The Dark Side Of Internet Fame Analysis

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The Dark Side of the Internet The Internet is used by billions of people every day. Using the Internet allows people to connect across the world much easier. According to Smart in Sights and Statista, over 1,870 million people are active on Facebook; consequently, this has made sharing videos very easy. The author of “The Flip Side of Internet Fame” makes the argument that the Internet has a dark side for many people and sometimes what one views as funny could be hurtful to the subject of the video. Jessica Bennett states that anyone can become famous or humiliated through social media with just a click of the mouse. In support of the argument, Bennett uses several examples of people being humiliated through Internet and social media viewing …show more content…
The student faced accusations of sexual assault against another student; however, this was not a legal matter and charges were not filed. The student was accused on Facebook and his name was used along with the title of rapist. No legal charges were ever brought against the accused student. This one-sided story was retold on blogs and featured on the cover of an alt-weekly publication. This story supports Bennett’s theory that the Internet can be used nefariously: allowing people to be the judge and jury. Bennett also uses an example of a South Korean student quickly became known as “Dog Poop Girl” after being filmed refusing to clean up feces from her dog on the subway. The video was posted online and quickly became another Internet sensation, but not in a positive way. The girl later dropped out of college after being harassed. It was never the student’s choice for the video to go viral or to be publicly humiliated in this manner. A student being harassed to the point of dropping out of school supports the argument that there is a dark side to the Internet and social