Take Back the Web
A pleasant night of blog-reading and hacking turned sad and distressed when I read Kathy Sierra’s account of the awful threats against her. Warning: this is a disturbing read. But it’s real life on the web everyday. And it’s not OK.
When I was in college, my girlfriend was an impassioned feminist. One of the events she participated in every year was called “Take Back the Night.” It was a nighttime walk through the city of Charlottesville, ending in a candlelight vigil. The message was simple and clear: women should be able to safely walk the streets of the city after dark; there are places where that’s not possible, and we’re not going to stand for that.
I don’t know how it translates exactly, but we need a movement like that for the web. We need to demand a safe space for women and call out, expose and expel people who dole out threats.
[…] Today was not a good day for the internet. First I read Seth’s post, then Kathy’s sad and upsetting story directly. Then countless others… […]
March 27th, 2007 at 3:29 am
I think the problem is ppl should understand that you can’t say all that you want on the internet as in real life. But I don’t see this happening anytime soon.
March 29th, 2007 at 11:22 am
That’s what happens when people have too much time on their hands. Thanks for sharing this, Luke. Very scary but good to know about.
April 10th, 2007 at 1:04 pm