The Failures of Social Media: Who Really Killed Amanda Todd?
There is an exceedingly marvelous stanza in ‘Sympathy for the Devil” when Jagger and Richards write:
I shouted out,
Who killed the Kennedys?
When after all
It was you and me
The meaning of which couldn’t possibly be more obvious–if not painful. WE killed them. Their trappings, our expectations, their arrogance, our love, their evolving self-importance.
Our eventual hate.
Whatever it was, we did it and Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote this poignant observation, almost foreshadowing the rest of 20th and the beginning of the 21st centuries’ greatest social phenomenon.
We have become our own worst enemies.
It used to be that with every year that passed, we became more permissive, and less concerned. All in, all the time. But it took time. Well, that wasn’t apparently any good for us, as we went from fast food, to faster everything.
And to satisfy that craving, we found ways to get into each other’s lives more intrusively and much more thoroughly than ever.
I was recently asked by a young journalism student that keeps in touch with me, why I’m not on twitter. And I replied as honestly as I could, without being hard: “Because while I enjoy our exchanges, I have a private life that is complicated enough, without needing to worry about telling you where I went for lunch with my son, and if that was yellow mustard in my sandwich or Dijon. For the record, I like both.”
She wasn’t impressed. Not satisfied with my response, she shot back: “As a leader in social media, you have an obligation to lead.”
Really? No, I don’t. I have an obligation to be here, and to put up posts of interest, with information (and sometimes entertainment), but I don’t feel the slightest hint of an obligation to share anything personal with anyone except those involved. And if I do here, amid the withering commentaries of politicians and members of the media that fail you–and often seek to dupe you, that’s my business.
When I was growing up, the gossip queen of the universe was a woman named Rona Barrett. She had her own syndicated column in one of the rags you can still pick up at the check out counter of your local grocer. My mother read her with great interest. As did my aunts, neighbours and even our local baker, who always seemed to be deep into the middle of Ms. Barrett’s missives. I wondered when he ever found the time to bake bread and produce the single greatest apple and cinnamon sourdough crumble I’ve ever had.
I loathed Rona Barrett and didn’t take long to tell anyone that would listen. I distinctly remember thinking that I found the intrusion into people’s businesses problematic.
I was a child.
Roll forward thirty five years, and the National Enquirer is a behemoth that won’t quit. The Globe, The Star live lavishly. Super markets can’t order enough bloody copies, with half telling us why Jennifer Aniston’s legs are the most perfect.
The rest, though, are reminding every young girl, subliminally or not, that she’s imperfect and not love-worthy unless she can look in the mirror and see a blow up doll with gleaming teeth and perfect hair.
Listen to them, won’t you? They know what’s best.
It seems that some people–now most people, are bent on minding everyone else’s business except their own. Oh, it’s not as if we shouldn’t know what our public officials are up to or if some cataclysmic event should befall us, which highway exist is best.
But is it really necessary to know my favorite brand of mustard? Really??? You’ll like me better, will you? Fascinating…
We have allowed social media to furnish the most artificial world yet. Nothing of substance matters anymore, does it? How else to do explain the “successful” survival of people like Justin Trudeau, Gregor Robertson or Christy Clark. All manifestations of mist. Piffle. Nothingness on steroids. Empty vessels, spouting emptier words. Promises from puppets. Drivel by dunces.
Even the words with which people interact on social media are frightening. Someone ‘follows’ you on twitter. I’ve had two stalkers, no thanks! Yet another will ‘friend’ you on facebook. Oh, I have more friends than I know what to do with. And if you’re a REAL friend, I’ll find you first, most of the time, thanks much.
We just can’t wait to get up in the morning and land in anyone else’s life.
But at what price? It took Amanda Todd’s sad death, by suicide, for people to awaken to the reality that this social media push is bad–very bad. And will only get worse. Bullying aside, what goddamned business is it of mine to know which bar you’re at in Waikiki? Or how long you and your new girlfriend slept in?
Why should we know a local journalist’s IMMEDIATE opinion of a breaking story before all the details are sure? Is this his idea of a warm-up act? There is no practice for life.
Who says the murder of a young man three weeks ago, should immediately have been tagged “gang related?” Did anyone speak to his parents? What about his friends?
Is that photo of a dead dog in the middle of the road really something that made you cry? And if it did, why should I care right this minute? I’m all for you having an ‘Old Yeller’ moment, but why are you taking me along for the ride???
Pictures and video, tapes and tweets. Honestly, WHO CARES? You shouldn’t. THIS IS RIDICULOUS! Write your damn letters long hand once in a while.
Amanda Todd didn’t lose her life because she was bullied, she lost her life BECAUSE she was bullied in the era of social media gone wild, driven by the same hypocrites that are now exalting her.
We can’t wait to mind someone else’s bee’s wax. Why?! What for? It landed a sweet, innocent little girl in Lucifer’s momentary–and unforgiving clutch.
I’m not saying there isn’t a utility to social media. I’m on facebook and enjoy pictures of my friends’ children and they of my perfect espresso We share jokes and tell stories. I make observations that I often craft in ways that I hope will challenge them.
I rarely post my columns from here. I think, often times, that I’m intruding in their lives.
I recently noticed that one of my friend’s wives had a fuller sweater and all her new shots were, well, rather revealing, waist-up captions. Clearly, she has new boobs–they’re very lovely, and she’s proud of them. But for as much as I think her surgeon did a magnificent job, do I really need to know? I could have lived the rest of my life not knowing, frankly. Though they are lovely…
There are no limits in any of these mediums. None. No matter what Mark Zuckerburg tells you, TWICE, I have had to threaten to sue facebook as one local community sports organizer hates the work I do here so much, and is so threatened by compassionate conservatism, that he put up some enormously libellous statements about me and my family.
For two hours those lies stayed up for all to see, while my lawyers worked. I blew if off eventually–feeling a tad violated in the process, until it was all down, but I’m a middle aged pugilist with a no-quit streak like you’ve never seen.
Amanda Todd was a young teenager, scared for her life. She killed herself? No she didn’t.
You killed her. And so did I.
We, those of us who understand the very real dangers, allow for twitter and facebook to run amok because we can glean instantaneous information that sometimes, let me repeat, sometimes (more like, rarely) forms a basis for a story or conversation. Why are we so outraged that a young child died by her own hand, after being savaged on social media–it’s very design fits perfectly for millions more Amanda Todds.
But that Google is now the lazy journalist’s first–often only–tool, is telling.
Poor Amanda never stood a chance.
Instead of admitting to the truth, the cowards and social media whores have decided to attack free speech, instead of admitting that all forms of social media have gone way too far, and anyone can be targeted. But hindering free speech in the process?
Cyber bullying now extends far beyond sanity’s reaches because the lame and shameless are looking to buffer themselves from sharp criticism and honest commentary. And how are they doing it? By bullying the their opponents into silence, and SHAMEFULLY using Amanda Todd’s unfortunate death as a whipping post.
It’s not enough to ignore their own hypocrisy, they’re looking to pry your hands off liberty’s bannister, and force you to steady yourself in sand.
Isn’t life a cabaret, old chum?
We won’t find the time to show up, but a tweet will do. Couldn’t make the funeral? No problem, it’ll be up on You Tube in an hour.
For decades we warned against fast food, but untethered information must come even faster??? Really??? In an instant?!
No, I’m not buying it, none of it. All of a sudden I’m supposed to care about what the vast majority of fools think of Amanda Todd’s death? Not a chance. They created the platform, they facilitated her demise.
They might as well have slipped a noose around her neck, kicked a chair out from under her blessed little feet, and buried her while she was still warm. The very same medium that killed her is now a flowing, but perverse memorial, with fluid discussion by guilty bastards about the method of administering last rights, instead of lamenting the passing of a lovely little girl, whose life hit the wall–at break-neck speed.
It was only a matter of time. And I, for one, am deeply sorry that I haven’t gone MUCH HARDER against those who would use such an event to placate their own fears of inadequacy–to protect themselves from their own corruption.
Amanda Todd is gone. And that’s very, very sad.
But who’s next?
To be brutally frank, I’m mad as hell about it all, because it will continue, since most are too busy covering their tracks to tell the truth.
Perhaps I should send them all a text that says: “See you in hell!”
I know Jagger and Richards had it right. We DID kill the Kennedys.
Just like we killed Amanda Todd. But much before she or anyone else was ever bullied.
How very true, Alex
Profoundly beautiful..
RIP Amanda….
[Translate]
Thought of The Midnight
“I have an obligation to be here, and to put up posts of interest, with information (and sometimes entertainment), but I don’t feel the slightest hint of an obligation to share anything personal with anyone except those involved. – AGT”
This statement sums it up for me.
And I from all people (being on Twitter…) I have to admit that, Alex… you are right!
Many times I wanted to quit that T, but curiosity drew me back for news and gossip, I am not tweeting every day but I do it enough to realize after a few tweets, what a silly waste of time it is… yup, waste of time.
Following this, I’ll go on Twitter Detox, as I realized it eats time away from other more meaningful tasks, including commenting on your blog… O Tempora, O Mores!
If I’m honest, leaving a ‘thought” in there starts to feel just like the guy singing in the next clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpuwILAUgoc
In a way Twitter, Facebook, mySpace, LinkedIn… all these fake “socializing” media platforms killed Amanda, because as it turns out, in all these rooms full of people, no one listens, no one cares, no one wants to admit that they are all… cyber-voyeurs.
Guilty!
We live in Vancouver and this keeps us busy.
[Translate]
Thank you for this missive Alex. It hits on so many importants points as to where we have come, and where we are………………..
And it’s not good Alex. Not good at all.
It’s beyond sadness, it’s obscene how we now bow to false Gods, and sacred cows. And yes, we all remember who reminded us of that , RIP Pat.
I don’t have a Twitter Account.
I don;t have a Facebook Account.
I don’t have a Cell Phone.
I have a PC and a landline.
I have an answering machine.
I’m not in a hurry.
If you feel it necessary to know my life, to contact me immediately on your terms, or to inform me of the tie you are wearing today, you are SOL.
I like it that way…………….
[Translate]
Very well said Alex.
Everyone has to find their own place amongst all this technology. I have a smartphone with text & e-mail and I find it very useful but I’ve decided that that’s as connected as I want to be. I get the same questions all the time, sometimes from people my own age no less, about why I’m not on Facebook or Twitter. Ironically, the reason I give them is almost identical to your sandwich analogy only mine was tuna.
If the sandwich was that good I’d phone and tell them about it (like in person) but it hasn’t happened yet. Twitter & Facebook have spawned a generation of dullards bumping into people on sidewalks and a lexicon of acronyms that will soon eclipse the spoken word.
[Translate]
Very passionate, Alex.
“It’s not enough to ignore their own hypocrisy, they’re looking to pry your hands off liberty’s bannister, and force you to steady yourself in sand.”
Wow!
Like you, I have no use for Twitter — but I’m close to the same feeling about cell phones. My wife and I share a flip phone, on a $10 a month plan, and it only gets turned on for OUR convenience, not for mindless chit chat.
I suspect that we’re swimming against the tide, though. That’s fine, it’s good exercise.
[Translate]
It’s already starting to backfire. And it will only get worse.
[Translate]
Very good points Alex, I personally leave the twits on their twittering pursuits alone. I can remember when Blackberries were jar contents, and an Apple was a lunch snack and a twit was someone to be avoided.
[Translate]
Complete agreement. Not only Rona Barrett was a gossip gal, but locally so was Joy Metcalfe of “Joy’s Journal” who was infamously known for her continuing gushing of anyone two footsteps close to
anyone within the high end crowd and those on the formal dinner circuit.
Completely agree with you on Twitter and Facebook. They are valuable
social media tools in this day and age (beats typing out pages on mimeograph paper and cranking the machine).
But many people have made self-monuments to themselves. Far beyond the “I’m at The Fairmont having coffee with so and so”, or
“getting ready to..” Some of the Facebooks are real turnoffs. I would
be interested in how the vacation is going and share the adventures
particularly if it was a big beer or two in Munich. But is there a need to
write out one’s take on the world in terms of philosophy?
Some friends of mine have Facebook pages, but they are smart. The Facebook pages are closed to anyone except allowed in friends so it becomes an extension of close friendships.
The thing that does intrigue me about Facebook is “Friend Collecting”.
Some people I know have far more Facebook friends than they could possibily see in a year. Is this real or is it just vanity (“I met him while working Sam Sullivan’s campaign, so yeh, I will make him a Facebook friend”.
and Who has the time to Facebook all day anyway? I don;t use Facebook nor Twitter personally.
as you said, there’s no obligation to put one’s life out there.
There are interesting entires in both Facebook and Twitter, but do I really need to know that so and so got a new pair of pants from Moore’s on a sale? That “We’re at the mall shopping at [ name of junque store here]”
In regards to the sad story of Amanada, this sadly happens all too often. A major bullying incident like this comes to the forefront, people
quite rightly pay their respects to the person taking their own life, and
others just want to hang on to the incident.
I was a bit irritated when one Amanda Remberance event ended up beng a “recommend to attend” for politicians. This was not in Coquitlam nor anywhere else Amanada had gone to school.
All these people, but will they actually directly end bullying right here and now in their area where to the point bullying does not exist, or if it does, it means severe penalties to those who start it? Not a chance.
A similar situation occured with a boy who sadly took his own life by jumping off the Patullo Bridge. There were lots of cries and quite rightly so. Facebook pages werre made, and tributes written, but eventually it faded away. Forgotten.
But even after that, bullying at schools continued as it still does.
At some time in the future another sad incident similar to Amanada’s or that of the boy who jumped the Patullo will arrive, and guess what Alex?
We start all over again. The cries, the cyber-vigilantism, the politicians wanting to show their “support”, the candlelight vigils, the whole thing.
and once again, there’s no elimination of bullying in school. None.
Nothing ruins a school experience than being continually bullied each and every day to one degree or another.
Simply because school kids are not well self policing, and yes a few want to be part of the “cool kids” at the back of the class, some who bully the kids at the front of the class, and I am sure that one or two instances of invoking bully is enough to win a spot being amongst the “cool kids”. At least I knew it was when I went to Jr.High School. I wasn’t a bully, but rather a victim, but dealt with it in my own way. Not by force, but by determination in ignoring and quite simply enjoying weekends and outsmarting one or two.
For example, I knew one time the bully was going to turn on the cold
in the boys shower. So over a few days I took less warmer and cooler and colder showers before the next gym class.
The result, he did turn off the hot and flooded on the cold, but it didn’t do anything for me “Gee thanks Brent, I need to cool off anyway.”
Another time was swimming lessions. I figured some ass wipe would try to push me down in the water, so I did breath holding for awhile, and when this ass wipe did, I went limp and floated face down in the water. I could hear the yells that they figured I drowned because of him. Shit was he ever white as a ghost when I got myself up.
Lest to say I have never gone to a high school reunion, and quite simply I won’t.
As for Facebook and Twitter, sorry no time. I’ve had friends say I should have a Facebook page, and said “why?” “Too busy.”
Too many things to read online. Including this blog.
[Translate]
I remember Joy Metcalfe, with some fondness indeed.
Some…
[Translate]
Some. Her gushing was merciless. As was her squealing over the fact that Canada Plae “was my place”.
Bill Hughes was far more interesting to listen to with his Roving Mike
from the Gary Line bus tours and the occaisional Pacific Stages bus to Victoria and “Good Morning, friends, Bill Hughes speaking..”
If you ever wanted a story to listen to, it was from George Garrett..
[Translate]
Absolutely correct.
[Translate]
How I miss the days when CKNW was worth listening to!
[Translate]
Me too.
George Garrett, Bill Hughes Jack Cullen’s The Owl Prowl, J.P. McDonnell with the BC Lions and Jim Robson with the Canucks, it was all there…
[Translate]
That was JP McConnell.
As well, sadly, those days are gone.
And they’re never coming back.
Ever.
[Translate]
In a word, Bravo. I have long viewed this nonsense with a deep mistrust. I am frankly insulted that some folks would even think I would be interested in the minutia of their daily lives. My wife and I used a cel phone while traveling across Canada. Upon our return it went into the cupboard. A cel phone simply gives more and more people access to my time, and my time is one of my most precious commodities.
Now if some one wished to get in touch with me, phone the house and leave a message if necessary. If I then deem it important, I will call you back.
Much the same goes for these “celebrity” gossip shows such as E Talk. Why in God’s Green Earth would I care what these talentless creatures are messing up now?
As George Carlin so wisely noted ” We communicate more, but talk less” A wise man, George, and missed.
[Translate]
Yeah. George Carlin was wise indeed. He could be rude, but in todays ridiculous image driven world, Carlin was an antidote.
[Translate]
” Why in God’s Green Earth would I care what these talentless creatures are messing up now?”
Well apparently alot of people in The States do, they worship celebrities and the idiocies that they do, that ordinary people wouldn’t even think of doing.
I couldn’t watch ET after it came on right after BCTV’s News Hour.
Still couldn”t believe they would put that junk on TV.
[Translate]
Agreed, I use a pay as you go cell phone for emergency reasons. Have a Blackberry that chains me to work, but there is a drawer for that when I get home. Facebook is a fad, twitter is annoying especially when reporters and politicians use it. Time is the most valuable commodity other than the bare essentials.
[Translate]
I just switched to the Samsung Galaxy III, and while I love it, it’s almost too good, so I end up spending more time on the damn thing. The goal was to spend less.
Easier to use and more fun than my old iPhone. I quit bberry a long.time ago.
[Translate]
I just updated my iPhone to iOS 6 and it;’s making me want to throw it off a cliff. Maybe it’s time to switch.
[Translate]
Right on the money, Alex.And in the meantime the parents are not in control of their children`s use of this media,because they are too caught up in two or three jobs trying to make the living wage that their new social status and false economy demands of them. A good number of these parents are also slaves to this media. Bottom line is,you may accumulate hundreds or even thousands of social media friends, but the fact is that if you accumulate even a half dozen true friends through life,you are a very lucky person.
[Translate]
Superb piece Alex; one of your best. The whole social media thing is, for the most part, a colossal waste of time. I don’t particularly care that “X” is at TH doing coffee, or “Y” is shopping at at the supermarket.
The whole Amanda Todd issue is tragic, and while some attitudes will change for a brief time, on the whole nothing will happen. She will soon be forgotten as soon as the next “cause of the week” comes along. THAT, in my mind, is the real tragedy.
[Translate]
Ive said this before but i blame her death entirely on facebook. Facebooks entire business is to know all of the details of our lives and market that to their clients. They know our names, where we are, what we do for hobbies, who our families are they know everything and yet they couldnt provide the rcmp with enough information to arrest the guy posting child porn?
There are frankly only two possibilities either facebook was wilfully holding back relevant information for some reason or the rcmp chose not to act on information that was provided or was too lazy/stupid to ask for the information.
I dont want to live in a society where facebook is legally obligated to actively report alleged crimes but they damn well should provide everything they have when a warrant is issued and the rcmp needs to be smart enough to ask. A girl died because someone was too lazy or stupid to do their job.
[Translate]
Facebook can only know the details of the lives of those who use it.
It’s amazing how dumb people can be in their vanity to put something out there to get noticed.
If people need to get noticed through Face book, they are lazy. The better way to get noticed is actually do something for the community
that means something.
Facebook would be held to court if they withheld potential evidence
that exists on their system. So enter the warrant for collection.
A girl died because some ass wipe couldn’t tell her to keep those pictures to herself after deleting them firstly, and blackmailed her. It was nothing to do with the RCMP or any police department.
Sadly, those who could help her arrived too late.
[Translate]
Facebook did know what was going on and did have his information thats what he used to torment her. The guy was posting the nude pictures on facebook for all her “friends” to see. Either the rcmp didnt ask or facebook witheld his real identity. Im inclined to believe it was a failing by the rcmp because facebooks lawyers wouldnt be stupid enough to allow evidence to be witheld.
by the way facebook knows who you are and where you go even if you dont use the service. Every site that uses facebook for commenting, every site that allows you to share a post via facebook by clicming a button they all pass information on you and your browsing habits to the big blue borg.
They do know who you are and where you go but the data is more course.
[Translate]
No they don’t as I don’t share via Facebook.
I share the real way through html coded links (set, test and then
send). These appear on either webpages I set or via email.
[Translate]
Youre missing the point and were getting off topic but You dont have to share via facebook or even go to facebook. When you load a page that has that option or uses facebook for commenting by loading that page you are giving them information. What site you came from, a tonne of information on your browser, your ip address etc etc. when they corrolate the data from all the sites they get a very detailed picture of who you are and what your interests are. Google can do the exact same thing. Nobody is as anonymous as they think on the internet. You really have to work at it.
the point i was trying to make is facebook knows for a fact who this guy is that was harassing her and posting child porn. The question is why was nothing done sooner. Incompetence is the only viable explanation, likely on the part of the police because i just dont see facebook witholding evidence.
[Translate]
Facebook’s given me an effective way to keep up with my friends. During the last civic election in Vancouver, which I could not bear to watch because I knew what was about to happen, a quick search online yielded nothing on election results; so I turned to Twitter. Got what I was looking for within thirty seconds. Job done. It is what it is and it works.
Social media kills? Words kill? Notwithstanding the fact that the web has definitely amped up communication, and the comments to you from a couple who disagreed with my tweets on the subject … they’ll kill if you want them to kill. Nothing happens with words until they are processed and acted upon.
Years ago, my former wife (who is a different color than me) and I were walking on a beach in southern California. A small group of guys who were drinking, shouted racial slurs and taunted us. That evening , at a dinner party, I recounted the situation to my friend who was an army engineer. He was flabbergasted that I/we had not reacted, and chose instead to ignore them. He told me he would have been furious that someone had insulted his wife and would not have let it go. I explained then that the processing was entirely up to the receiver and he didn’t or wouldn’t get it. The internet like it or not, for the time being anyway, is going to force us to get it….
[Translate]
Any reality TV show and TMZ that propagates pure drivel. I believe it was Einstein who hit the nail dead center:
“Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal.”
[Translate]
Absolutely.
[Translate]
Albert Einstein:
“I fear the day when the technology overlaps with our humanity. The world will only have a generation of idiots.”
[Translate]
Albert Einstein
“Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity. I’m not sure about the universe”.
Alex, this has to be one of your best. I am pointing out this blog to everyone I know. Thanks for putting in words, what a lot of us are thinking.
[Translate]
Too kind.
And you’re most welcome.
[Translate]
Albert Einstein’s reply when asked what type of weapons would be used in the next World War,
” I’m not sure but what type of weapons will be used in the 3rd World War but we will using sticks and stones in the 4th World War…..”
[Translate]
Agree there. I mean c’mon, the rose give away on the Bachelorette
at some swanky resort on the beach in Hawaii or mid coast California? Get real.
Heck even the first episode of Survivor had major errors in being out there running around as any seasoned Boy Scout knows.
But have to admit to be hooked on a few seasons of The Amazing Race early on, even though I spotted alot of errors and the geography
knowlege the contestants had was way off.
and there’s always Dragon’s Den.
wish there was one for wanna be politicians. Boy I’d like to see that
with Alex tearin’ apart the contestants like O’Leary does.
[Translate]
At one time I had great hope for the internet and its collaboration tools. It looked like a new beginning of building communities through social networks and collaboration. Instead it has created a more divisive and polarized place were attacking others and/or their ideas is the norm rather than consensus building and creating a better world. One of the major factors in this is the lack of accountability, responsibility, honesty and respect. Social engineering has created a place of entitlement with too many me firsters and its not my fault because, fill in the blank, and your laws rules etc don’t apply to me. The internet has been described as the wild west with no rules which is now manifesting itself into everyday life. Let’s hope the pendulum swings the other way sometime soon.
And I thought you were a Grey Poupon man. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmannAYiwh0
[Translate]
Why, it happens to be my favourite mustard.
[Translate]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiLmyMltJPI
[Translate]
alex another home run.
we may have blood on our hands and yes we do.
what is even more shameful is the polititions and news media that stands in the fresh blood .
then with out all the facts and then try to hijack a tradgedy for self gain.
if ms clark was serious she should have paid her respects privately, allow the family time to mourn then invite them to house on the day she introduced a effective anti bullying law in the house.
this day and age when a person gives constuctive critisicm or an opposing view they are accused of bieng a bully
a truly sad state of affairs
[Translate]
Andy Warhol was right about the future giving everyone their 15 minutes of fame. Everything you say is correct, (though I’m loathe to admit any depth to Jagger or the walking zombie, Keith) and we are all guilty to some extent. There was the perv, whose name I have already forgotten, who was into cannibalism and murder – a flash in the pan – and dozens of young men and women who want to be stars overnight, and the freaks who obsess on them. In fact, we are extending our audience to millions, and at the same time, enclosing ourselves in our own little cocoon. There has got to be more to life, and there is, but we are moving further away from what it really is.
[Translate]
Bravo Alex. Of course this genie will never be put back in the bottle. And once again it’s up to PARENTS to teach their children the perils and pitfalls of social media. Nothing is “safe” on the internet.
Funny thing was, my seventy something mother was complaining about not getting calls/letters from her grandchildren. Facebook solved that. But the young folks have to understand the need for having a certain amount of class and reserve, knowing that family, friends and future or current employers see these posts/photos too.
Finally a mini rant. Television. The amazing amount of air space given to Intervention, Swamp Men, Honey Boo Boo, Pawn Stars, Kardashians, Jersey Shore etc, etc. Programs that make people who get D’s in school feel better about themselves. A program that is filmed in an English speaking country that needs subtitles? Seriously.
I know, free speech. But as a wiser man than me said, “Nothing in life is free. Nothing.”
[Translate]
Off topic – but pertinent… Crusty was on the Giggles show at her old haunt this a.m. and played dodge-ball on several issues, including the topic of Chinese worker’s in BC mines, however, it was this quote that totally UN-hinged me:
“We need to make sure that that mine, that that exploration, is done so that mine can get open. Because once it is open, there are going to be thousands and thousands of hours, employment hours, of highly paid, highly skilled jobs.”
She is a total generalist at best, with no comprehension of the necessary detail(s) to carry on ANY conversation. I know I am singing to the choir here, but for the love of God, what is it going to take to put her down … come on Alex, just one silver bullet!!!
[Translate]
I heard the whole program.
She is an utter disgrace.
[Translate]
Another very sad performance by CC.
[Translate]
Best to be thought an idiot than to open ones’ mouth and remove all doubt………..
eh Christy?
[Translate]
I find Twitter a very useful tool for following the research and writing of people who work in my profession. Having an exclusive list of whose thinking you want to track is great. Dropping people who devolve to taking pictures of their latte is helpful. I don’t really use Twitter as ‘social media’-I use it as ‘professional media’.
[Translate]
Technology run amok.
Hit and run life with no intimacy, no accountability, fuelled by gossip, rumor and inuendo.
And those people you “friend”? How many are true friends? How many do you even have a true clue about? But hey, tell the world about your life because 1) You are so important and 2) the criminal element just loves having intel.
Oh, and don’t forget to send that cellphone pic of the rape, or the human being lying dead in the street, to Youtube now.
[Translate]
Alex, you dont have to use twitter to tell people what you had for lunch. Nobody cares about that, and if I followed you on twitter, I would unfollow you. But you could use twitter to advise your reader when your next post is up. It would be infinitely better than just having to check every other day to see if you posted anything.
I do like twitter. I follow mostly sports journalists, and I get my sports news fixes from there. I also follow some comedians for a good joke or laugh.
I suggest that if you like sports, twitter is great.
[Translate]
I disagree. I care about Harv and Norm’s blogs. I go there everyday and don’t need a bloody Twitter feed from them to inspire loyalty. It’s worth my time to visit everyday.
[Translate]
Amen
[Translate]
This is an amazing post, AGT.
Like you, I have no use for Twitter (I call it Twatter). I don’t need to tell the world what I’m doing every minute (Emily is GEARING UP for Friday!!! Gag me.) nor do I care what everyone else is doing every possible minute of the day.
I don’t care for Facebook much anymore. I don’t post anything there anymore, because too many times a “friend” took something I posted the wrong way and just lost their shit.
I hardly ever answer my cell phone because due to the job I work, I’ve become annoyed and afraid of phones during my down time. You wanna talk to me? Text me and we’ll meet up and gossip face to face.
I know who my true friends are, and I don’t care whether they’re on my Twatter (which I don’t use, I don’t give a rats ass about it) or Facebook either. I don’t even use my real name on either because, like your last name, it’s, um, unique. The last thing I need is some asshole deciding to stalk me. I’ve had a few and it ain’t fun.
Our soceity really is invasive today and I can;t help but think if we didn’t have all this social media crap available nowadays, maybe, just maybe Amanda Todd would still be with us.
[Translate]
“We are the world. The world is you and me, the world is not separate from you and me. We have created this world – the world of violence, the world of wars, the world of religious divisions, sex, anxieties, the utter lack of communication with each other, with no sense of compassion, consideration for another. Wherever one goes in any country throughout the world, human beings, that is, you and another, suffer; we are anxious, we are uncertain, we don’t know what is going to happen. Everything has become uncertain. Right through the world as human beings we are in sorrow, fear, anxiety, violence, uncertain of everything, insecure. There is a common relationship between us all. We are the world essentially, basically, fundamentally. The world is you, and you are the world. Realizing that fundamentally, deeply, not romantically, not intellectually but actually, then we see that our problem is a global problem. It is not my problem or your particular problem, it is a human problem.”
[Translate]
I don’t like people, I never have. However I do have some good friends and family I love and respect. One on one most of humankind can carry on a pleasant conversation. Some can even form some semblance of a lucid thought process. But when you have more than a few together in a group, that is when it becomes very apparent that as a species, we are probably doomed. Our brain stems reptilian functions run most of our day to day business, then hormones everything else. The masses fall into line for anything and everything they’re told by those in power, including the church and the press. God but we are a stupid bunch. Other than to make your vehicle run more efficiently and to store vast amounts of information the computer age has NOT been a positive for mankind in the slightest. Facebook and twitter and all the social media crap could go away tomorrow and it would be an improvement for most of us.
[Translate]
KeithC, I couldn’t agree more!
I’ve always said that “the more people I meet, the more I like my dog”.
Here’s the kicker.
I don’t even have a dog!
Cheers.
[Translate]
Attention – this just out! KeithC does not like people! Never has, never will. Who can blame him, we’re all just stupid, horny, reptiles, and we’re all doomed. Oh, and it is the Church’s fault, because they teach Faith, Hope and Charity. So I think we can presume that he hasn’t a subscription to Silver Screen or watch Entertainment Tonight – well we can agree on that much, anyway.
[Translate]
Hey, ah, get back to the horny part, will ya…?
You may be on to something.
[Translate]
it was the “reptile” observation that made me sit up in my chair.
[Translate]
Sorry for going off topic….any plans to break down dummies lies and deception with twinkle toes Good today on NW ?
[Translate]
That’s tomorrow’s post. I paid very careful attention to every little lie, and even the big ones.
And let.me say, I thought Bill Good tagged her REALLY WELL. No knockouts, but TKO for sure.
[Translate]
I agree with almost everything you said, Alex, except for this: ” Jagger and Richards had it right. We DID kill the Kennedys.
Just like we killed Amanda Todd.”
No. If you feel some share of collective guilt as a user of social media, that’s your issue to deal with. I had nothing whatever to do with her tragic death. Like Gary L.,
I don’t have a Twitter Account.
I don’t have a Facebook Account.
I don’t have a Cell Phone.
I have a PC and a landline.
I have an answering machine.
I was 6 years old on November 22 1963.
[Translate]
You missed my point.
[Translate]
At times I think that we should refer to social media as the “Anti -social Media”.
[Translate]
I think you might have a point. Go over to Craigslist Rants & Raves where any loon can post and there are lots of men bitching that they can’t meet women because the women are all too busy playing with their smartphones. These people have a valid point but when I see someone almost get hit by a bus because they were fiddling with a smartphone, not looking where they’re going, I think social networking has gotten a little out of hand.
[Translate]
A standing O from me today, Alex. You have summed up my feelings regarding Facebook and Twitter perfectly. I only wish more children had our experience with which to handle the overwhelming propensity towards social media that most in North America take part in.
I would like to see Facebook held to account for the apps they create that promote bullying and harassment. I would like to call for a full boycott of this site until these dangerous apps are removed. There seems to be no responsibility under the guise of “freedom of speech” but again, I reiterate, that in Canada, one is not allowed to freely promote hatred or violence; apps such as “Honesty Box” and “Bathroom Wall” doing nothing but promote the above. Facebook creators and site supervisors should be ashamed of themselves.
Just the other day I had a student throw her cell phone across the parking lot and break it in sheer and utter distress. She has been repeatedly targeted on Facebook and I work with her daily to try and help her with perspective. Amanda Todd is hardly the first and tragically, isn’t even close to being the last unless we, the adults who know so much better, make a stand against sites that prey on our youth.
[Translate]
being someone who was relentlessly bullied in school for being the misfit, I’m glad there was no Internet back in the late 80s. I can’t imagine what it must be like for the geeks & misfits now in schools.
[Translate]
It is no accident that the icon is an Apple with a bite taken out of it. We can all partake of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil so easily now – just a click required. Once again we are going to be ejected from Paradise, this time the paradise of personal privacy. Most of us seem ready and willing to be micro chipped, assimilated into the Borg. Our children have not been led well on this.
Try teaching school these days. Students are pretty much spot-welded to their phones. They cannot walk down the hall without being bent over a phone. Forget texting and driving, texting and walking is as much a hazard. How many people walk out in front of traffic because they no longer know what planet they are on?
The latest problem is young people texting all night and not sleeping. How is this affecting cortisol production in the teenage brain? Who knows? Does anyone care? Step in to any high school class and the phones are on under the desks – the earphones hidden under the hoodies. (One more battle for teachers to lose if they haven’t given up on it already.) Even in university classes this is a problem.
There has been no comprehensive study that I know of to see if the new technology enhances learning, causes brain damage or is destructive of society. How much WiFI is too much for a young brain? Does anybody really know?
Once again the human race has opened Pandora’s Box. What bothers me is how this has just wandered into our schools as if it has a right to be there. Maybe the new Minister of Education will actually notice this and at least do some studies on it.
There is no doubt in my mind that cell phones and bullying in schools now go hand in hand, but what do we do? Where is the leadership?
Apple stock recently topped at $700 so maybe that trumps all other concerns.
[Translate]
As a grade K-4 teacher, I am thankful that cell phones and other handheld devices are hardly an issue at this age. They love their computer time — but there’s none of the techno-garbage that teachers of the higher grades have to deal with daily.
They’re still a pleasure to work with… after 37 years in the job.
[Translate]
Time to go – you are keeping a young person from entering the workforce.
[Translate]
Thanks, BC Forever. You bring a lot of class to these discussions.
[Translate]
You had pretty good 900 words in there- the length of a standard column. Too bad you took it 1800.
Lost the crowd.
[Translate]
Larry, why do you even bother? You hate my work, but still show up.
How many sites have you been banned from now?
Lucky this isn’t a formal column, because when I did them, I always came in around 800.
Enjoy your evening and take good care.
[Translate]
A fine reply, Mr. Tsakumis
Civil and to the point!
One of your best, IMHO….
[Translate]
Thank you. Top of the morning to you!
[Translate]
I tried submitting this earlier today – I believe unsuccessfully. If you did receive it, my apologies, please delete this copy!
I see bullying everywhere. I am convinced, like violence on television, we are becoming desensitized to it, to the point that – as a society – we accept it and freely engage in it. I am not saying it is right – it isn’t. But we have leaders in government who bully. We have employers that bully (recall the treatment I was receiving for having a gay friend – it was my union that stood by me). Oh, and public opinions are manipulated into bullying, case in point how unions are considered evil and so are their members. Even sports and “reality” shows bully. Hell, if you can’t win the gold medal, what good are you? Some countries punish the athletes who win less than gold!
Social media is a relatively new format. The corporate body won’t allow us to extinguish social media (although I would not mind one iota seeing its demise) as it is too valuable a marketing tool. The people that use it have to realize that what they put on the internet is always on the internet. By the way, it doesn’t matter how many friends you have, or tweets go out, or any thing else – get over the fact that we are not all celebrities and most of us don’t give a crap that your thanksgiving turkey looked fabulous this year (true story).
What I do care about is the fact that a lovely young lady is dead for reasons that stun me. I worry that this tragedy will pass and be quickly forgotten by most all, and the next time something like this happens, it will be a little less sensational, pass a little more quickly into the archived news stories, have a little less public impact, be a little less significant…
My heart goes out to Amanda Todd’s family and friends. May she rest in peace.
[Translate]
Indeed.
Bless you.
[Translate]
There was an article in the Province the other day about bullying of the older worker in the range of 60 to 64, who are being squeezed out of their 40 hour weeks because companies are willing to give up their expertise for lower wages and benefits – that’s union or non-union, as many unions are no longer insisting on 40 hour minimum work weeks. I know because it is happening to me, and there appears to be no getting out of it. They will offer you some God forsaken shift or job, and if you turn it down because you think you deserve better given your loyalty to the company, – tough titty!
[Translate]
She wasn’t impressed. Not satisfied with my response, she shot back: “As a leader in social media, you have an obligation to lead.”
I believe the correct response should have been “But by not having a twitter account I’am Leading”
Keep doing what your doing.
works for me.
[Translate]
Thanks, that means a lot.
[Translate]
The new “keep in touch” phase in our society has reached a critical point in our development as a society. It may keep corporations making huge profits but what does it do for society? Why do people want to engage in this constant contact?
Some of it maybe due to the need to feel important, to want their 15 minutes of fame, so they give the world their version of it, I’m having a coffee or I’m going to the movie, etc. Actually who cares? At some level people may have a craving for human contact & think twittering & facebooking gives them that but it doesn’t. They are missing out on the human contact by indulging in these activities.
It becomes so easy to send out whatever comes into your mind. Young people, whose frontal lobes don’t close until they are 18 & older are impulse driven. They think its “cool” to send their ideas out instantly without giving thought to the consecquences.
where do they learn this behaviour? Many from their parents. Parents are so involved in their “on line” life they frequesntly have forgotten about their real lives. You see a parent walking down the street with a baby or toddler in a stroller. What is the parent doing? Interacting with their baby or texting & talking on their cellular phones. The chid is ignored. That small child will be small & young & think you are great only for a very short time. If you went to the trouble of having a child why don’t people want to interact with them instead of with their cell phones. I just don’t get it.
Some people are texting constantly to what avail. The information being exchanged is usually very mundane but I gather it makes some feel important. if you want to feel important, do something important. texting dozens or hundreds of times a day isn’t important. Its a second or so & then it goes into the air wave heaven never to be seen again or heard, unless of course its really embarassing & comes back to bit you in the ass in 15 yrs.
There is no need for kids to have cell phones all the time. The crime rate has actually gone down in Canada so your kid can go to school with out one & to the movies & to their games, etc. Being in constant contact doesn’t help create independance. They used say “tied to their mothers’ apron strings”, while now its tied to their parents by the cell phone.
Being constantly in touch does not give people a chance to disconnect & just think. It maybe what they want, not to think & deal with the issues of their lives, but it doesn’t make their lives any better in a real substantive way.
Then of course there are the enviornmental issues. All I hear about is the enviornment but the next time a new phone or i pad or whatever gizzmo it is, people are lining up to purchase it with money they frequently don’t have, contributing to the use of natural resources we are depleting at an ever increasing rate.
I don’t do facebook or twitter or tweet, still hve my land line, have had the same cell phone for 5 yrs & its only on when I leave town. I have a computer, which isn’t a lap top so it stays home. I find it gives me time to think, to talk to people face to face, enjoy the world around me. Not texting when you are walking also keeps you from being run over by cars. You can also smilie at people when you are out walking.
I enjoy my computer, I can read newspapers from all over the world, look up information, read blogs, etc. but it isn’t my life. I still like to do my banking face to face, it keeps people at credit unions & banks employed. I use email to write letters to friends, when it isn’t a good time to phone–time zones, etc.
Our way of life has not kept up with technology. We used to be taught how to conduct ourselves in public & what is acceptale behaviour. With the constant use of techology some of that has slipped by the way. it is time parents started to think about their use of communication devices & then speak to their children about it. We all need more educating because right now technology is out pacing our capacity to live with it in a kind & normal way.
[Translate]
Alex – I believe this post makes your point, as it appears to be twitter on steroids X3.
Here we have a poster who took 11 paragraphs to tell us a bunch of useless and uninteresting ‘stuff’ intermixed with an occasional opinion.
News flash – e.a.f. – I believe I speak for the majority, no one cares that you like to do your banking in person…..but thanks for sharing.
Sort of ironic though considering your post….almost funny in a retarded way.
[Translate]
Wow, only 4 sentences to show how truly shallow you are.
BTW: You don’t speak for me.
[Translate]
Thanks, ∞².
[Translate]
Didnt know you were interested in peoples banking habits – want to know mine?
[Translate]
Off topic, but there is some bullying going on here too. I missed the last debate because of work, but did manage to see some follow up on various channels, and papers. Some said that Romney tied it by not being argumentative to get the women’s vote, etc.. The National Post said he lost as did most of the media commentators. Now I don’t generally read the Globe and Mail., but seeing as I get it free at work I read Jeffery Simpson’s paean to Barack Obama entitled “Obama’s edge: Muscularity and Restraint. One can only assume that Jeff gets a tingle up the leg at the sight of Barry too. It is about what one would expect from the Toronto media. I’d absolutely love it if they made him interview Conrad Black, given what he had to say to the pompous British interviewer, Jeremy Paxman – a must see, I’m sure it will be all over YouTube.
Now I’m not the sort who thinks that the Baron is as pure as the driven snow, but I like his gumption (and his writing) and he DID do his time without too much whining. I would also enjoy seeing him interviewed by that other British twit over at CNN.
[Translate]
I also watched the Black interview with the british interviewer. It was a riot. I have read about Black over the yrs. I don’t think I’d like him, but the interview was priceless. It was funny. Black certainly has his opinions & wasn’t too timid to express them.
He like Martha Stewart did his time & gets on with life.
[Translate]
Conrad Black remains one of my favourite people of all time.
Intelligent, witty and articulate.
Connie is one of a kind.
[Translate]
Conrad musn’t have cable.
I’ve only seen Paxman twice on the tube and I wouldn’t agree to an interview with him on any topic.
Regardless of what you think of Black, I don’t think the interview helped him at all.
Geez, all I could think about was, what Black was thinking when he agreed to be interviewed by this guy in the first place.
[Translate]
I’ll agree with that.
[Translate]
And a convicted criminal of the worst sort.
[Translate]
“You’re a priggish, gullible, British Fool”: Conrad Black puts Jeremy Paxman in his place
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5y-huGTPpo
Conrad Black hands Jeremy Paxman his ass starting at around 4:30.
PLUS –
Conrad Black’s memoir of his life 1993-2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=Im7YzhtB67E&NR=1
A good well-paced interview that allows facts to prevail – not talking head bravado.
[Translate]
What an utterly stupendous interview with Alan Gregg. Just superb from both ends: interviewer and subject.
As you quite pointed out, the unending insouciance of Paxman was nothing but talking head bravado, playing a little Ali rope-a-dope, just waiting for Conrad to falter.
Boy, was he surprised to find Black in such top form.
[Translate]
I spent a lot of time dealing with the international press years ago and found few as arrogant & obnoxious as the British, (with the exception of CBC French) and I was delighted to see Black give it right back to this guy and not back down. I do agree with John as to why he’d sit down for this in the first place.
[Translate]
Great blog Alex. I have no time for this twit crap either. It’s a bullies pullpit. Poor Amanda is right. Imagine living with that sort of stress at her young age. Your opening words about Sympathy for Devil ring true. It’s so easy for people to take a side, move on and not look at themselves and how they have affected a situation. Another good song that is appropriate here is Devil’s Radio by George Harrison:
Gossip, gossip
Gossip, gossip
I heard it in the night
Words that thoughtless speak
Like vultures swooping down below
On the devil’s radio
I hear it through the day
Airwaves gettin’ filled
With gossip broadcast to and fro
On the devil’s radio
Oh yeah, gossip
Gossip, oh yeah
He’s in the clubs and bars
And never turns it down
Talking about what he don’t know
On the devil’s radio
He’s in your TV set
Won’t give it a rest
That soul betraying so and so
The devil’s radio
Gossip, gossip
Gossip, gossip
(Oh yeah) gossip, (gossip) oh yeah
(Gossip) oh yeah, (oh yeah) gossip
It’s white and black like industrial waste
Pollution of the highest degree
You wonder why I don’t hang out much
I wonder how you can’t see
He’s in the films and songs
And on all your magazines
It’s everywhere that you may go
The devil’s radio
Oh yeah, gossip
Gossip, oh yeah
Runs thick and fast, no one really sees
Quite what bad it can do
As it shapes you into something cold
Like an Eskimo igloo
It’s all across our lives
Like a weed it’s spread
’till nothing else has space to grow
The devil’s radio
Can creep up in the dark
Make us hide behind shades
And buzzing like a dynamo
The devil’s radio
(Gossip) oh yeah, (gossip) oh yeah
(Gossip) gossip, (gossip) gossip
Oh yeah, gossip I heard you on the secret wireless
Gossip, oh yeah You know the devil’s radio, child
Gossi Gossip, gossip gossip
PS: I hope you don’t mind me using this spot for a personal note. Say Hi to your Dad for me. I used to do business with him (and lunch occasionally at Joey’s Only) at the City of Surrey. He was a great guy and always very kind to me.
[Translate]
I just spoke to Dad and he remembers you fondly. Alas, Joey’s is gone but the same wonderful people opened a Vietnamese restaurant in the same spot and they are doing wonderfully.
If you’re ever around, drop me a line and I’ll let you know when Dad is there. I’m sure he’d love to meet up with you again.
He still gets out to every property every week. Never misses. But as you know, that’s Dad…
You can reach me at agtsakumis@gmail.com
Take care, and good to hear from you.
[Translate]
I am taking a moment at lunch to write this while it is fresh. You know for whom I work. For the past year or two our employer has been encouraging us to communicate with our clientele via Twitter, Facebook, etc. I have refused to do so. Today we were asked if we would like to join a staff facebook (style they said) page to facilitate communication and collaboration. The individuals in my section said a loud and resounding -no hesitation- “NO!”. In light of the recent tragedy and its implications, I cannot believe we would be asked to do this at this time!
@ Larry Bennett – Our society seems to respond to bullying when it is directed towards the young (children) or the minorities (gay, disabled). Other instances, such as yours (and I know a number of people in a similar situation) are brushed aside by a corporation/organization/whatever attempting to “streamline”, “restructure”, “reduce costs”, “improve profitibility”…I could go on with the jargon…but we all know what it means and why and society accepts it! Soylent green anyone?
[Translate]
Amanda Todd is the tip of the iceberg. Ask any social worker and you will find the incidence of self harm among adolescents is steadily rising: suicide attempts, cutting arms and legs, anorexia, bulimia, binge drinking.
These are symptoms of high anxiety. While social media amplifies and spreads the contagion, I believe the root is the destruction of anything recognizable as a healthy childhood. Children used to play outside. They used to walk to school with their friends. They used to have time to dream and pretend. Their lives were managed by adults who set the rules and trusted them to be sensible.
Now they are driven to and from school by helicopter parents who schedule their leisure lives like presidential candidates. No wonder they flock to social media, it’s the only space they own. The state doesn’t trust its citizens any more so neither their parents nor teachers can really exert authority to control them or protect them from other kids. No wonder they are anxious.
Childhood always was something of a jungle of taunts, bullying and occasional violence. Most of us didn’t tell our parents because we didn’t want to be sissies, but also because we knew if we did, direct action was sure to follow. We knew not to act out in school because there were immediate and painful consequences. Hit a teacher and you were in reform school now, no discussion, and you weren’t coming back. Adults ultimately set the boundaries and there was great peace and security in knowing that.
Adults can’t do much any more. If you have a drug addicted fourteen-year-old daughter who is prostituting herself, you can’t stop her from leaving the house with her pimp. Don’t bother calling the cops, there’s nothing they can do. Even if you get her in a government treatment facility, they can’t stop her leaving with her pimp. I am not making this up, check it out. They call you a parent, but you are really just a sponsor. When the chips are down, the state tells you what you can do, or usually what you can’t.
So yes, we all let Amanda down. We could insist that the state stay out of child rearing, that teachers be allowed to regain control of schools. We could accept that the risk that some children will fall victim to predators must be balanced against the cost of stunting childhood for everyone. We could go back to being adults.
In the Fifties, comic book publishers started to print comics with gruesome scenes kids could buy at the corner store. Outraged parents formed a league and had them shut down fast. Now we just shrug and change the channel.
[Translate]
This is a must read…Ann Coulter gets schooled on the use of the R word she used on twitter by a Special Olympian..
beautiful and awesome!!
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ann-coulters-retard-tweet-special-382910
[Translate]
You are correct when you say that you are part of the problem, Alex. I read your blog from time to time and I really do think that you are a bully in some of your responses to people. You called me a ‘nutcase’ when I commented on one of your posts during the teacher job action last school year. It was a form of bullying and I let that very negative response from you silence me – until now. Maybe you felt threatened because I am a woman, a social activist and a public school teacher who is very active in the union movement. I don’t know! I know that many female activists get bullied online and that is wrong.
Lately, a friend of mine who is the president of her local teachers’ association has experienced online bullying taken to another level. This friend is an outspoken activist in the occupy movement and pro-choice movement. She is a strong and eloquent female activist and her work is to be admired. Because she has put herself ‘out there’ she has now been targeted by a couple of online stalkers from the so called ‘men’s rights’ movement. Bullying online is taking many forms and in many cases, like those of Amanda Todd and my friend, it really is a form of criminal harassment.
Food for thought.
[Translate]
Let me tell you something.
You demonstrate that I was right. You are an extremist nutjob.
That’s not bullying. That’s an understatement.
And I should be ashamed of myself for not.being more pointed about it.
No wonder the school system is screwed.
How pathetic.
[Translate]
If the woman is mentally deranged and in charge of children, she should be reported.
[Translate]
Vancouver K – and your good friend – (and this continues in the “bullying” theme) it is likely that both of you are hoping for the re-election of Mr. Hopey-Changy. Despite the fact, as I’m sure you’re both aware, that as a Senator he voted against a proposal called the “Born Alive Act”, that would have protected unborn children (remembering that abortion can be legal right up to the point of birth) who managed to survive and evade the attacks of the abortionist on them. Of course it is quite rare, but it does occur, and despite his attestation that he does not like abortion, he felt if might interfere with a woman’s right to “choice”.
Yes folks, the will to live can be a terrible thing! (What gall, how thoughtless, has the little beggar no sense of decorum?) This question always leads me to wonder what they would do in such a situation. I mean, do they just stab it with a scalpel, or do they have a meat cleaver hanging on the wall for such contingencies? Or maybe a 5 gallon pail of water, or do they just let it die of starvation and cold.
Of course I, being male, have no right to query a woman on such matters – and oh, you may find that the “bully” Alex can at times, be very much onside with you on this question. Then again, he may find it unfit for comment, but he seldom does that!
[Translate]
What say you teachers? Don’t you just want to wrap your arms around her and hug this teacher treasure?
[Translate]
Vancouver K
are you a poet.. spoken word perhaps… i believe I’m familiar with your work..
[Translate]
or perhaps I should say is your friend a poet?
[Translate]
K,
The fact you am your friend proclaim to be outspoken activists by definition means that you have an opinion contrary to what is most probably the opinion of most other people. So if someone does not agree with you, you ought to be prepared to accept that. If you are unsuccessful in convincing people your position is correct, it means you are not an effective activist. If you choose to put that position into online media you are fair game for criticism. To think otherwise is unrealistic at best, and to continue repeating the same message while expecting a different outcome is insanity. That AGT called you a nut job isn’t nice, but you are an adult and should have developed some coping mechanisms to deal with this. Criminal harassment? That’s nuts.
That you compare your friend’s plight to Amanda is worthy of ridicule and somewhat shameful. If your friend is feeling suicidal because of a situation she created for herself she ought to seek help, not an outpouring of meaningless online sympathy.
[Translate]
Right on Jas johal, on tonights piece on Margaret mcdermid and the Burnaby hospital, liberal cover up,
as somebody that has had a family member that got sicker going into that god damn facility then when they went in, I hope you will pick up on this Alex, as we are already on the subject of those that are in positions of weakness and not able to defend themselves , where are we more vulnerable than when we are sick, and need a “safe& clean” place to seek assistance from our government provided facility
[Translate]
Yeah, it was superb, as usual. Jas is leading the way in the MSM, no question.
[Translate]
I see that Harry Bloy’s Buddies are at it again. One got a political goodie being paid to be a desk at a multiculutral outreach office downtown given when Harry was given Multiculturalism while at the same time joining his BC Liberal Party friends on this so-called “non partisan” committee.
Plus two BC Liberal Riding Association Presidents are on that committee.
Should have been just the two MLAs, but beyond that reps from
the community, Burnaby Business, A Hospital doctor and reps form
the Hospital Foundation.
The hospital isn’t the only thing about the committee that is sick.
[Translate]
Very disappointed with Brain Bonney. I thought he was brighter than that.
[Translate]
From what’s been told, Brian is not as bright as people might think.
From what Burnaby People can tell you, he’s done some spectacularly stupid things politically a few of his antics set off alot of problems that did not need to happen.
He comes across as a bright boy in politics and tells anyone who will spend tow minutes listening to him, but he’s actually one accident after another. He also doesn’t listen carefully to those who know what to do and how to do it right.
He’s gotten his political goodies not through talent but rather talking
and convincing he’s worth a few sentences of approval.
Not many would want running him running a campaign. Some people
have gone through a campaign he has managed. They can tell you once was enough.
Never met him, but from what’s been heard, the guy is trouble.
He’s a sterotypical backroom boy, but he doesn’t wear red suspenders over a white shirt and navy pants.
[Translate]
Because I am one – a marketeer that is – this came out today and is most timely – given the palate of the week:
http://sproutsocial.com/insights/2012/10/marketing-to-teens/?utm_source=Stephen+Trask%2C+MT&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SproutInsights+%28Sprout+Insights%29
[Translate]
Indeed!
[Translate]
Alex you have to bring some balance to the current legalize pot effort by doing a column or getting involved in the media debate.
I heard Geoff Plant on Goods show and between the two of them it was total drivel. One guy called with a legitimate concern about the harm done by smoking MJ and Good blew him away.
As shown by the Amanda Todd tragedy kids are messed up enough nowadays without dumbing them down by making it acceptable to be a pothead.
[Translate]
I will soon. I heard it, too. Total garbage.
[Translate]