Vee: Of all the people I've met - in IT, in telecom, in animation- I've yet to meet somebody who was less popular than me during their school years. It's surprising considering I surround myself with the misanthropes of society- but there it is. I went whole grades completely friendless.
But do you know where I did have friends? On the internet.
And do you know why? Because you can choose the people with whom you interact: form circles that consist solely of like-minded outcasts. And if you really fuck up and insult them, just move on to the next lot of people.
It's not like there's a LACK of internet subcultures.
That's why it boggles my mind that internet bullying is suddenly such a catastrophe. If bullies from school are pissing you off online don't friend them. I mean, JESUS, it's not fucking hard. Unlike real life, where you're obligated to listen to asshats, the web purposefully puts in safeguards against idiocy. You can block, filter, and anonymize yourself into happiness... so what's exactly is the problem here?
Don't tell me these kids are actually trying to win over their bullies- because that didn't work in real life, and it certainly won't work when those douche-bags are behind the safety screen of technology.
Jaime: I don't understand the 'concept' of internet bullying. Perhaps it's a generational thing. I mean... it's the internet, right? You can be totally anonymous online, and you don't actually have to read anything that's written about you. You can set your Facebook to private, you can block certain email addresses from mailing you. Have they invented some sort of new technology I don't know about that allows you to noogie people through TCP/IP?
