Let me posit this. Isn't this exactly what social media is intended to do? Dont companies like Stones' create FB pages (and post comments) intending to generate comments? Isn't this simply a chance for everyone to "post" what they would otherwise just have "thought" in the past? 25 years ago I may have seen this and been pissed off but it wouldn't have been worth the time or effort to write/type a letter...research her background...find an address to mail to..etc. Now all I have to do is go to a website and type.
I think this is really just a matter of easier accessibility to forums that allow us to vent than it is a "new phenomena".
In my opinion, yes, and then again, no.
We, as a society, are apparently rediscovering the power of the masses to effect change. This has a good side and a bad side. The good side is the part that works for social changes that positively affect others. Highlighting evil and wrongs in our society, making others aware of things that might effect us all in a negative way so that people can get involved. And it's all been massively multiplied from the days when people gathered in public squares and held up signs and marched down city streets. This can be done with many more people, with much less effort.
The bad side is that we have groups like Anonymous, who seek to punish any corporation, government, or individual they see as their enemy, and often with the cheers of the mob urging them on. They operate in extra-legal ways, but their supporters howl like monkeys on social hangouts like Twitter, Facebook, and etc, encouraging them to do more. We see 'pile on' behavior such as this with the young moron in the OP, where people are not just 'commenting' or exercising their free speech, but actively working to make sure she is damaged to the fullest extent possible. As I said earlier, most of these people would be thrilled if they read that she had taken her own life. They are cyber-bullies; and it's not just about free speech anymore, but the thrill of behaving like a mob and forcing people and companies to do things at their command.
In the new online society that is forming, we will behave online and in real life as we are permitted to by the mobocracy. If you have an objection to the wars, you may protest - if it is OK with the mob. Otherwise, you'll be excoriated online, your employer will be inundated with demands you be terminated, your family with be stalked and threatened, and in some cases, actual violence will arise from the public scourging. Everything we do will no longer be conditioned upon notions such as 'is this legal' or 'do I have the right to say or think this', but 'will the mob be OK with this'?
If you don't see that as a problem, I certainly do. I have no idea what to do about it, but I see dark days ahead for the human race if we don't knock this crap off. Individually, we're nice, reasonable, sane people. Collectively, we're all Stalin, apparently. As the meme goes...
