By robjenkins January 11, 2014
Unfortunately, there’s a darker side to the anonymity issue. In addition to the general, run-of-the-mill incivility that we see all too frequently in anonymous blog posts and comments, there are people who use these shadow forums to launch all-out attacks. In the novel Caught by Harlan Coben, a man who took the fall for a college prank gone horribly wrong decides, decades later, to exact revenge on the four fraternity brothers who were also involved but never implicated. So he sets out to ruin their reputations by, among other things, posting vicious lies and rumors about them on Internet blogs and chat rooms — anonymously, of course. Coben’s pithy commentary on our high-speed Internet society, in which hard-won reputations can be trashed in less time than it takes to download a YouTube video, hits close to home: Like many of you, no doubt, I have been the target of such attacks, on this site as well as others. I sometimes think we’ve now entered an era in which, instead of enjoying Andy Warhol’s oft-cited “15 minutes of fame,” we’re all destined to suffer 15 minutes of defamation. The problem, for the victims of such attacks, is two-fold. First, there seems to be something about the electronic medium that lends instant credibility to faceless posters, as if commenting anonymously online somehow constituted being “published.” And secondly, no matter how ridiculous the unattributed assertions may be, a certain percentage of the people who read them will simply shake their heads and say to themselves, “Really? I had no idea.” That’s how reputations are destroyed, while those doing the destroying cleverly evade any accountability for their actions. Allow me, then, to offer the following proposition as a starting place for our conversation: Anonymity is morally defensible when its purpose is to protect one’s career or livelihood, but it becomes a form of cowardice — and thus reprehensible — when used to provide cover for character assassination. ...read more
By Cant say April 05, 2011
John C. Jorden is a fraud and a terrible human being. He has wrecked many lives and was a cancer in my life to my family for many years. I cant really say much about my situation because I do not want him to know who I am and cause more harm than he already has. I know I am not the only person who he has hurt and I don't want to see him continue to hurt people. Please stay away from John C. Jorden and if he has hurt you then you can know that you are not alone but know this, deep down John is a coward and preys on people he thinks he can control. He was a cancer to my family and a cancer to society. ...read more
Mental health care referral can be a scary process for many people. Going to a doctor or medical setting to get assessed for mental health services may be more scary than the mental illness. Although a doctor or qualified mental health provider will still have to approve the services, it is quite easy... ...read more
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder occurs in people who have suffered a significant trauma such as a victim of a violent crime, or a soldier who has been deployed to a combat zone. Often times, suffers of PTSD find themselves reliving the trauma which makes it difficult and stressful for them to mov... ...read more
