Wow, that video is really freaky! I agree that this “view” of yourself could definitely dissociate you from your actions. I was half expecting the guy to attack one of the joggers.

I am disturbed by the instances of violent acts being recorded for the purpose of gaining some misguided form of celebrity. However, in most cases the perpetrators are immediately caught and charged by police, so hopefully this will begin acting as a deterrant. While the internet may offer a “venue for violence like never before”, it fortunately also offers law enforcement new tools to combat crime.

Jenn,

That’s an excellent point. I noticed it coming up a lot in further readings on the subject. It’s a very interesting side effect of the phenomenon; people put the picture up to achieve some level of notoriety but that level of transparency makes it very easy to track down who did it replete with video evidence of the crime.

I don’t think the internet promotes violence, per se, but I do think it provides a venue for people’s violent tendencies. These tendencies are most often latent in the ‘real world’, largely because of moral conditioning, fear of incarceration and all the other hassles involved with being a violent criminal.

The Internet and video games provide an outlet for violent impulses in a way we have never had to cope with before as a society. For some, these vicariously experienced and acted upon impulses spill over into meatspace, with the usual consequences. For the rest of us they offer the opportunity to be ‘bad’ in a virtual sense, guiltless and with impunity, as long as we don’t cross the line.

I’ve always believed that those who cross the line with things like role-playing games, the Internet, soccer fandom etc. would likely freak out on something else in the absence of these influences. The ones who maintain boundaries would tend to continue to do so regardless.

An excellent point. I wonder if part of the reason we’re experiencing these phenomena connected to the internet is that we’re still “inventing” the social conventions associated with it.

These be uncharted and shark-infested waters.

It seems that previous changes in social convention were extensions of, or reactions to previous ones, whereas now, we seem to be way out there, often without rudder.

People who write, read and comment on blogs like this live in a much more rarefied Internet than the general public. Net traffic and bandwidth seems to be dominated up by porn, pointless videos, ephemera, spam, malware and all the other hazards and annoyances we encounter there.

However, on a more positive note, there does seem to be a growing sense of responsibility, fair-play and self-regulation in certain corners of the Net. This could translate positively into real world interactions, if it ever takes with the public at-large. The world of the wiki is a good example of this.