Miamacs - 11:30 pm on Nov 17, 2007 (gmt 0)

I know the OP didn't have the word 'blame' in the title, but the one on the WW homepage did, so just a sidenote, I've read the articles before on CNN and elsewhere, and don't remember anyone 'blaming' myspace.

...

Anonymity isn't limited to community sites. This could have happened on IRC, flickr, through MSN or any other chat interface all the same.

I felt awfully sorry for the girl, but with all due respect to the mother, a girl of this age being so insecure, so vulnerable... in my offline experience more often than not originates from how parents behave at home, and not the (online) community.

Operators, members usually help a huge deal in keeping one's spirits up... actually the net eases a lot of angst among such troubled people, and the ease of turning off the computer / logging off a network makes it even more inviting. You can come and go, start a new 'life' whenever you please.

And I don't mean the one who set up the hoax, but the girl.

Operators can't do anything, just by operating the site they helped a fair deal already.

I read a comment from her mother, a quote to be exact. Didn't sound too sensitive. If it wasn't for community sites the girl might have committed suicide even sooner than she did. Usually such people, either young or middle aged, are more curious of afterlife than what's left from their days as humans. 'Prepared to die'... so to speak.

Either way the whole story is horrible, but I'd investigate the parents and the neighbors, and file pretty serious suits against them... before I'd issue the threat of online anonymity.

The story made me raise an eyebrow to say the least.
The ones at fault were sitting within a few hundred feet from her.
Mistreated her for years. As an operator, you just can't beat people who plan this kind of abuse.

And I really don't think most of the ( otherwise high percentage ) of troubled people on the net'd have taken this 'boy' so seriously. I'm having doubts about the girl doing so too.