Since I’m seeing MSI play roughly at time of publication, I thought I’d do a post on paedophiles.
No. Wait. (Don’t sue, there’s a link if you keep reading!)
We Asked Lostprophets Fans How They Feel About Ian Watkins’ Confession
Vice asked some Lostprophets fans if they were still Lostprophets fans and the general consensus seems to be that the rest of the band doesn’t deserve to be dismissed, and maybe neither does the music, but separating Lostprophets from Ian Watkins is easier typed than done.
Peaches Geldof’s Ian Watkins tweet could be investigated
According to the BBC, Peaches Geldof did a Tweet naming the women who were involved with Watkinsgate (that’s a nicer term than the one in my head), and could now be prosecuted. You would think the context of the Tweet would suggest that there’s been more than enough Internet-based sharing, wouldn’t you?
Vigilante jailed for killing man he mistakenly thought was paedophile
The Guardian has dedicated a nice long article to discussing the fact that some people got a man arrested on suspicion of being a paedophile, then one of them murdered him when he was released because, get this, he wasn’t a paedophile. There is now some talk going on about how the victim, who moved to the UK from Iran in hope of a better life (he was disabled), was trying to document antisocial behaviour on his estate when residents assumed that the photos he was taking were for reasons other than law enforcement. So if you think about it, one bloke tried to stop antisocial/illegal behaviour and another also tried to stop it, but because the first bloke was slightly different from the second, the first bloke got killed horribly.
What is wrong with people integrating and discussing and not making assumptions?!
Francesca's Thoughts 
Ah, I get it now – a link as in correlation rather than link as in weblink. doh!!
If the word Argos can appear in our vocabulary in verb form (“as in don’t shop for it, Argos it” which irritates the beejeezus out of me because it’s NOT A VERB, you can’t ‘argos’ something, you can only go there, though preferably not, so the verb part of the sentence is ‘go’ not ‘argos’ and even if you could actually ‘argos’ you couldn’t do it anywhere else besides Argos or it would be Tescoing or Starbucking but I digress) …. I’m certain we could get migling into common usage.
But is it miggling (as in the ‘mi’ of ‘middle’) or migling (as in the ‘mi’ of ‘mine’)? personally i prefer the former.
And yes, you’re right, people have always been ‘ists’, just that the internet has allowed that nature to become more readily fuelled & seemingly prevalent. well not just the web, it’s also the mass-media culture we live in too and the globalisation of news. Still, as long as there’s a few of us battling against isms, ists and ics we’ll get there one day!
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“Mi” as in “middle”.
YES WE WILL, CALL TO ARMS! MARCH FOR THE ANTI-ISMS!
Okay I really need to get offline now.
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erm …… and the link with MSI is ….?
maybe you were in such a MSIfest kinda mood you forgot that bit. Oh well!!
integrating, discussing and not making assumptions – well that’s a tall order.
lack of integration I would place firmly at the door of the internet and social media. now we don’t need to leave our homes to feel like we’re integrating – case in point, her and now! I quite happily add lengthy comments (rants) here, and whilst I would most likely do the same in real life, I can do see here without a second thought for the impact on others nor suffer any consequence of my actions. I mean, of course I stop and think about what I’m writing, but that’s just me – not everyone online affords others the same courtesy.
Which leads me to ‘discussing’. Example – you blog, I comment, you respond, I reply, ad infinitum. So it feels like we’re discussing – but we’re not. We’re reacting. Okay, so discussion is about reactions, but it is so much more. For starters, it’s interactive – when we discuss, we also feel. We might interrupt because we’re annoyed at the other person’s point of view, but we certainly discuss. i suppose the advantage of interacting in the way we are now allows us to proffer more considered responses but it’s not discussing.
And as for making assumptions – don’t we all? No matter how generous spirited and non-judgemental we consider ourselves, we tend to judge others by our own experiences, our own yardstick. We view their behaviour and based on what we’ve been through, we make decisions about why. We might put ourselves in their shoes and decide we understand their motivations. And often, we’re wrong.
The solution – do away with the internet!! Or at the very least, get out there, mingle, socialize. And talk – but think before you do!
Oh wait – you have. Well good on yer 🙂 My solution is off to a great start!
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It actually took me a moment to remember the link – it’s the fact that I mentioned MSI and paedophiles in the same sentence, thus implying (except I wasn’t, because sarcasm) that MSI are paedophiles. Which they aren’t, Internet police (do they exist yet? I’ve lost track of that press charter).
Good point on the discussing/reacting thing. I hadn’t thought about it like that, but discussing is definitely more talking than typing. In terms of assumptions – the Internet is part of the problem, but not all of it. People have been being racist or xenophobic since forever – although the solution is definitely migling!
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By “migling” I mean “mingling”.
Ah, migling should be a word for what we do in the comments section.
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