Title: ‘Clementi Tragedy: ‘Tech Teens’ Lust to Expose Isn’t Same as Gay-Bashing’
Author: Sandip Roy
Citation: Roy, Sandip, ‘Clementi Tragedy: ‘Tech Teens’ Lust to Expose Isn’t Same as Gay-Bashing’, New America Media, published 01-10-10, accessed 09-10-10
Type: Opinion Piece, online newspaper

Summary

This article deals with the suicide of Tyler Clementi, an American freshman college student. His roommate, Dharun Ravi and Ravi’s friend Molly Wei filmed him during a ‘sexual encounter’ with his boyfriend and broadcast the encounter on the internet without Clementi’s consent. While most articles on the subject detail as best they can the sequence of events, or the homophobia that they presume motivate Ravi and Wei’s actions, this article considers the possibility that it was a desire to publicise their lives and a lack of consideration for the significance and consequences of their actions that enticed them to act. In essence, Roy seems to believe they were playing a game. Clementi’s last message to his family and the world was posted on his facebook page – “jumping off the gw bridge, sorry”.

Relevance

Importance (update, new)

This article has two main areas that I think make valuable contributions to our discussions about blogging and internet culture. The first is the importance of the social sphere’s extension into the internet and the impact of the internet and cyber-bullying back into everyday life. The second is how difficult it can be to negotiate the two.

Key Phrases

“A sort of online game of showmanship and truth-or-dare with ever higher stakes. Privacy meant nothing. It was just a game and they needed to outfox Clementi to get to the next level.”

“It’s as if we get more points in our virtual worlds if we catch our friends in flagrante delicto. We are perpetually on candid camera, playing gotcha with our webcams.”

“They were not even trying to out him. They just wanted the world to see him online with his pants down. They wanted to tweet about it.”

“It's just life in the online world where everything is fair game and privacy is just a Facebook option”

Issues
Some of the issues raised by this post include those around sexuality, race, privacy, breach of privacy, consent, and the ‘game’ aspect of Ravi and Wei’s conduct.

Use in forming argument

The way the social lives of the ‘characters’ (for lack of a better word) in this article, like many other young people, are intermeshed with the internet seems to me an example of a modern take on a cyborg. In an essay, I would take this as an example of internet culture and use it to show how people who’ve grown up with access to the internet struggle with boundaries between public and private, RL and internet life. However, when reading this article it’s important to keep in mind that the ‘characters’ were one month into their freshman year of college and that environment and social pressure probably also helped to blur those boundaries.

Critical Evaluation

Character

Edition/revision – 1st (blog/opinion piece)

Bibliography – N/A (blog/opinion piece)

Evidence – Opinion piece (isn’t really evidence based)

Writing – largely emotive – the author is speaking about a subject close to his heart

Currency

Date – this article was published on the 1st of October this year, making it very current.

Links – the website the article is hosted on is updated regularly

Location – The article is hosted on New American Media, a media outlet which focuses around news and issues which concern non-white ethnicities. As far as I can tell it does not print a paper copy. They work with the community through youth development programs, seminars and so forth.

Intention

The intended audience of this article seems to be people from a similar racial background (given the balance of news stories) – and potentially sexuality – as the author. The article does not seem to be aimed at young people, given that the language is critical without directly addressing the message to them. The article also seems to be aimed at consumers of mainstream media who attribute the attack to homophobia.

Authority

Author

Roy is an editor of New America Media and hosts and comments on radio shows.

His work has appeared in multiple newspapers across the world as well as a number of anthologies. He is of Indian extract and gay which makes him uniquely qualified to comment on this topic.

Publisher

New America Media is a popular rather than academic source. See above under ‘location’ for more.