact is if they were as engaged as we are the House of Representatives would have a 20 seat Democratic advantage. We would be arguing about single payer and not a website. Manny's justified rant about being fed up does what our generation always does, makes us more accountable than those that followed. Look at the age spread on DU. 80% of the folks are either retired or within a dozen years of retirement.

Kind of off topic but I see this kind of thing, kind of a moral and political illiteracy that just leaves me shaking my head. I am willing to bet that this girl is a good person who still cannot understand what the hell we are upset about.

[trumad]

19. LOL---

This generation? As opposed to ride in the back of the bus generation?

[JHB]

22. None of what you list are new or unique to this generation

#1 is as old as any warranty offer, and doesn't even get into buy-it-wear/use-it-return-it people that have been around as long as stores have offered to take back merchandise.

#2 isn't anything new either. People are complex and have different likes and interests. That includes an ability to tune out or gloss over stuff they don't like mixed in with stuff they do.

#3 I'd attribute to the decay (and in some areas destruction) of civics education and organized efforts to promote citizen involvement. If no one instills in them that all elections are important, not just presidential ones, we all have to deal with the time they spend on the learning curve.

[grantcart]

25. its not unique and of course it is all anecdotal however the lack of involvement in

politics is significantly different.

Of course the older generation had a different experience forged by the draft and the civil rights movement. Nevertheless mass demonstrations were a common experience 40 years ago for a wide range of activities. All of the events I have been to in the last few years (anti war and candidate rallies) were all dominated by people 50 and over. The only rally I have seen younger people at were the anti 8 rallies, but I signed up to go door knocking and they never called, there was no ground campaign, they only wanted money.

[RainDog]

29. They've grown up under neoliberal democrats

They've never known a time when Democrats didn't kowtow to Republican demands to shrink the size of the govt, to allow corporations to write laws (remember Cheney letting energy cos write environmental law...and the recent Citicorp law they wrote?)

They've faced rising costs with lower wages because unions, which helped all working people by putting pressure on wages, have little to no power.

They've faced a govt. bailout of banks who wrote laws to favor them while students face a lifetime of student loan debt JUST TO MEET THE FLOOR on basic job requirements.

They've faced a nation that went to war based upon manufactured evidence - and no one has faced any consequence for this.

So, why should they attend an anti-war rally, or campaign for a politician?

ON THE OTHER HAND

Here's what we know works to help democracies, and to help people feel invested in the nation in which they were born -

1. high literacy rates (achieved through education, which is under attack)
2. low rates of religiosity (while this nation coddles the most ignorant fucks in the world - like Raphael Cruz - who should be a laughing stock in this nation whose rants would disqualify his son who doesn't disown him.)
3. TAXES ON CORPORATIONS that raise revenue to fund social programs, along with the programs that help people who are in distress... including retraining, as well as basics like food stamps.

The Democratic Party doesn't dare mention taxation on corporations, or student loan debt forgiveness, or the harm right wing religion brings to a nation, and public schools and teachers have been attacked by high-level Democrats, such as Emmanuel.

So, the problem is that people, and not just young people, see voting as a way to stop the worst that may govern, but not to actually get better govt. And then you have states electing idiotic tea baggers to destroy the economy and harm the poor - and you wonder if you have anything in common that makes you a nation with those who use religion to bludgeon those in need.

[JHB]

30. What year is that for, because here's 1996:

Percentage reporting they voted:

18-20: 31.2
21-24: 33.4
25-34: 43.1
35-44: 54.9
45-64: 64.4
65+: 67.0

I'm sure the Census bureau has similar charts going way back. Can you find the breakdowns for years farther back?

One of the things that stands out in the PDF I linked to is the massive dropoff among the younger groups for non-presidential elections -- nearly half, pretty consistently over decades.

[Surya Gayatri]

28. Let's not blame the young'uns. Look instead to the parents...

This millenial generation has grown up under the most indifferent, misguided and amoral parenting in modern history.

Millions of them have had to bring themselves up, using the role models and authority figures they find on their surrogate parent--the internet.

[Quantess]

13. In her case, I would say she's young and naive (or dumb)

and did not consider that her costume was insensitive and tasteless.
Death threats? That's an excessive reaction.

I remember people that age dressing up as Jon Benet Ramsey for halloween, in the '90s before the internet became popular.

[Springslips]

16. I remember the Branch Dividians....

Being made fun of during a Duh Dod parade in 1993, after Waco. There were multiple floats with a " burnt Krispy David Koresche (spelling???)" theme and costumes much like hers. Irreverent, tasteless humor has always been around; back then there was no internet to fan outrage, plent-I-plant, nor flaming trolls.

I think this issue is a internet one, not one of lapsing morality.

[Kaleva]

14. Don't put pics or video tapes of yourself on the internet.

[NutmegYankee]

15. At some point the internet outrage becomes cyberbullying.

People do stupid insensitive shit. And unless they are a narcissist or sociopath, simple repeated polite messages expressing disapproval of her actions will have a profound effect.
But instead society is on this must destroy path, seeking to get the person fired and making threats to her and loved ones. It's out of control.

[GeorgeGist]

17. Your secret God doesn't seem to give a shit.

[WillyT]

21. Check Yourself... Before You Wreck Yourself... (Not You Will)...

A friend of mine's son who worked as a checker in a local grocery store decided to dress up as Adolf Hitler for Halloween...

He was all of 19, and this was in the 1980's...

Yet this little old lady waited patiently in line for her turn with the checker...

When it was her turn, she spit on him and left her groceries on the conveyor belt...

He was shocked and hurt... and asked why she would do such a thing.

Somebody had to tell him... did you notice the tatoo on her arm?

[RedCappedBandit]

23. I can't understand why people would dress up like this for halloween..

So callous, unthinking, pathetic..

I think there are more sociopaths running around than we realize.

[Vashta Nerada]

24. The internet creeper stalked her social media accounts and tumblr pics and harassed her parents.

She didn't deserve any of that, even if she did put her personal info online.

I agree that her costume was tacky and in poor taste, but she didn't deserve the "punishment" the internet gave her.

[redgreenandblue]

26. The whole point of Halloween literally is to "laugh in the face of death" isn't it?

At least that is what I gather from people dressing up as zombies and victims of
murder and disfigurement. The costume seems consistent with the premise.
"Distasteful costume" has kind of a strange ring to it in the context of Halloween.



That, and I heavily disagree with online witch-hunts and people losing their jobs
for free speech outside of the workplace.

[joshcryer]

27. Extremely tasteless and rude and possibly evil (if not idiotic).

Then there's this: http://www.jta.org/2013/02/22/arts-entertainment/six-degrees-no-bacon/israeli-site-shows-photo-of-kids-dressed-as-burning-twin-towers-for-purim-upsets-everyone

Found lots of "two tower Halloween costumes."

Nothing is sacred. Is that good or bad? I don't know. I think speech says, who cares, but we should ostracize those who we dislike, maybe? Dunno.