Do you type to your Grandma with those fingers?
I’ve got a job for all the socially-conscious hacktivists out there. Join together you cyber Robin Hoods – join forces and find the anonymous trolls who spread their bile throughout the Interwebs. Identify these trolls, procure evidence of their gross violations of common civility and then give transcripts of those violations to the trolls’ Grandmothers.
Public shaming on a social network scale doesn’t work for these folks – they get off on flaming things up in the comments sections of newspapers, blogs and twitter feeds. You need to bring in the big guns for these people.
Post something mean to another kid at school? Get a call from your Nonna.
Post something racist? Dinner across the table from you Grandma.
Joke about gay-bashing or slut-shaming? Wake up to your Granny at your door.
Threaten to rape, assault, murder someone…? Not only will the Cyber Robin Hoods give the transcripts to the police, but they’ll tell your Mee-Maw.
Reading “SHAME ON YOU!!!” from the masses won’t faze them, but I can bet that having the person whose good opinion means the most to them in the world – be it a parent, grandparent, favourite aunt, uncle, mentor? Having that person shame a troll? I bet that’d stick. I bet having to look your Nana in the eye and explain to her why you’ve called someone a dirty whore and hope they were hate fucked would bring your shame to a whole different level. Modern shame isn’t working – we need Old School for this.
