* Brianstorm reasons for your position
* Briefly outline your argument - How can you distinguish yourself from other writers?
* Consider your audience (perhaps teenagers like you)
* Include reasonable textual support (with proper citations)
* Convince your reader with a compelling writing voice
* Write a roughly 250-300 word response
Form Spring
Post Secret
I’m going to be honest here; I really do not care what anybody posts on the internet as long as it doesn’t personally affect me. In a debate of PostSecret vs. Formspring I’d say there is no debate there because they are two totally different concepts.
ReplyDeleteThe way formspring is being used for cyber bullying is repulsive and I hate everything about it, however I still have a formspring (Like I said, I’m going to be honest here). The difference between me and the rest of the world is that I don’t let it affect me, and I use it for its actual purpose of asking honest questions. The question of morals and ethics come into play when people start getting vicious and harass each other. What people don’t understand is that words hurt whether they are anonymous or not, and just because you are online does not delete the golden rule and that is the point where posting becomes unethical. Is it ethically and morally acceptable to broadcast secrets or comments anonymously on the internet? Yes, I’d say so as long as you are comfortable with posting it. Is it ethically and morally acceptable to broadcast hurtful secrets of others or comment on someone’s appearance, personality, or behavior in a crude manner? No, I do not believe it is, and that’s where the difference lies.
People are being hurt by the unethical users of formspring by what they comment, “One mother in Westchester County, N.Y., discovered Formspring when her daughter came to her, sobbing, after reading putdowns of her breasts and her teeth” (NY Times). This scenario has probably happened dozens of times between Formspring’s 28 million users. I believe it then becomes up to the parent, and the child to decide whether formspring is an appropriate website for them. Yes, the teens who post foul and heinous comments on someone’s formspring are cruel and unethical, but at this point if you have a formspring, can it be said that you’re asking for it? Are you partially to blame for the hurt you feel because you are too stubborn to remove yourself from the problem or too proud to ignore a cruel question? Should we blame the site, or should we blame the users? Maggie Dock from New York times demonstrates this with a perfect analogy, “I asked one girl, ‘If someone was throwing rocks at you, what would you do?’ She said she’d run, she’d move away. But she won’t stop reading what people say about her.” (NY Times). This quote sums up my point exactly, if you can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen. Kids will be kids and as cruel as that sounds, it’s true because as long as anonymity is a factor they’re not going to stop. It is unethical what they’re doing, but I still do not believe that the use of formspring is unethical. It’s not the site that is the problem; it is the people who are using it.
It is ethically and morally wrong to post secrets and comments about people online whether they are anonymous or not. The effect of things like these can be blurred self- visions, nasty attitudes, and even suicidal actions. When you log onto your formspring account and read the things that people have said about you- good or bad, you are letting what people think about you influence who you become. It is stupid that children and teenagers, today, turn to such things for the truth about how they look and act. Young people should not worry so much about things like this.
ReplyDeleteIt is a youth’s responsibility to discover themselves without the vicious comments of their peers. They shouldn’t be letting other people define who they are and how they act. True, a lot of kids just want to hear the truth about what people think about them and that they say they don’t let the comments get to them. They say that it is just something they read but it doesn’t really matter. If it doesn’t really matter, then why do they feel the need to have these accounts? And honestly, who cares what other people think? It is called doing your own thing and being your own self, people don’t want to be friends with people who call other people names and put others down because who knows when you will turn against them? Who knows when you will start calling them horrible names anonymously because they chose to do or say something that looks dumb in your eyes? It is not our place to tell people where they belong; it is not our place to judge others. People should stay away from anonymous sites like formspring and postsecret because they can destroy identities and even end lives.
Facebook. Myspace. Formspring. What do these social networking sites have in common? They are all prone to cyber bullying. How does cyber bullying start or what are the roots to it? It’s simple; rumors, comments, and in the case of Formspring, answers to personal and often mean questions that are asked anonymously. The New York Times has the best metaphor for Formspring, calling it the “online version of the school bathroom wall.” And just like the school bathroom wall, Formspring is tearing schools apart across the country. Formspring is intruding in on the lives of the high school student, mostly high school girls. Anything posted online can be seen by anybody. There’s no hiding but the thing with Formspring is that the user chooses wants being shown to the public and I don’t know why they are letting other people see hurtful things that are said to them.
ReplyDeleteHow far is too far? I have heard many stories where teens have killed themselves due to something that was said on social networking sites. There has been one more since the creation of Formspring; Alexis Pilkington, who attends and plays soccer for West Islip in Long Island, committed suicide last March due to online bullying from Formspring. She was only seventeen years old (Lewin New York Times). So as you can see there is a great negative effect from anonymous postings. In my opinion, it has nothing to do with morals or ethics. The user can always delete comments but they choose not to because they want the attention.
I believe that it is ethically and morally acceptable to broadcast secrets and comments anonymously on the internet. It is a mystery as to why people want to post secrets about themselves that they would never tell people on the internet for the whole world to see, but people still do it. The only reason I can think of that would influence someone to broadcast secrets about themselves on the internet is for attention. Formspring, which seems to be a new popular site for young teens through young adults to allow anyone and everyone to post questions about them for the public to see. However, for the comments and questions to be viewed publicly, the comments and questions must be approved by the person who was asked the question. Kids are submitting terrible comments such as, “You’re not as hot as u think u are. Do you wear a d cup? You talk too much. You look stupid when you laugh” (Lewin). Why so many people make these comments public is beyond me, other than for the simple reason that is attention.
ReplyDeleteThe attention that people obtain from these postings and comments whether it is negative or positive is solely viewed as attention. It is like the saying goes, ‘negative publicity is still publicity’. While posting anonymously negative postings, people hope for attention or people’s sympathy. The negative effects that these postings have on people are diminishing confidence, and cyber bullying. There have been suicide attempts due to the cruel postings on young male and female’s pages. A positive effect from these postings is boosting confidence. Some people may receive positive feedback on their pages. However, “some Formspring users say it is precisely the negative comments that interest them and get the most attention” (Lewin). All in all, the broadcasting of secrets and comments anonymously on the internet may be ethically and morally acceptable if you can take the criticism and feedback you get, even if you don’t necessarily agree with it. On the other hand, it may not be a good idea because people’s emotions can get the best of them and lead to other things.
I don’t feel as if posting secrets and other private information of the web is either morally or ethnically correct. So many people have been emotionally scarred by things that have been posted about them. For example a teenage girl’s friends took it too far and in the end she took her own life. At the age of 17 this girl had so much a head of her that ended because of comments posted on her formspring. Doesn’t this make people question what the children are really saying when they can say it without it being to the persons face. One parent discovered the hurtful truth after her daughter can to her sobbing after reading things about herself that made fun of her teeth and other body parts. When interviewed the woman said “She was very, very upset. She’s always been self-conscious, and in a way this just flushed out what people might have thought all along.” The mother now checks her girls account without her knowing. Another person stated “it is the newest innovation in cyber bullying.” I have to agree with these parents. Although theses sites provide a free way of communication amongst friends, most of the things said on them are hurtful and degrading.
ReplyDeleteAnother site called post secret allows something similar. On this site people share personal things anonymously such as parking ticket pranks. On man sent in a $50.00 ticket with his “confession” on the back saying: “I got a parking citation and so did the car next to me. I replaced the ticket on the care next to me with mine. My ticket got paid. And the one I took? I mailed it PostSecret.” Honestly if our society has come down to this then what is next? Technology may have helped our society in some ways but it others it has completely destroyed it.
If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say it at all. From the minute children learn how to speak in sentences, parents drill this saying into their minds. It has never been morally acceptable to broadcast secrets or comments, and I do not believe the Internet changes that whatsoever. While websites like Formspring and Postsecret make it easier to put out secrets and nasty comments, they do not make it right. These websites also allow people to post anonymously, adding to the moral issue at hand. People post things knowing they will not get caught, and, unlike a comment written in a bathroom stall, it is there forever, for literally hundreds of people to read. Formspring is also the cause of the suicide of Alexis Pilkington, a 17-year-old “who had received many nasty messages.” Kids are aware of the nasty comments, yet continue to use the websites because they find it interesting. It is clear, however, that they are influenced by what they read. In one case, “after one comment about a certain pair of leggings, [Ariane] stopped wearing them.” The effect of these comments can range from a seemingly harmless pair of leggings all the way to the suicide of a teenage girl.
ReplyDeletePeople may say that Formspring is nice because you can “see what people really think.” Although people should not care what everyone else thinks, it is not that easy, and whether they realize it or not, they are being influenced by everyone else. The worst thing that can happen has happened once already, and may happen again in the future. The suicide of Alexis Pilkington is the best counterargument against those who support websites like Formspring.
Do you believe it is ethically and morally acceptable to broadcast secrets or comments anonymously on the internet? This is a stirring question that has been in debate for the last 5-10 years and is becoming a more serious issue as such sites as Facebook and Formspring allow cyber bullying to happen on a regular bases. Particularly Formspring, reason being is that it is a anonymous site linked with Facebook were you are able to ask the “user” any question you’d like and have the option to post in anonymously. Many teens take advantage of this and take things to and beyond a different level. Teens use harsh and vulgar language, getting to personal with the person by commenting on the persons appearance, personality, sexual behaviors, and habits. By asking them questions such as “Are you still friends with julia? Why wasn’t sam invited to lauren’s party? You’re not as hot as u think u are. Do you wear a d cup? You talk too much. You look stupid when you laugh.”(NY Times Formspring) Recently noticed by school authorities such as counselors and teachers, where most parents still do not know what is going on in through the cyber world. “It’s just shocking that kids have access to all these things on the Internet and we don’t even know about it,” said Mr.Stern, father of a child using Formspring. (NY Times Formspring)
ReplyDelete“I’d never heard of Formspring until yesterday, but when I started asking kids, every seventh and eighth grader I asked said they used it,” said Christine Ruth, a middle school counselor in Linwood, N.J.(NY Times Forspring). FormSpring is intended to be a place were kids and teenagers gossip and ask questions to their peers that they are curious about, sadly though this has been taken to the extreme in many cases. Kids harassing other kids, bullying each other to the point where some of them are extremely embarrassed and sometimes resulting to such lengths as suicide. One thing I do not understand about this is that the User has the option to answer these personal degrading questions or ignore them and most often these kids choose answer them, embarrassing themselves and others, which is something I do not understand. Regardless I feel that such sights as FormSpring create a negative place for kids to express themselves and I feel from what is shown that these sights get heavily monitored or taken down because they tend to do more harm then good to our youth.
"Formspring: The 'vicious' New Tween Obsession - The Week." The Week Magazine: Political News and Cartoons, Current Events and Entertainment Online. Web. 13 Feb. 2011.
"Teenage Insults, Scrawled on Web, Not on Walls." New York Times. 5 May 2010. Web. 13 Feb. 2011.
Alex Giovanni 2/12/11
ReplyDeleteCon. Lit. Block 1
Broadcasting Secrets
“Do you believe it is ethically and morally acceptable to broadcast secrets or comments anonymously on the internet? What effect (positive and/or negative) can anonymous postings have on you or people like you?”
I believe that it is unacceptable both ethically and morally to broadcast secrets and comments anonymously on the internet. People have more confidence while on the internet and now they have a little box that can make their comments anonymous, this gives them the feeling of being able to say whatever they want without thinking about the consequences. This is dangerous because it takes the personal feeling of talking to someone out of the equation. Many of these comments on Formspring and Post Secret are meant to be nasty and hurtful, exactly the type of comments that someone would undoubtedly not say if they were to be held accountable.
Formspring has already been proven to cause at least one person commit suicide. There is no excuse for a website that has the ability to have this strong of an effect on one individual; this is unacceptable to still be on the internet.
A middle school counselor told the New York Times that the teens and tweens using the website post the most abuse comments because they want to feel included and want attention (The week). “Not all the comments are nasty however, some are compliments, but that is not the reason people create an account on these websites” said one high school freshman. "It’s [more] interesting to find out what people really think... [but] don’t have the guts to say to you." (The Week).
I feel that even if people sign up on these websites and feel they can handle the mean and nasty comments people are going to send to them, they probably will not be able to and they will have their feelings seriously hurt. People can be extremely hurtful in person and now that it is anonymous it can be even more damaging to a person’s self confidence and self worth. I personally would probably be hurt if someone said something that was personally attacking to me, now everyone is different and many people probably would say they would not be affected by this type of action, but there are also a lot of people who are not fully confident in who they are and this could seriously damage them.
Anonymous comments from one’s peers and secrets from around the globe are now the norm with the help of the internet. Anyone can share their biggest, darkest, and sometimes dirties thoughts from the comfort of their computer screen while keeping identities behind closed doors. This all seems like a great idea at first glance, but is this really ethically okay? And while it may sound great to get things off your chest, could these ideas be taken the wrong way and push limits too far?
ReplyDeleteWebsites such as facebook, formspring, and post secret are all attractive to teenagers simply because they produce gossip. People publicly posting their secrets and thoughts about other people for the world to see is obviously going to grasp the attention of others. This may sound harmless, but it can quickly take a turn for the worse. Being so public and forward, while keeping the identity hidden gives way for kids to say nasty, rude comments towards others while getting away with clean hands. It can produce a negative image for the child receiving the comments, and fuel the fire to cyber-bullying.
Websites such as Formspring open up a whole new meaning to cyber-bullying and sometimes it pushes the limit. Cyber-bullying via Formspring has caused the suicide of a 17-year-old girl named Alexis Pilkington who had “received nasty messages” through the Formspring site. Kids are aware of the rude, nasty comments but yet continue to use these websites out of curiosity. These comments obviously effect children mentally, and even if it does not go as far as death, it is still an issue. Anonymous comments can negatively affect a teenager’s self-image, which is often fragile to begin with. While technology may be beneficial, it can also harm our society.
Brian O'Connor
ReplyDeleteI believe that PostSecret is both morally and ethically acceptable because it is not intended to harm anyone but intended to share people’s most intimate secrets. People are willingly and knowingly sending in these secrets in the hopes that they will appear on the website to be read by millions of people. This site is somewhere people can express themselves anonymously and let people relate to them and share the same experiences or emotions. On the contrary, I believe that Formspring is not ethically or morally acceptable because of what it has turned into. At first it was a new social network aside from Myspace and Facebook, where you can anonymously post compliments. But soon these compliments turned into malicious attacks on people because of its "anonymous" feature. This is an example of technology being used incorrectly to harm other people. Many people think that they can say hurtful things without getting caught and end up damaging people for life. Some even have committed suicide like 17 year old Alexis Pilkington who recieved nasty messages. From personal experience I've seen many friends get hurt and upset over things that were posted on their Formsprings and I wondered why this site was even created when all it does it cause harm.
ReplyDeleteIs it morally or ethically right to be able to post and broadcast secrets over the internet? well to some extent yes, but then there is where people push it to far over the line. Like with Formspring. I think that is the most awful website ever made. It lets kids post anonymous rumors and hurtful things about each other. This is a HUGE deal because kids are being cyber bullied so badly that they try and take matters into their own hands. And by that i mean suicide.
ReplyDeleteIn the New York Times it talks about a girl not too far from here, Who committed suicide. Alexis Pilkington, she was 17 and had everything good going for her senior year. It all went down the drain when she started receiving nasty messages on her formspring page, it pushed her so far that she took her own life. Even after she had passed people still wrote terrible things about her on the page.
On the other hand, writing secrets on the internet doesn't seem like a problem as long as its not directed towards anyone specifically, so it can be hurtful to anyone because they would never know its about them. From the Site Post secret they write on post cards their secrets and no one ever knows who wrote it. they can be funny or serious, Someone wrote, "my husband stole strawberries for me on valentines day." when you have secrets like these to share on the internet i believe its perfectly acceptable and appropriate. But when it comes to nasty pages where kids are constantly having mean things said about them then i think that is too far. Ive never had a form spring and never will because i would never ever want to have the feeling of people bashing on me and have the feeling of being so hurt because of what people like to say over the internet.
Andria G.
I do not think that there is anything wrong with publicly broadcasting secrets or comments on the internet. I do however think that there is a right and wrong way to go about doing that. Through the use of websites like formspring and postsecret, people can openly share thoughts and opinions anonymously. Unfortunately, the effect that this has on teens like me is almost entirely negative. Formspring allows people to say anything they want to a person anonymously. With this kind of freedom, kids really open up on each other and say mean things. This is where things can get “wrong”. The way kids say things is just flat out mean and disrespectful. There is a nice, or decent, way to say what you think about people but the comments kids leave for each other are not done that way. Because of the way the website is used, it is definitely not a good thing to have around. On the contrary, kids have to know what to expect when singing up for it and that is why I have no problem with the website. People are just asking for hurtful comments and things they don’t want to hear. Postsecret is just a stupid website. I don’t really know how to explain why I feel this way about it, but I just do. I feel that there is no harm in having a website like this. The only real harm that can come from it might be that some people may be offended by the actions or feelings of the secret that somebody may post. Just like using formspring, people have to know what to expect when they use a site like this. All of it comes down to using these websites at your own risk; if you don’t like it, then don’t use them.
ReplyDeleteFormspring amd post secret are two very common sites where people can pst annanymous comments. I believe that it is wrong to do sych a thing. Formspring, ehich u believe is the biggest one, is the one that i see all the time. People go on everyone elses formspring and say things such as comments on looks, or who they go out with etc. Which is why i think it is wrong. Number one, if you are going to say something about someone at least say your name. Number two goes i=with the old saying, if you dont have something nice to say, dont say it at all. there has already been an incodent of someone killing themselves over it, and i know for sure it has affected manny other people.
ReplyDeletePost secret, is a website where you post a picture that says something about you or your day. It is annanymous which also is like formspring, but it seems to be less harsh. although people get to read it they do not know who you are and it seems better than formspring. but all of these websites were never intended for what they are now. But because if the money these creators of them make i believe it will b around a long time.
Broadcasting secrets on the internet is not morally or ethically incorrect. People have the choice of broadcasting their own secrets for the world to see. But that is the difference between Post Secret and Formspring. Post Secret allows individuals to send in their own secrets and make the choice to show it to others. By doing this they are helping thousands of people by showing them that they may not be the only person out there with a secret they can relate to.
ReplyDeleteFormspring is like telling everyone in the world to call you the meanest things they can think of. The original idea of Formspring was for nice comments and questions, but people turned it into this everlasting battlefield of nasty comments to eachother. It also creates a place where people can spread rumors and comments that you did not want to get out or that is not true.
In the debate between Post Secret and Formspring being morally right, Post Secret wins the battle. It creates a place to go where people can relate to eachother through secrets. Formspring and posting nasty comments like the ones made to Alexis Pilkington in an article from the New York Times. These comments lead her to take her own life. In the argument of morally and ethically right, this is the complete opposite.
Posting secrets on the internet should be allowed only by the person with the secret and comments that are posted anonymously should be only posted if they are not harmful.
It is morally and ethically acceptable for people to broadcast secrets or comments anonymously on the internet. Sites like Post Secret and Formspring are the user’s choice to use and there is nothing wrong with it. When people sign up for a Formspring account they know exactly what they are getting into. You can’t honestly say that you expected everyone was going to be completely nice to you when you make a Formspring that allows people to post comments and questions anonymously to you. People sign up for Formspring admit that they want to see what mean things people say with, “some Formspring users say it is precisely the negative comments that interest them and get the most attention” (Lewin). So if this is the reason so many teenagers are making Formspring accounts how can they complain about people cyber bullying them when they are welcoming it with open arms by having an account to begin with?
ReplyDeletePost Secret has absolutely nothing morally or ethically wrong with it at all. It is a site where people are allowed to get secrets off their chests in a way that doesn’t hurt anyone at all. Every one of the secrets is posted anonymously so even if the person it is about reads it there is no way of them knowing it is about them. There is no argument about cyber bullying for Post Secret it is no different than writing a secret on a piece of paper and leaving it on the ground. Formspring and Post Secret allows people to post whatever they want anonymously on the internet and while the two are very different, both of them have nothing morally and ethically wrong with them and should continue to be used by those who want to.
If you were to think about it, Formspring and PostSecret have only became a problem recently, and in this generation. It's only because this generation has been evolving with new ways for communication and ways to become annonymous on the internet. Personally, I think PostSecret and Formspring are two completely different concepts. Although both are annonymously, they don't have too many things in common. PostSecret I think is less toxic. That website is where you can send in secrets written on a post card, and no one will know it was you. It's a way of letting out your emotions without having to be judged or embarrassed by it. Where formspring is degrading and is used negatively. The original idea of it was that people could ask questions to someone, without actually having to put who they were. The idea was for it to be used with good itentions. But that is definitely not what it is being used for now. Teenages use it because like any other teenager, they thrive for attention. But in the end, it really only takes a toll on their emotions. They get questions about personal things and get attacked for anything someone can claim they're doing wrong. It is definitely not morally and ethically right or acceptable. There is no need to have these websites around. If someone is so desperate to get their secrets out, they should write it in a diary.
ReplyDeleteJed Dreswick
ReplyDeleteIn Facebook's early days, and for the vast majority of the site's life, its primary differentiator was that your user data was only visible to other users that you approved friend requests from. Facebook users were no longer allowed to hide from the web-at-large some information including their profile photos, list of friends and interests in the form of fan pages they followed. Text, photo and video updates shared on the site have always been by default private (friends only) but if you'd never changed your privacy settings before last month, then Facebook suggested you switch them to make those updates publicly visible to everyone. That became the new default.
If a college friend took photos of you drinking in a bar and showed them off to people in church, you might feel your privacy has been violated in both appropriateness and distribution. The bar is a public place, though, and not completely secret. Thus the need for a more sophisticated understanding of privacy that is more than mere secrecy.By pushing your personal information and conversation through activity updates fully into the public, Facebook is eliminating any integrity of context that these conversations would naturally have. Posted updates can be directed only to limited lists of Facebook contacts, like college buddies or work friends, but that option is buried under more public default options and much of a user's activity on the site is not subject to that kind of option.
To post something negative or derogatory towards somebody online is more than just wrong, it’s a disgrace. With technology growing faster than ever and teens easily able to write anything online, everyone must be vigilant that nothing they post will be potentially degrading to anyone. It is truly pathetic that websites such as formspring exist. Let’s face it, anyone who posts a website on their facebook which allows for anonymous questioning is just asking to be put down. But this still does not excuse the people who are abusing these anonymous websites and posting insulting comments. Our society has become one that is too immature and self conscious to simply ignore the criticism coming from other people. Because of this, corrupt individuals can easily play into the minds of so many people and make them feel like they are nothing by simply posting one mean thing.
ReplyDeleteSo what does this mean for our society? In our near future I see no end to this cyber bullying. As long as teens continue to care so much about what everyone has to say about them, people will continue being cruel. This will tear many people apart and make them miserable. Formspring has just recently been made and it has already started causing problems. Teens are relying on this to see what people think about them. However, when people can post anonymously it is obvious that all the posts will be negative. Because of this many of these teens get very depressed because it seems to them as if they have a whole website of people devoted to hating them. So, inevitably, these websites are made to hurt people.