Don’t get me wrong, I’m not being hissy, or trying to act superior. I’m just trying to figure out the difference.

With b3ta, you know what to expect when you come onto the site, and it has a like-minded community. There are posts which could be considered bad taste, but they are generally witty and not meant in malice. They tend not to offend people, as the people that read them are fellow b3tans. Hence the McCann parents have prolly never seen or heard of them. I agree with womanwhocanonlylivewithdogs, with the difference of guilty/ private laughing, and unashamed laughing.

Someone like Siobhan O'Dowd managing to rally up over 30,000 people to join her way of thinking is scary... especially after hearing the interview with her! And she, as well as the guy with the Facebook staus, haven’t considered (or don’t care) that they could be seen as publicly offensive.

Still, freedom of speech and all that.

I’m not sure I agree that it’s “pointless” to care. To get upset or dwell on it would be oversensitive, but considering it pointless even to feel any sympathy or empathy however fleeting, is probably what leaves people desensitised.
( awayfromthenumbers, Tue 27 Jul 2010, 9:45, Reply)