Welcome to the era of the Human Flesh Search Engine. No, it’s not where you can look for a match after a bad burn, and it has nothing to do with pornography. It’s worse.
In the old days, when someone didn’t like you they would just gossip to their friends and neighbors. Today, the Human Flesh Search Engine lets you express your disgust or gossip on a global level with devastating effect.
We all know how nasty the blogosphere can be. A visit to any of the contentious political blogs is your barometer. No one is interested in discussing issues or offering solutions or compromise. Instead, it’s all ad hominem, vicious, personal attacks.
Nasty. Nasty. Nasty.
Of course, not everyone is in politics.
The stories about the Human Flesh Search Engine tell about a video made in China. In the video, a woman kills a kitten.
Yeah, really!
Obviously the woman had issues. The Chinese netizens who watched the video wanted to do something about the poor kitty. So they organized. Eventually, they found out who the woman was. Long story short, she was shamed out of her town and job. She had to move.
You can read the long story long here.
There may be a sense of satisfaction with the results generated by the Human Flesh Search Engine, but I don’t think so. Combining the anonymity of the Internet with social intimidation is a frightening concept.
Imagine how anyone you’ve ticked off can fabricate something about you. Say they post a fragmented video that doesn’t show any faces, but claim that, yes, you are the guy who just ran over a puppy with a motorcycle. In a matter of digital minutes, hundreds of anonymous do-gooders with plenty of time on their hands connect you to the “crime.” Vigilante justice takes over and you lose your reputation, job, friends, and are forced to leave town.
Is that a good thing?
You may cry, “But I’m innocent.” Yeah, take that to court. Who are you going to sue? Comcast? Time-Warner? AT&T? They didn’t do anything. Do you have the money to pay investigators to gather up all the IP addresses and match them with customers, and then go through the list to find the person exacting revenge?
Even if you find the son-of-a-bitch, it won’t restore your character.
I don’t know whether the Human Flesh Search Engine will hit the western world.
I should correct myself: I don’t know when the Human Flesh Search Engine will hit the western world. Its affect will be devastating. Combine that intimidation with the anger present on the political blogs, and people’s lives will be ruined.
The only question is how many lives will be ruined before the Government steps in a shuts the damn things down.
