Could You Really Not Just Put This in an Email?

  

Internet and Responsibility: A New-ish Moral Conundrum

With the passing of Hurricane Sandy, both in real life and online, a new problem rears its ugly head: the lies spread by anonymous people, and the lifting of their anonymity.

In other words, some jerk maliciously spread lies during the hurricane, thinking he would remain anonymous behind his Twitter handle, @ComfortablySmug.  But someone discovered his real name and wrote about it.  Now the man has quit his job as the campaign manager for a New York congressional candidate and apologized online for his behavior.

Some people think ComfortablySmug should be protected by the First Amendment, and that no one should have outed his name.  Other people want to know why (a reasonable question, in my opinion), and think that ComfortablySmug should be charged for any damage he did.  Either way, the question remains - how do free speech, anonymity  and the Internet go together these days?

I don't have a definite answer to this question.  I know that in some countries, people need anonymity to protect themselves, because their government would arrest or persecute them for dissenting beliefs, thoughts, or ideas.  Even in the U.S., a person who lives outside the societal norm might want or need anonymity to protect their job or reputation.

For instance, ViolentAcrez was a Reddit user who likes looking at very young woman (16 or 17), likes incest,  promotes violence against women, and made a name for himself as a creepy old man Internet troll.  A journalist for Gawker figured out that ViolentAcrez is really Michael Brutsch, a 49-year-old software programmer in Texas with kids.  Since being outed, Mr. Brutsch lost his job.

Now, I personally think that Michael Brutsch deserves whatever he gets, because he spent a lot of time combing through Facebook and other places to find pictures of teenage girls and then repost them without getting permission.  He also started a subreddits called Rapebait, Choke a Bitch, Rape Jokes, and Pics of Dead Kids.

But after Gawker outed Brutsch, several Reddit users called foul, claiming that somehow Brutsch's activities fell under Free Speech.  Well, if Brutsch is covered by Free Speech, so is the article outing him.

Yet, ViolentAcrez and ComfortablySmug are the extreme cases of a person using the anonymity provided by the Internet in a way to do harm.  What about the moderate cases?  What if someone wants to complain about a boss at work, but doesn't want to get fired?  What is a student doesn't like a teacher, but feels scared to air his or her feelings?

When does being anonymous help a person and/or society, and when does it allow for criminals and miscreants to do harm?

(BTW, you can watch CNN interview Michael Brutsch here.)

7 Most Common Mistakes in Email

I remember when email went from a fun pastime for geeks and nerds to an invaluable tool in businesses to a necessity of life.  Suddenly, paper memo and letters turned into rapidly sent electrons as the speed of communication rose exponentially. But with the advent of email also came the inevitable mistakes. After talking with several people, I compiled the list of the seven most common mistakes seen in email:

1. Misspelled Words: In a day and age where every text editor and email program offers reasonable spell checking capabilities, nothing in an email should be spelled incorrectly. Misspelled words tell the recipient, "Hey, you're not important enough for me to use spell check."
2. Grammatical Errors:  While most people can get away with a dangling participle, mismatched plurality of words, mismatched verb tense between sentences, and misuse of commas irk most people, and send the message that the writer is either a recent immigrant or ignorant of basic grammar.  
3. Inappropriate Word Choice:  Word choice effects the tone of an email, which leaves room for plenty of misinterpretation.  Emails need to be tailored to the audience, including any attempts at humor or levity.  I heard several stories about hurt feelings and miscommunication stemming from poor word choice.
4. Inappropriate use of the cc: or bcc: Fields:  In the days before email, people used carbon copies to ensure that everyone got the exact same copy of a letter or other document.  The idea of needing additional recipients to a message transferred from paper to email - hence, the cc: field.  Additionally, the bcc: field (blind carbon copy) sends a message to anyone listed there, but that person's name is left out of the email header.  Proper email etiquette is to include anyone mentioned in an email in the cc: field, unless that person is in the to: field.  As for using the bcc: field, I almost never use that field because I personally do not trust people who consistently bcc: other people on emails.  But for situation where you need to document what happened with your manager or other authority, bcc works quite well.
5. Changing font, font size, or text color:   Fonts need to be readable at a reasonable distance.  I know that this sounds like a "no duh" type of statement, but I have received a number of emails where I need to either squint and more closer because the text is so small or move back because the text is so large.  Or, the text is colored something other than black on white.  Seriously, I hate white on blue, pink on tan, and every other color combination - none of them are as easy to read.  
6. Missing Information/No attachments:  Occasionally forgetting to attach a file or include important information, such as the date and time of an event, is understandable.  But do this too much and it leaves the impression of incompetence.
7. Signatures:  "Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup."  I love this signature and chuckle a bit when I read it, but this particular signature is inappropriate on business emails unless you happen to be a fantasy author.  Likewise, I really do not need all of the contact information and disclaimers from a business in personal email.   Matching signatures with intent sends the message, "You are important enough for me to attach the proper signature".