Internet permanence and bullying: Think before you post
It could collapse at any moment CREDIT:Urs Steiner (CC)
Although not all of us can speak from experience, most would still agree that parenting is not an easy job. For one father in the US, things reached a breaking point on Feb. 7, and he decided to share his frustration with the world. Those eight minutes of frustration have quickly become an Internet phenomenon.
Tommy Jordan of Albermarle, N.C., posted a video on YouTube in which he complained about a message his 15-year-old daughter, Hannah, had posted about her parents on Facebook, in which she ranted about how they treat her. According to Jordan, an IT consultant, Hannah had tried to keep the post from appearing on her parents’ profiles, but he spotted it anyway.
In the video, Jordan reads the post and sternly refutes his daughter’s claims, adding that he had just spent about six hours upgrading her laptop. He then turns the camera around and shoots the computer nine times with a .45 caliber pistol.
WARNING: The below YouTube video contains strong language and gun usage.
As of this writing, the video has been viewed almost 20 million times.
According to Jordan’s own Facebook page, major news outlets have requested interviews, and social services agencies have met with Hannah to ensure that she has not been mistreated. The family is using revenue from the video’s popularity to pay attorneys’ fees and other expenses.
Over my last two articles, we’ve looked at Internet bullying in its many forms, its causes and consequences. Last week in particular, we investigated the possibility that victim immaturity may also contribute. But Jordan’s video—and the publicity (welcome or otherwise) it has generated—may indirectly illustrate yet another cause: the permanence of the Internet.
“Covering one’s tracks” has arguably become next to impossible in the on-line world. Services like the Internet Archive have backed up billions of Web pages since 1996. Social networking site Twitter has partnered with the US Library of Congress to archive every single” tweet” submitted since the service’s debut six years ago.
The situation is also complex within the corporate sector. Kabrina Chang, an assistant professor of business law and employment law at Boston University, notes that 85% of US businesses do not have an official policy governing employee behavior on-line. She points out a few well-publicized incidents in which employees have been terminated because of actions or remarks published on the web.
Share your thoughts: Was Tommy Jordan right to post his reaction to his daughter’s behavior on-line? Could his video even be seen as libelous? Are you concerned about the potential permanence of anything you put on the web, and that a criminal may somehow use it against you?
Luke can be reached at luke.jensen1981(at)gmail.com
Related posts:
- Cyber Stalking and Bullying is One of the Pitfalls of the Social Internet
- What’s Old is New Again: Collaborative Consumption in the Internet Age
- Mobile Internet is near 50% of total Internet use in Spain
- Start-up Pinterest Receives Major Round of Funding
- 25% of European Union Citizens Have Not Used the Internet
