Amy Bruckman responds to Douglas Rushkoff

OK, I'll take the bait. Yes, the mob can be worrisome. I think particularly worrisome in cultures with higher norms of social conformity. For example, consider poor 'puppy poo girl' in Korea, who refused to clean up after her dog on public transit and was rude to folks who criticized her for it. Someone took her picture, people online identified who she was, and she became an instant anti-celebrity.
http://blog.japundit.com/archives/2005/06/30/808/

Or consider the poor Chinese man who after the Sichuan earthqake blogged that he was terrified and wouldn't sacrifice his life for his mother. He was fired from his job, hounded by the media, and dubbed "the most hated man in China."
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92517549

Of course these kinds of incidents happen in all countries--but I think where norms of conformity are higher, they are more problematic. Saying "I wouldn't save my Mom" in China will make you a pariah, but in America may get you a gig on Comedy Central.

Wikipedia has a list of incidents on its page "Internet Vigilantism":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_vigilantism

The lesson for the most hated man in China is easy--be careful what you post! For Puppy Poo Girl, it's more problematic--she didn't post anything online at all. She certainly deserved a littering citation, but she didn't deserve to be publicly vilified.

(I hope Clay will jump in here, because he's written about this so eloquently in Here Comes Everybody!)

-- Amy