Ask the Internet: Or Don't
Ooh, hyper-modern ethics questions! My favorite. "I went to high school with a girl who I came across on Facebook. She's clearly got an eating disorder. What on earth do I do? I can't just friend her, and say, 'Hey! We went to high school together twelve years ago and I just found your profile, and you need some help! Go Bulldogs!'" That would be amusing. But one answer for sure is of interest.
"Do you stop women on the street to deliver critiques of their body weight and diagnose them with eating disorders based on your total non-knowledge of their situations? Would you want that sort of intrusion on your own person from strangers?
No?
Don't do it on the Internet."
What's this crazy idea about acting on the Internet like you do in the real one? I must go away and think about this.
Not based on my total NON-knowledge I don't.
No. The correct response is to fire away with lots and lots of graphic comparisons and flaming.
The general tenor of the internet is a 14 year old boy without any parental guidance and we should all behave as such.
*ducks*
Man, I can't believe there was a long discussion about that. People have way too much time on their hands. Get a hobby, people! Photography is nice! So is woodcarving!
You know, every time something leads me to the ask metafilter site, I lose entire hours if I can't muster the strength to tip my chair backwards or pull the fire alarm and break the trance.
On Facebook? No. Twitter. With a period before the "@" so everyone can share.
since when is it unacceptable in the real world for strangers to critique the body weight of women? i mean clearly howard stern can do it to gabby from precious because she's a celebrity or whatever, but when did it stop being commonplace even in the context of passing by women in the street?
I don't think it has stopped being commonplace. It always was, and always will be, completely unacceptable.
unacceptable in a moral sense, sure. but something being commonplace requires that it be acceptable on a practical level (i.e. people can assume they can engage in that behavior without significant repercussions).
The idea that something being commonplace means that it's acceptable is beyond ridiculous.
beyond?
um. things that are commonplace are acceptable in that the status quo accepts their rather commonplace existence and hasn't eradicated it. for example, child hunger is pretty commonplace in the US – 8 states have more than 20% of kids under 18 living in hunger. i consider that morally unacceptable, but it's clearly not unacceptable enough for us to have policies to address and prevent it.
We don't have policies addressing and attempting to prevent and eradicate child hunger in the US? If logic is not your strong point, could you at least try Google? http://mayors.org/pressreleases/uploads/20091116-report-childhoodantihunger.pdf
2nd result. Not hard.
Just because something hasn't been eradicated doesn't mean people aren't working on it. In fact, people working to change a common situation is usually a good sign that that situation is unacceptable.
http://jezebel.com/
we clearly are using different definitions of unacceptable. but boy it's sure been a pleasure discussing it with you!
I liking this new internet niceness. Perhaps the 14 year olds parents came back after all.
@abbyjean: Gah. I am sorry. I am not usually this much of a cunt, really.
@formerly: me and Jezebel go way back. I actively try not to be all uber-Jezebel bitchy feminazi when commenting here, but today was a day of fail, obviously.
@Mindpowered: Look! sort-of niceness!
I know this guy on the internet who insists on covering his face in every photo. This could be a sign of body dysmorphia and totally bad vibes. What should I do? If he doesn't get help he could die lonely. I briefly considered sending a note to his co-worker at a large blog firm but that would be gross.
Thank you for that.
@Choire: Eat something! Go Bulldykes!!!
I can't find Balk on Facebook in order to inform him about his eating disorder. What do I do?
Damn… missed the above comment!
What if you are not nice in the real world, though??
Ew. Don't tell people they're sick unless you're down to help and remember that anorexics are BORING. Pickles and mustard are soooo tastyblablablaceleryzzzzzzzzzz.
I can still be passive-aggressive about it though, right?