Cyber bullying: Technology and McLuhan

The cruel mob pursued 13 year old Megan Meier through our high tech “social networking site MySpace and called Megan a liar, a fat whore and worse”.

Megan, 13, fought back, but she was overwhelmed. “Mom, they’re being horrible!” Megan said, “sobbing into the phone when her mother called. After an hour, Megan ran into her bedroom and hanged herself with a belt.”

“She felt there was no way out,” Ms. Meier said.

McLuhan has stated that all technology is an extension of a human faculty. The ‘bomb is an extension of the fist’ is a simple example.

“The Medium is The Message” is the phrase that made Marshall McLuhan famous. It is a phrase most of us, young and old, have heard. Until recently this was a mysterious phrase that left me speechless.

Let’s get very fundamental here and go back to the invention of the alphabet to understand what McLuhan is talking about and why it is important.

“The Greek myth about the alphabet was that Cadmus, reputedly the king who introduced the phonetic letters into Greece, sowed dragoon’s teeth, and they sprang up armed men. Like any other myth, this one capsulates a prolonged process into a flashing insight. The alphabet meant power and authority and control of military structures at a distance. When combined with papyrus, the alphabet spelled the end of the stationary temple bureaucracies and the priestly monopolies of knowledge and power.”

“The phonetic alphabet is a unique technology…This stark division and parallelism between a visual and an auditory world was both crude and ruthless, culturally speaking. The phonetically written sacrifices worlds of meaning and perception that were secured by forms like the hieroglyphs and the Chinese ideogram. These culturally richer forms of writing, however, offered men no means of sudden transfer from the magically discontinuous and traditional world of the tribal word into the cool and uniform visual medium.”

“All of these forms [pictographic and hieroglyphic] give pictorial expression to oral meanings. As such, they approximate the animated cartoon and are extremely unwieldy, requiring many signs for the infinity of data operations of social action. In contrast, the phonetic alphabet, by a few letters only, was able to encompass all languages.”

Consider the invention of the printing press and the introduction of books to the society. A book communicates a message. Many books communicate many messages. ‘The book’ communicates the same message to everyone who comes into contact with the book. The book transmits the same message to everyone while many books transmit many different messages to many different people.

Evolution moves very slowly. We adapt to our environment very slowly. We survive because we do adapt. When we change more quickly than we can adapt we face problems that we have not had the time to make the kind of adjustments necessary.

The habits we acquire determine our state of mind. Our changing habits are part of this process of adaptation to our environment. Do not think of environment as being just the quality of our air or water but it is a broad term signifying the world we live in.

So we have changed very dramatically our habits that were part of us when we knew little and understood much. I am speaking relatively here. What happens to us as a result of this dramatic change? I do not know but I only point to the fact as worth consideration.

Examine how we sit and watch TV for several hours everyday. When we watch TV we are constantly being transported perceptively from one scene to another. Think for a minute if instead of sitting and watching TV we were physically escorted done a hallway with many doors. Then we open a door and are physically placed into this world we see on TV. Our reaction would be very different. In other words we are creatures prepared for a certain world that no longer exists. This is the definition of a forthcoming extinction if we think about the meaning of evolution.

Has our technology become our master? I think so.

This story about Megan by Christopher Maag, “When the Bullies Turned Faceless” was published in the December 17 edition of the NYTimes.

oh fucking wah.

if she can't take shit on the net then she won't be able to take shit in real life.

people have to realize, people talk. even when you aren't around. the internet let's people say shit they usually would never say in real life.

i am half way into the public eye in my area. if i worried about what people thought about me, i would have never tried to protect a burial ground from desecration. people around here know what i am like. although i am not loud and obnoxious about it. they know how my marriage is, although my wife is starting to freak out a bit about what people think, since one day she may be a science teacher. i tried to tell her, if that one teacher at the school worried about what people thoguht, would she have come out of the closet and people now know she is a lesbian? would society ever open its mind and GET OVER IT. people are different, and you shouldn't worry about what others think of you.

this young lady must have been raised in a overly protective home.

oh fucking wah.

if she can't take shit on the net then she won't be able to take shit in real life.

people have to realize, people talk. even when you aren't around. the internet let's people say shit they usually would never say in real life.

i am half way into the public eye in my area. if i worried about what people thought about me, i would have never tried to protect a burial ground from desecration. people around here know what i am like. although i am not loud and obnoxious about it. they know how my marriage is, although my wife is starting to freak out a bit about what people think, since one day she may be a science teacher. i tried to tell her, if that one teacher at the school worried about what people thoguht, would she have come out of the closet and people now know she is a lesbian? would society ever open its mind and GET OVER IT. people are different, and you shouldn't worry about what others think of you.

this young lady must have been raised in a overly protective home. Gee, a little insensitive are we? She was only 13!!!

oh fucking wah.

if she can't take shit on the net then she won't be able to take shit in real life.

people have to realize, people talk. even when you aren't around. the internet let's people say shit they usually would never say in real life.

i am half way into the public eye in my area. if i worried about what people thought about me, i would have never tried to protect a burial ground from desecration. people around here know what i am like. although i am not loud and obnoxious about it. they know how my marriage is, although my wife is starting to freak out a bit about what people think, since one day she may be a science teacher. i tried to tell her, if that one teacher at the school worried about what people thoguht, would she have come out of the closet and people now know she is a lesbian? would society ever open its mind and GET OVER IT. people are different, and you shouldn't worry about what others think of you.

this young lady must have been raised in a overly protective home.
*****
It was probably one thing after another for this teen. I bet if she had some marihuana to smoke she would have done something different like a bike ride.

Cyber bullying: Technology and McLuhan

If you are going to compare apples to oranges, cyberbullying to technological advances, *although they go hand in hand you fail to see the seperation* then you should be able to safely say Darwin's Theory of Evolution on Natural Selection was at work here.

Bullies exist on many avenues in life, whether it be a school lunch bully, a bad cop, an abusive partner, and anrgy religious person, etc... there has and always will be someone trying to be a dominiating force somewhere, and even in the advancing world of computers and technology. Savvy students are using Instant Messaging, e-mails, chat rooms and websites they create to humiliate a peer.

The problem doesn't lay in the technology, it was in the lack of parental involvement for this child. Clearly she was too young and immature to be allowed to use the tool given to her. Many fail to realize that it is ONLY text, and yes, although words hurt, with a flip of the switch it can be gone. She had that option that she wouldn't have had had it been happening in real life.

I strongly believe kids shouldn't be allowed on the net without a parent supervision. There is a reason we have 'kids blocks' on TV and Coppa
on the internet for children's safe guard.

Maybe I'm an asshole, but if she can't handle mean WORDS, chances are she wouldn't have made it far in the real world anyway. Sadly, it was her choice to kill herself, and I do feel for her parents, but she took an extreme path for a minimal problem. Her problem laid in believing the words spoken to her, she cared what 'some faceless person' on the internet thought of her.


And the fact is, if you get cyberbullied, stats have shown it's usually someone you know in 'real life' and who knows your internet activity screwing with you.

Gee, a little insensitive are we? She was only 13!!!http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3882520&page=1

Megan Meier sometimes suffered from low self-esteem and was on medication at the time of her death.
The cyber exchange devastated Megan, who was unable to understand how and why her friendship unraveled. The stress and frustration was too much for Megan, who had a history of depression. 5 good reasons she shouldn't have been on the net.

oh fucking wah.

if she can't take shit on the net then she won't be able to take shit in real life.

people have to realize, people talk. even when you aren't around. the internet let's people say shit they usually would never say in real life.

i am half way into the public eye in my area. if i worried about what people thought about me, i would have never tried to protect a burial ground from desecration. people around here know what i am like. although i am not loud and obnoxious about it. they know how my marriage is, although my wife is starting to freak out a bit about what people think, since one day she may be a science teacher. i tried to tell her, if that one teacher at the school worried about what people thoguht, would she have come out of the closet and people now know she is a lesbian? would society ever open its mind and GET OVER IT. people are different, and you shouldn't worry about what others think of you.

this young lady must have been raised in a overly protective home.


I think thats a little harsh considering she was only 13. She had barely lived. How do you expect her to know that people are mean and you just have to get over it??

I've never understood people who bully. Just don't get the "fun" in it. It's something that should never be tolerated.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3882520&page=1


5 good reasons she shouldn't have been on the net.


I agree. Unless she was on positive websites and MySpace isn't one of them.

Either way its a sad tradegy that could have been prevented. And we shouldn't forget that someone pretend to be someone else and put her down. That person was obviously taught a lesson the hard way.

Thirteen year olds are so fucking overdramatic. I know, I was one of them like 4 years ago... Luckily I (like most adolescents) was really too much of a wimp to actually kill myself successfully.

The book is the medium. The book makes us a very different people. We have a much different frame of mind resulting from books than before books. The content in a book is insignificant as compared to the reality of books. The content of a book may change many lives but the book as a medium as a new technology changes the life of the species for ever.

If technology forces us forward faster than we can adapt we will fall. Just as a runner falls if she leans over further than her legs can come forward and support her weight.

If we can control our technology we can better control our fate. If we fail to comprehend our relationship with technology then we will fail to survive because we cannot adapt fast enough. We create our culture. Our culture is artificial just as most of the human life is about artificial values. We create what we live, die, and kill for.

Our habits determine our fate to a large extent. Our habits, just like the habits of an athlete will determine success. Our habits prepare us for the now. Now is no time to change habits—habits control what we can or cannot do at the moment action is required. This includes especially our habits of mind. If we do not form an honest mind we will not behave honestly intellectually when the time requires it. This is what CT (Critical Thinking) is partially about. By studying CT we are creating the proper set of intellectual habits that we will guide us in the future.

I think that McLuhan had great insight and is well worth the effort to comprehend.

You should have posted this in the book section here if your not going to talk about your opinon and only promote the book, dickface.

Luvs the hostility, dear.

Luvs the hostility, dear.

I think most 13 yr.olds have more to add than that.
But at least yer tryin.
Bless yer little 4 word heart.

I strongly believe kids shouldn't be allowed on the net without a parent supervision. There is a reason we have 'kids blocks' on TV and Coppa
on the internet for children's safe guard.


I agree, my daughter is 13 and I recently installed web nanny on her computer, normally I watch every moment shes on the web.
Her computer is in the living room, I use to have it on a projector TV, she thought it was way cool and I thought it was way convenient to watch. Until the lamp burned out and it cost $700 to replace.

There was a 17 year old kid hitting on her and he kept asking to go to video.
Thats when I got net nanny. Blocked that pervert.

I think people always fall under the impression that they have all the freedom in the world on the net. Thats why you're more likely to see someones true nature on the net then you are face to face.

Guys used to hit on me all the time online when I was younger, and people used to be mean to me too. I just blocked them when they made me feel uncomfortable, either way.

Luvs the hostility, dear.

Thanks dear, :D

I think this is actually a great topic and it has a lot of potential. Problem is he has two seperate discussions here, both great alone and he's doing a piss poor job supporting either of them, instead he's promoting a book.
For christs sake.:rolleyes:

I agree, my daughter is 13 and I recently installed web nanny on her computer, normally I watch every moment shes on the web.
Her computer is in the living room, I use to have it on a projector TV, she thought it was way cool and I thought it was way convenient to watch. Until the lamp burned out and it cost $700 to replace.

There was a 17 year old kid hitting on her and he kept asking to go to video.
Thats when I got net nanny. Blocked that pervert.

I think people always fall under the impression that they have all the freedom in the world on the net. Thats why you're more likely to see someones true nature on the net then you are face to face.
I want a projector tv! :(

Yeah, I gave JJ(11) and Sam(8) their own computers in their room, with games to play on it but there is no way they will be on the net for a long time.
I have let them play on a few sites on mine but I was right here with them the whole time.


What people fail to remember is that they are traceable on the net, no one is anonymous and can be found if someone wants to find them.

I'm interested in what will happen to the lady that 'pretended' to be a kid and taunted her. She is protected by her freedom of speech and will probly not be charged. Actually, her only sin is she spoke mean words.
It was the fault of the parents for not watching over their daughters actions more *esp. knowing her low self esteem* and even allowing her on the net unsupervised.

Thanks dear, :D

I think this is actually a great topic and it has a lot of potential. Problem is he has two seperate discussions here, both great alone and he's doing a piss poor job supporting either of them, instead he's promoting a book.
For christs sake.:rolleyes:

You misunderstand my post. That could be because I wrote poorly or you have read poorly. I am not promoting a book I am trying to help the reader to comprehend why McLuhan says that the media is the message. In this particular case the medium in question is book; not a particular book but the book itself. The book as medium has changed human life. If you comprehend the meaning of that ststement you willl have some idea of what McLuhan is about.

I suggest you read the OP carefully and perhaps the light will dawn.

I'm interested in what will happen to the lady that 'pretended' to be a kid and taunted her. She is protected by her freedom of speech and will probly not be charged. Actually, her only sin is she spoke mean words.
It was the fault of the parents for not watching over their daughters actions more *esp. knowing her low self esteem* and even allowing her on the net unsupervised.
I guess I agree, but I was online unsupervised when I was 13. I had plenty of mental health problems at the time too. However, I turned out fine. I'm glad my parents didn't freak out and forbid me from using the internet like some parents do; they trusted me to use my own judgment and knew I was responsible enough not to get myself in trouble. I suppose it depends on the child.

You misunderstand my post. That could be because I wrote poorly or you have read poorly. I am not promoting a book I am trying to help the reader to comprehend why McLuhan says that the media is the message. In this particular case the medium in question is book; not a particular book but the book itself. The book as medium has changed human life. If you comprehend the meaning of that ststement you willl have some idea of what McLuhan is about.

I suggest you read the OP carefully and perhaps the light will dawn.

I did. I read book, book, book, book, boook, book, book, book, book.
Technological advancements, read the book.


So, is this thread about the technological advancements we have made and how we need to control it better, or about a case of cyberbullying?
You certainly were unclear in the direction you wanted it to go.

Imp

We all have learned to sleep read in school. After schooling is over we must learn to read critically and with mental focus.

Oh man, Coberst... You're biting off more than you can chew provoking Imp! :eek:

I want a projector tv! :(

They're cheap now you can get a brand new one for under $400. Cheaper then a normal set brand new.
Just have to pay attention to what you get. Some are HD and some aren't, others just have S-Video hook ups for cable and some actually have cable hookups but none of them have a receiver. I suggest just watching movies on it for movie night or something, regular T.V watching can burn the lamp out in 6 months time. As I found out the hard way. I was told 10 hours a week of viewing time will help the lamp to last 2 years or more. Try to get one that is HD. From what I understand the regular TV signal will be replaced in 2009 with a HD signal.

Lamps can run from $100 to 700.

A friend of mine seen my projector and got one for his XBox. He plays grand turismo on it and the hood of the car is almost actual size, it was like the size of a love seat.
Another friend of mine said to put an exercise cycle in front of one and just have a video of the country side. Which was kinda funny.
But a good idea if you have a workout room. You can ride a bike any where in the world!

Thirteen year olds are so fucking overdramatic. I know, I was one of them like 4 years ago... Luckily I (like most adolescents) was really too much of a wimp to actually kill myself successfully.

hold it, "kill yourself successfully"? WTF?

hold it, "kill yourself successfully"? WTF?
Oh I did try once when I was like 12... Very half-heartedly, I must say.