Crowdsourcing vigilantism?
November 26th, 2006 by BryanTwo stories a world apart, one challenge for following up on the wisdom of crowds.
From Terry Heaton:
Doug Rushkoff writes of a fascinating incident that’s sure to spark debate as we continue to evolve to a truly informed citizenry. Here’s the story: A bicycling blogger had an incident with an SUV in New York. The blogger was upset that the guy almost ran him over, so he stopped his bike in front of the guy and demanded an audience with the fellow. He got off his bike, the guy ran it over, the blogger got his license plate, and his commenters eventually outed the guy and even posted an e-mail exchange. Turns out he’s the CEO of a software company.
From Mindy McAdams:
Doesn’t anyone think this is terrifying? A woman is attacked on the subway in London. I believe her. She’s right, it’s awful; it should not happen. It’s scary, and you’d think there would be some kind of protection.
That’s not what scares me, though.
She snapped a photo of one of the men who allegedly assaulted her. She posted the photo on her blog. And on Flickr. And now more than a dozen other bloggers have linked to or reposted the picture of this young person. He might be guilty — but doesn’t Britain have courts to determine that?
Read the comments on Mindy’s post for a give-and-take on the implications. It’s not like the media hasn’t been complicit in bringing people to publicity for crimes they may or may not have committed (Richard Jewel, anyone?). It is something to think about when considering the wisdom of trusting crowds with the ability to widely disseminate information. Unfortunately (fortunately?), now’s too late to try to put that particular genie back in the bottle.
Heaton has the more “optimistic” view of the situation in New York:
A lot of people apparently think this incident is a dangerous use of technology, but I agree with Rushkoff. I agree, because I have faith in people that our institutions lack. Remember, modernism teaches that only rationality and the rule of law can overcome (ignorant) mob rule. These people are hardly ignorant, however, and that’s what’s new in our culture and what poses such remarkable promise for tomorrow.
I agree with Heaton for the most part: the future holds great promise for informed citizens to express themselves through coordinated action. Unfortunately, with great promise comes great potential for ill.
I am reminded of the history of blogging and spam wars. Bloggers used comments and “trackbacks” to build a sense of interconnectedness between blogs and between blog authors and blog readers. The system was quickly used by ignorant, malevolent (words fail in expressing my distaste for these individuals) spammers, who exploited software to fill blog comment systems with advertisements for a variety of semi-legal and illegal wares and web sites. Of course, eventually, the blogosphere found ways to combat the spam deluge, but not without destroying the early sense of excitement for community interaction.
What I find interesting is that these two instances of “vigilantism” crop up within days of each other, across oceans, and I am able to see information about both and put them together into this post for discussion.
I predict a time when something negative will happen as a result of a college media organization’s new media initiatives (libel, perhaps?). In fact, I’m surprised something hasn’t happened yet. But that doesn’t mean we avoid the future just because it might be dangerous.
November 27th, 2006 at 1:55 pm
There is no vigilante element to my situation at all. Once the police get around to following up and contacting me for the picture (three days and counting), the photo will be disseminated widely by them. They are slower and less efficient in these things than victims are, which is much more disturbing to me than anything pondered upon here.
Also, you say: “Of course, eventually, the blogosphere found ways to combat the spam deluge, but not without destroying the early sense of excitement for community interaction.”
I can assure you that, while your own excitement may have been destroyed, plenty of people still feel it on a daily basis.
November 27th, 2006 at 2:14 pm
Ms. Danicki,
My own excitement for community interaction has certainly not been destroyed, as you’d know if you read more of this web site.
However, I personally witnessed a number of bloggers who shut down comments entirely on their sites in the early days of comment spam (I originally began with movable type software when it was still free, before the presence of captchas, blacklists and the like).
In that sense, there was a sense of … innocence (?) that was destroyed. Perhaps that is a better choice of words.
In any case, I hope your assailants are brought to justice, and I wish you continued success in your endeavors.