Somewhere in me I have a thousand word post on the need for social media literacy education in lower education[1]...but for today I'll just quote Jason Fortuny in the everywhere-linked New York Times piece on Internet trolls.
"You seem to know exactly how much you can get away with, and you troll right up to that line," I said. "Is there anything that can be done on the Internet that shouldn’t be done?"
Fortuny was silent. In four days of conversation, this was the first time he did not have an answer ready.
"I don’t know," he said. "I have to think about it."
What's the old standby? There's a fine line between clever and stupid?
[1] In short, "media literacy" was focused on creating smarter media consumers; understanding how media's produced and distributed, the biases behind it, etc. (See also deconstructionism, etc.) "Social media literacy," on the other hand, needs to be focused on creating smarter media producers, who understand the ramifications of a hyper-connected zero-cost-of-distribution world. (See also Star Wars kid.)
"You seem to know exactly how much you can get away with..."
Maybe not. Fortuny's just been sued in federal court.
http://www.10zenmonkeys.com/2008/08/04/craigslist-troll-gets-sued/
Posted by: Moe Zilla | Aug 05, 2008 at 01:59 AM
@moe -- wow, thanks for the link! will be watching that case with interest...
Posted by: Michael Sippey | Aug 05, 2008 at 08:16 AM
That is a GREAT point, that internet literacy should include wisdom about producing media as well as about consuming it.
Posted by: Amanda French | Aug 05, 2008 at 12:52 PM
Good luck pea brain. You're gonna need it.
Posted by: Postie | Aug 10, 2008 at 01:38 PM