Before our class on cyber-sleuthing, I hadn’t really given any of the topics we discussed much thought. After our class, I have a lot of thoughts. Specifically on cyber-vigilantism and everything that comes with it.
Being connected worldwide is a great thing. Without social media specifically, we would not see the world or what is happening in the world as quickly and easily as we are able to. Though as we are sort of guinea pigs to this whole extreme interconnected way of living, it does have its benefits. Unfortunately, there are also a lot of negatives to having so much of our personal identities available for the world to see, as we all have learned.
I still think that cyber-vigilantism being right or wrong still really depends on the specific situation. When the internet is able to remain focused on stopping/spreading awareness of the specific bad situation, yes I think that is a good thing. It is nice to see that there are so many people in the world that care about what others are going through, and even better when the world can help bring justice to a terrible situation.
On the other hand, the amount of shame, bullying, and harassment that comes with being the target of a cyber vigilante can also be a terrible situation. As we all know, everyone makes mistakes in their lives, and making mistakes is how we learn! Now that we are able to make these mistakes online for the entire world to see seems more than a little unfair. Overall, I think we need to remember to give people grace when it comes to certain mistakes they’ve made in their lives.
Thanks for reading!