NEWS: When the Internet Sucks

CULTURE: When the Internet Sucks

During my morning blog rounds today, I ran across this post on one of my favorite take-no-prisoners feminist blogs, about a young pole vaulter (a California Interscholastic Federation champ, with a 13'7" career best vault and five national records--damn!) who became an internet celebrity when a photo of her was posted (without permission from her or the photographer, by the way) on a sports blog along with the following comments:

The sports blogger has since posted an apology--of sorts--and a request that his readers "treat (the pole vaulter*) with respect." But by his own admission, his tendency to virtually leer at women athletes is kinda gross.

The pole vaulter and her family certainly think so: realizing that her pics had gone around the world and that there were "unofficial fan sites" about how "hot" she is and the like, they decided not to just take it lying down, but to try to get the pics and comments off the internet. Obviously a futile goal, but they've had some success: the unofficial fan site is down, with an apology to the pole vaulter "for having contributed to the unwanted attention"--a classy move. And, with the help of the WaPo article linked above, her story's started a bit of internet self-examination about an obvious problem: the ability of online publicity to make public figures of private people, often in degrading, embarrassing, or even threatening ways.

According to the WaPo, the pole vaulter had been getting tons of phone calls and comments on her MySpace page; gets started at when she goes out; tries not to leave the house alone; and her dad tries to keep on top of "potential stalkers" on the internet. All of which are, alas, real problems, as Kathy Sierra, among others (including yours truly) can testify.

For a lot of people, the upshot of this kind of thing is "eh, what can you do: assholes exist." Which is true. But for people who get caught in the asshole vortex, that's not a particularly helpful response. As the pole vaulter says remarkably clearly,

This is the thing. Promising athletes, tech and academic bloggers, and fat kids caught on video, really shouldn't have to have their names and images dragged through the mud. And we really shouldn't shrug when it happens, any more than we should shrug when people are targeted by stalkers in "real," non-internet life. There may be little one can do about it legally (although I really do think that cases like the pole vaulting thing should be covered somehow under internet stalking laws), but surely there are things we can do about it morally, as members of a human community.

The bottom line for civil society really isn't what you can get away with under the law. On the internet, in particular, there's a fiercely independent streak that tends to boil things down to arguments that one's freedom to say whatever the hell one wants is the most important moral value. But y'know, we might occasionally do a little cost/benefit analysis: is a sports blogger's right to talk about how hawt a pole vaulter is *really* more important than her right not to be harassed? Is the hilarity of passing around YouTube videos of fat little kids really worth what it must feel like to be a fat little kid with the entire internet pointing at you and laughing? Are we really incapable of understanding the difference between laughing with someone and laughing at them?

And hey, when we make mistakes and it turns out someone we think is in on the joke doesn't find it funny, the least we could do is offer a proper apology and, if necessary, pull the links.

Bitch_PhD has certainly been guilty of using the internet to say bitchy things she'd never say to someone's face, but this story has made her think that she should try to be better about this.

Not only all of that, but after the non-apology, Ufford implied that since Stokkle's father had been a defense lawyer in some sexual predator cases that he had no room to criticise. He's a dick.

And I can't believe you linked to his site!

Somebody make me famous on the internet. I don't care what for. Just make me famous. Pleeeeeeeeeeeease.

There is a serious lack of tact when it comes to the internet. Not that this is new to anyone, I'm just saying. I think we all need to take a look at ourselves and the messages that we send to other people, especially those hurtful comments that we so often toss around unthinking.

We lose nothing by being more considerate to others. Save the embarrassment of retracting our careless statements later.

unfortunate, but hardly surprising given both the ability of weirdos on the internet to make a celebrity out of just about anyone and the fact that pro female athletes are so often famous as much for their looks as for their abilities (sometimes more for the former).

ok.

that "digg" counter just proved to me where SG is headed, not like I could'nt already figure that out for myself.

The digg counter has been a part of SG for a good deal longer than you.

I'm pretty sure that you don't get to do "sinking ship" if you've only been here two months.

That's just stupid.

The picture taking wasn't wrong and if she's uncomfortable with attention from being a great athlete she should quit now.

On the other hand sexy,barely legal type comments are not needed.

Did you read the article at all? The picture taking isn't in question. Neither is her standing as an athlete.

She's a highschool kid on a school team. Is that really "part & parcel" of participating in highschool sports? Pul-lease!

It's people like you that made me drop off the chess team. The fame, the phonecalls, the internet blogs dedicated to my sweet moves... it was all too much.

The idea that a medium exists with near 100% total recall and almost universal access seems like a very scary thing. Privacy as we know it is dead when what happened to Allison is allowed to happen.

And yet what will happen if we restrict access to "public domain" types of info?

It's really only been 10/12 years since the "internet revolution". I certainly didn't anticipate this sort of shit happening back when I was a college student looking at the beta version of Netscape.

Speaking from a purely visceral standpoint, this makes me feel uneasy. I admit to being a fairly voracious reader of gossip blogs and even sports blogs (though not "With Leather"). My feeling, though, is that there is a distinction between this and the normal blog fare. This medium is relatively new, so matters of decorum haven't been finely etched out, but in normal circumstances there's some kind of mutual benefit. Making a unwitting celebrity out of someone not in the public eye feels like it crosses some kind of line, even if not a legal one.

Just to pre-empt many of Bitch_PhD's "fans":

Yes, it would be just as bad if it happened to a male high-school athlete, but it didn't, and I'm pretty sure it never friggin' will.

*smooches*

I concur.

For real? Things must be different in Liechtenstein, because the US news media was banging this drum way back then.

Recently on I was pointed to 2 wrestling matches on Youtube. I was told it was a girl wrestling a high school boy. Low and behold they were of me from 7 years ago!!
It was actually a little creepy to think someone somewhere has video of me in high school and don't know how they got it. The comments people made about the videos were just as bad.

I don't mind having pictures and video up on the web. As an "elite athlete" (so they call us) I expect it. But I also expect it from reputable sources, and I don't expect to see derogatory comments on sports blogs. (Save the nice ass comments for my SG attempt sets.. sheesh!)
Most of all the fact that a high schooler is having to go through things like this is pretty disturbing. Maybe one day she will be receiving media attention for her accomplishments.. but let it be about that in total; not about how good her track uniform looks on her especially not when she is still a kid. Honestly.

Pole vaulting is such a weird sport.

Well...

She is hot.



I remember my high school track shirts said, "Shut up and run."

Girthy said:
Well...

She is hot.
/QUOTE]


Wow. I figured at some point someone would feel like they just had to say this, but I kinda hoped it would take a little longer.

Does this mean I can't perve over the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Andy Roddick anymore?



For one last hurrah, and in the interest of gender equality:



Yum.

No, because she's actually good at her sport.

Steps for becoming an e-celeb:
1) Go out in public
2) Have pictures taken of you doing things
3) Be really hot

The fact is, if she weren't an outstanding athlete she would be (and I hesitate to say "just") another beautiful young woman out there, obscure to everyone but those immediately around her. Her skills have placed her in the limelight a bit, and in an environment largely dominated by male commentators - sports.

When I saw this picture: http://sportswrap.berecruited.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/Allison%20Stokke%20pic15.jpg

I totally understood where all of this came from. I don't just see a random young athlete there - that, my friends, is a fucking Valkyrie. The very image of beauty, power, and grace. The picture of her mid-vault (the one plastered on mugs at OCRegister) is also awe-inspiring.

I'm sorry, but it's going to attract some attention, lecherous or otherwise. Perhaps "random sports blogger 56214" could be more PC and less old-guy-sitting-on-bench-with-newspaper-folded-over-lap but, hey, that's kind of not the point of the interwebs.

I'm sure when she makes it on SportsCenter or something of that nature she'll receive very neutral, respectful coverage.

I understand it's probably embarrassing to her and her family, and it would be nice if legally they could say "you know it's great you snapped these pictures and everything but please don't sell them on mugs kthx." I'm not a lawyer - is that possible? As for fan sites and other "totally creepy e-stalker dood stuffs" online, well... that would be a bit more difficult to curb.