fugitive247/cyberculture

"The Evolution of Yahoo! 360" is a misnomer. This official Y! 360 blog entry makes it clear that Y!'s social networking financial flop is folding. Whatever. Still, for Y! 360 it's not evolution; it's extinction.

Y! Mash guestbook entry from li'l ol' moi...

"@Saul Hansell: Hello, Mr. Hansell. I found your New York Times blog (September 15, 2007) through Will Aldritch's Y! Mash page. Kudos on presenting a fair assessment of Mash's unusual beginnings. Like many of us who are carving out our own little niches in Yahoo!'s newest playground, I can't offer any tangible speculations on the future of this endeavor. But even as challenging as certain aspects of developing social networks are, I'll take Mash over MySpace, Facebook, Tribe.net, et al, hands down strictly on the fun factor. It's refreshing to see a social networking community that doesn't have to take itself oh-so-seriously. Namaste.

(edited for faster loading)
© atom.smasher.org

This came completely out of left field... Thanks, Mike!!!

Quirky flow, randomness as an art form. Great way to while away time. Coolest site I've seen in months!
(Thank you, erinoia!)

From the page: "...yet another example of how the Internet _ and the anonymity it affords _ has given a public stage to people's basest thoughts, ones that in earlier eras likely never would have traveled past the watercooler, the kitchen table or the next barstool.

"Such incidents _ and there are countless across cyberspace _ also raise the question: Is there anything to be done about it? Or is a decline in civil discourse simply the price that we pay for the advance of technology?"

Mean people suck. Always have. Always will. Yes, the electronic jungle can be savage. Still trying to figure out why so many tourists still insist on taking the unguided (read: uneducated) tour, then cry foul when they run into a pack of cyber hyenas. Regardless, there's no excuse for the sheer nastiness some of those bottom feeders perpetrate.

To the more civil, evolved, timid, or whatever: Please learn to protect yourselves. First step is education. One decently educated individual can thwart a more base pack mentality. Second, develop a tougher hide- this is a necessity here in Cyberia. Last, if all else fails, feel free to pick up your toys and find a safer playground. Life's too short to willingly subject oneself to chronic assholes.

This thread, entitled "Adopt This Group" arose out of necessity. It is this same necessity that warrants its evolution to this review. Membership in the Look Who's Stalking group is not required unless one wishes to post their own replies to forum messages.

Anyone care to join me in a social e-experiment? Go back to the first page of this thread and actually compose a review of it thus far. Include "stalking" as one of your tags. Please don't simply give it a yea or nay unless you have legitimate concerns for your safety. Numbers speak and SU is no exception. If the issue of online stalking and/or harassment actually matters more than profit margins to The Powers That Be, it will have to be us end-users who effect any sort of change. Make this issue viral. Imagine if any general online community's membership experienced rapid, sustained growth in such matters. Percentage points count. Demographics count. Browser cookies spell out the tale.

Cyberstalking and harassment are not limited to StumbleUpon. These incidents occur everywhere with alarming frequency. If a substantial, established networked movement fails to garner appropriate measures, then significant loss of ad revenue and other incomes will. This is done passively and quite legally. It occurs when enough people take a hiatus (deliberate non-participation) or engage in a mass exodus from that which perpetrates the problem.

On the provider/host side, inaction = apathy.

On the consumer side, inaction = silent vote.

Choose wisely.

Definitely my top pick: "I would love to change the world, but they won't give me the source code."