Thursday, February 16, 2012

Internet Vs Society - Blaming the Wrong One Again

Kill it


An article has come out at The Korea Times and also Hancinema, about how certain information that exists online is causing problems for people and their reputation. The article talks mainly about a few celebrities who have had their comments or videos found and criticized by netizens, causing problems for them and their agencies.

It then mentions the "Right-to-be-forgotten Bill", a bill that is apparently being negotiated in Europe, allowing users to demand that social media websites erase their information when they ask and if the sites don't need them for a good reason. The users need to be informed when their data is stored, how and for how long.

Now, while this would sound like a good idea, as companies tend to get a bit too liberal with how they use our data, I feel this is not the solution for privacy here or in Korea and that this bill would have many negative consequences.

The problem is, a lot of criminals can also be tracked by their online data. Not only that, but online data can also be evidence to a crime or an intention. And especially Korean netizens (antis, stalkers) should really be tracked. The information should be kept, but it's who controls it and how that's the problem.

Social media should not give it to companies, like Facebook does, and it should be kept hidden from the public. That's a fact, especially in Korea, where any sicko online can destroy a person with their insane ramblings alone. But the police should have access, if and when they need it for solving a case. That data should be saved.

Also, when such material does manage to surface, the places that host it should be ordered to take it down. When it violates someone's privacy. We agree there.

But the real problem is, it's the Korean society which has to be changed here. Destroying data will not help, when netizens are such cruel pathetic existences. They don't realize celebrities are human beings or maybe they don't care.

Sure, the internet is their platform and means by which they do their bullying, but shutting it down or cleaning data will not stop them from trying their hardest to hurt others. And anything that surfaces will likely be stored by someone before it's even taken down and will still spread.

The article speaks of female celebrities who got a sex video of them released online and also about Jay Park and the problems he faced for a comment dissing Korea.

My question here is, why do these women need to be treated this way because they had sex with a boyfriend? Why do they need to be treated this way because they taped it or because it got taped? Why is it not the uploader and guilty party blamed, but the innocent woman? Because she is famous? Does that make her not human?

And why should Jay Park have to apologize for a post? I say I hate my country sometimes too. It's a comment. Does one comment show a person's personality or real thoughts? Maybe he didn't have fun when he was in Korea? Maybe he saw all of these crazy people who judge others based on irrational things? He's a regular guy, with every right to be angry or have a bad day or make a simple comment.

It's not the fact that this data is out there that is the problem and it sure as heck isn't the solution either. It's the fact that people cause such stir about it that's the real problem Korea has.


Anti Egg
There's only one solution to this... Ban eggs!


It's the fact that people get blamed for things they shouldn't be blamed for and the fact that people obsess with things they shouldn't obsess with.

A man wrote a quick comment saying he "hates Korea". Exactly why should he get hell for it? Say he is a normal guy. Not a celebrity. Would he get such hell for it then? I might say "Our politicians are bastards". Would that make me a hater or a bad person? One comment, done under circumstances one can't know?

Frankly, can you blame him? When the people around him are such psychos that they hunt down his messages and analyze them, I feel he has every right to feel Korea is nuts. Is it his love for it people buy? No. You buy his music and that's the only thing you pay for. It's the only thing you should and can demand from him. Not his "love". Know your place!

And what about the sex videos? Is it the internet that's bad here, or the people who spread them around, commenting on a person and their sex life? If netizens had some decency, they wouldn't pry into a stranger's personal life and judge them for it.

What does their sex life have to do with their career? So what, if a guy likes dressing like a kitten and getting spanked by his girlfriend, he's not a good actor anymore?

Korean netizens have these delusions about celebrities. That they are somehow supposed to be "better people". That the former have a special bond of trust with them. That these celebrities somehow owe it to them to speak of everything and earn their trust.

I've said it before and it shall be said again. Acting or singing is a job. Like every other one. If these netizens think they have a special relationship with celebrities or that these celebrities owe every detail of their lives to them, it's their problem and their mental disability.

No law or regulating of the internet will help the situation, when it's people's mentality that's messed up beyond help and sanity. Korea has this habit of trying to fix deep scars and rotting with surface treatment. No matter how you cover it up, it's still there and it will still surface and hurt people.

It's Korean society that has the problem. If they want to spend funds, they should spend it on education, on counseling, on supporting those who need support and keeping these agencies and companies in check when they decide to hold the opinions of insane individuals more dear than the well-being of the person they are representing. Society and people need changing. Not bits of the internet.

 
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