One thing I find scary about all of this, is how a small minority can use the internet as a tool for terrorism, enough to make any "movement" seem like a bigger deal than it deserves to be.

The internet enables the ability for one person (of any age) to make threats of violence anonymously against anyone. This is scary, and needs to be fixed, but I don't know how. I honestly believe that a large number of the people participating in these kinds of things are just bratty kids who think of this as entertainment, no different than griefing someone in an online game. Unfortunately, the anonimity prevents us from knowing for sure.

The internet allows minority groups to band together and mobilize, exerting levels of power which, as a culture, we're still learning how to come to grips with. When a "good" minority uses the internet in this way, it's a triumph, but when a "bad" minority does this, it's a problem. Another recent example of a non-violent kind of this sort of organization is the "Sad/Rabid Puppies" thing. No death threats there, just a small number of MRA's who thought the Hugo awards were getting too feminist, and who have basically ruined the awards this year by using small-scale crowdsourcing to wipe out all other nominations but theirs. I will find out this Saturday evening whether or not our savior (a relatively unknown guy named Noah Ward) can save the day.

The more I think about it, the more I think the terrorism metaphor is apt to describe events like this. Having ubiquitous internet is like dropping a giant box full of guns and masks in the middle of every town square. Most folks just avoid the box. Some use the contents of the box to help enact good social change. Some are genuinely evil and take advantage of these tools in bad ways. And others are just kids playing around, who stumble across the box accidentally.

I don't know what to do about it, because the box is also full of so much other awesome good stuff. I don't want to take away the box, and it's a really difficult box to regulate and control.