Many of us know firsthand that the power of technology in the digital age is incredible, but as Voltaire once said, “With great power comes great responsibility.”
There seem to be two sides to every person: the private side and the public side. In 21st century vernacular, the public is the side of the person interacting with others face-to-face, and the private is the side of the person interacting with others online.
The duplicitous problem arises when the private side of the person takes advantage of the power of anonymity that can come along with the Internet. I am guilty of it, too: online, I present a character completely different from the real me. I remember that rush as a result of sending a flirty emoji over iChat to a crush; I was skilled being this confident girl with technology as my crutch, but in reality I was the timid girl who couldn’t even look her crush in the eyes.
However, this power quickly becomes less innocent and cute when, sitting behind their computer screens, people start to assume destructive and negative personas. I am specifically referring to those who try to act as heroes by criticizing others on the web who have been labeled as the “bad guy” without much consideration. These people, who jump to immediate conclusions and make hasty decisions, take extreme measures to victimize those who have done something “bad” or “wrong” in the eyes of a prejudging majority. In most cases, these same people would not act so quickly or boldly if the same situation presented itself in person.
For example, the Twittersphere erupted in retweets and hashtags when Safiyyah Nawaz, the 17-year-old who became the source of a digital phenomenon overnight, tweeted what was supposed to be a joke on New Years Eve: “This beautiful earth is now officially 2014 years old, amazing!”
Two days and 15,000 retweets later, Safiyyah was on the receiving end of trending tweets calling her names and insulting her intelligence.
Those who ridiculed Safiyyah for her tweet were not considered to be at fault for anything, because rather than passively scrolling through their Twitter feeds, they were compelled to take an immediate and aggressive stand against her said stupidity. In these scenarios, the question of authenticity is always at hand. Would these Twitter users react with the same degree of cruel passion in person? What exactly was motivating them to react in the first place? — Could it all really just be about following #trends on Twitter?
Remember the digital uproar when the article, “5 Reasons to Date a Girl With an Eating Disorder” was published? The author who goes by the name, Tuthmosis, has received several death threats and consequentially must write under a fake name. Although it’s hard not to disagree that Tuthmosis’s writing is extremely offensive, is threatening his life the solution to get him to consider different perspectives on his writing? However you answer that question, it still doesn’t change the fact that over 80% of children who have witnessed bullying have not tried to stop it. The ability of the Internet to conceal true identity makes it that much easier for people to witness bullying without blame for inaction.
Justine Sacco‘s entire career ended by a single tweet that was heard around the world. In December, before heading to South Africa, Sacco tweeted, “Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just Kidding. I’m white!” In just a few hours, thousands of tweets were posted with the hashtag #HasJustLanded referencing and harassing Sacco about the offensive tweet. One week later, Ms. Sacco sent an apology letter to a South African newspaper and soon thereafter was fired from her job as PR executive of IAC.
While the tweet’s offensiveness and seeming ignorance are clear, what lacks clarity is why exactly she was fired. Was it her tweet or people’s largely public reactions to her tweet that caused her to lose her job? It’s hard to say if Sacco would have met the same fate had people not reacted negatively or at all.
So why do people switch roles from in-person bystanders to online bullies? The world of communication that we know all-too-well today desensitizes us and shows us fewer consequences for our actions. The scary truth is that in fewer than 140 characters, one stranger can destroy your career, send you death threats, or make you the center of a hateful trend. Digital power is indubitably something worth harnessing: it makes voice and opportunity unmatchably accessible; however, it needs to be used with caution before more people fall victim to bullies online.
UPDATE
14 year-old Dutch teen, Sarah, was arrested for Tweeting. On April 13th, the teen, who claims her friend “hacked” her account, wrote:
“@AmericanAir hello my name’s Ibrahim and I’m from Afghanistan. I’m part of Al Qaida and on June 1st I’m gonna do something really big bye.”
A few minutes later American Airlines replied:
“Sarah, we take these threats very seriously. Your IP address and details will be forwarded to security and the FBI.”
Although Sarah pleaded that her tweet was a joke, police arrived at her house and arrested her briefly. She was released later that day.
This brings up another point, why did American Airlines take Sarah’s threatening tweet seriously and almost disregard those where she pleads her innocence? How can we really distinguish whether the person behind the screen is one with malicious intentions and not just a teen with a bad sense of humor? If we could learn to analyze and research, before we jump to extreme conclusions, we might be able to spare the panic and the cyber-bullying.