I want to believe this
but sadly I can't.
( CQ Knows the truth, all of it., Thu 7 Jul 2011, 16:42, 1 reply, 15 years ago)

we can do anything if we try!
come on, internet - let's fuck 'em up!
( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Thu 7 Jul 2011, 16:44, Reply)

it does start to look true
Wow, if only the Mail were next
( CQ Knows the truth, all of it., Thu 7 Jul 2011, 16:46, Reply)

they treated someone I work with like shit
sending emotionally blackmailing letters to get them to talk to them when they just wanted to be left alone. If I didn't hate them already, that was evidence enough
( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Thu 7 Jul 2011, 16:47, Reply)

reading it once was enough
scary shit
( CQ Knows the truth, all of it., Thu 7 Jul 2011, 17:00, Reply)

why do people think the internet had anything to do with this?

( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Thu 7 Jul 2011, 16:49, Reply)

to be honest
probably wishful thinking. I expect it did have an effect, though, mainly because it allows people to communicate their crossness quicker.
( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Thu 7 Jul 2011, 16:52, Reply)

i think the internet has become such a part of our media and communication
network that, perhaps, everything is affected by it. Maybe this is the point we can no longer dissociate 'The Internet' from culture in general
( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Thu 7 Jul 2011, 16:54, Reply)

for the purposes of this
I'm disassociating things like actual online media (valid news sites and such) from "the internet" because what people really mean in this case when they say "the internet" is "facebook and twitter"
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Thu 7 Jul 2011, 17:00, Reply)

I'm not sure about that.
What it does is allows massive over-reaction to the slightest thing and allows any fuckwit with a keyboard the ability to rail against everything and anything.

In this case, NotW would have been under just us much pressure without the internet, becuase they have done something geneuinely awful.

You might have a point about the speed things can happen though, I concede.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Thu 7 Jul 2011, 16:58, Reply)

I agree with over-reactions and shit
I think the speed of communication also makes it harder to spin things in a controlled manner (or even tell the truth once a lie has got out) - not impossible, by any means, but you'd have to be quick and lucky. I suspect this won't be true in a couple of years as people catch up with the new model of communication.

I'd like to think you're right about NOTW getting fucked up either way, though. I can't see how anyone thought it might be an OK thing to do
( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Thu 7 Jul 2011, 17:08, Reply)