Malwebolence
One frequently reads about the wonders of Web 2.0. However, the web can also be an insidious medium. Or perhaps more accurately, insidious or unscrupulous individuals may employ it as their medium. Lives can be ruined, professional credibility damaged, self image shattered, sanity challenged. In this era of "the bully" it is the responsibility of educators to familiarise themselves and their students with the numerous Web 2.0 applications, to empower them to critically evaluate this volatile non linear medium.
I read a most disturbing article some years ago "The Rise Of Malwebolence" by Mattathias Schwartz, in Time magazine which resonates just as strongly with me today, as it did then. It makes for chilling reading.
In the late 1980s, Internet users adopted the word "troll" to denote someone who intentionally disrupts online communities. Early trolling was relatively innocuous, however as our emotional investment in the Internet has grown, trolling has evolved from ironic solo skit to vicious group hunt. Today the Internet is a mass medium for defining who we are. Teenagers groom their MySpace profiles as intensely as their hair, anyone seeking work or love can expect to be Googled. "Lulz" is how trolls keep score. A corruption of "LOL" or "laugh out loud," "lulz" means the joy of disrupting another's emotional equilibrium. "Lulz is watching someone lose their mind at their computer 2,000 miles away while you chat with friends and laugh," said one ex-troll. Technology, apparently, does more than harness the wisdom of the crowd. It can intensify its hatred as well....." The rise of Malwebolence, New York Times, by Mattathias Schwartz Friday, August 1, 2008
We owe it to our children to provide them with the skills to protect themselves in the online world where the danger is both 'real' and 'virtual'.
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