Reflection 3: You Moron!—On the Internet's Culture of Meaness

An unfortunate side effect of the Internet has been the proliferation of behavior that ranges from uncivil to unlawful. Slut shaming, trolling, and cyberbullying are only a few of the byproducts of an easily anonymous and increasingly impersonal online culture. While it's tempting (and sometimes even cathartic) to laugh off a lot of the Internet's nastiness, we can't deny that words, even those online, can seriously hurt people. For teens, who often bare the brunt of Internet harassment, the results can be fatal. We've seen dozens of teens in this country driven to suicide to escape cyberbullying. All the while, online communities, such as 4chan and 9GAG, continue to revel in misogyny, homophobia, racism, and harassment. Meanwhile, Facebook walls, Instagram posts, and Twitter feeds are routinely devolve into spite and cynicism. The Internet, it seems, is in no mood to play nice these days. Finally, how does our new president play into this aggressive online culture? Given his long history of mean-spirited tweets, what will be his impact on a progressively nasty Internet? 

Include at least two of the following in your discussion:

• "Teens, Cyberbullying, Sexual Harassment, and Social Media: The New Normal?" (Huffington Post)
• "Here's How to Tackle Cyberbullying" (CNN)
• "The Guardian Analyzed 75 Million Internet Comments—What it Found Explains an Entire Culture War" (Vox)
• "Cyberbullying Pushed Texas Teen to Commit Suicide, Family Says" (CBS News)
• "What the Law Can (and Can't) Do About Online Harassment" (Atlantic)
• "The Price I’ve Paid for Opposing Donald Trump" (National Review)

Required:

• MLA Style
• Two pages in length
• Works cited page

Due: We 3.1