Well I think for the most part people are skeptical of things they find on the net. Just beacuse of the anonymity of the whole thing. But there are also very credible sources to be found on the net. Joe Schmo can throw up a website about anything he wants, but there are also credible scientists, organizations, etc that post info on the net. It's just a matter of sorting out the truth from the crap.

I think the fact that some foolish kid stabbed someone cuz of this "elaborate plot" is just a testament to the fact that for the most part, children these days are idiots. Basically.

I think to put stock in anything printed on the internet is a gamble in some sense. Yes you can trust major dot com places like amazon, cnet, etc. Going by the principle that everything is vulnerable to attack on the internet, that means that anything could potentially be changed to contain misleading information. The problem with people pulling off these elaborate lies on the internet is the lack of physical presence. Unless someone is a extremly good liar, its hard for them to stand face to face with you and sell you a line of BS. The body has ways of signaling that the person is pedling falsehood, be it the eyes, hand motions, or even the way someone talks or stands. Over the internet people can type with confidence beuause they think they are anonymous, but anyone whos spend time researching crime online and has a working knowledge of how the internet works knows that anonymity is neigh on impossible on the internet. You can bounce through proxies, use compromised machines to mask your trail, but everthing leaves a trace in some form or another. Its actually this illusion of anonymity that draws the subversive elements of society and the criminals to the interenet, the think they are just another number, but to the right peopel they are just as real as you and I sitting at out computers.

There are reputable organizations on the internet, but also many lies. I tend to take anything I read with a grain of salt.

Its actually this illusion of anonymity that draws the subversive elements of society and the criminals to the interenet

I think you're right. Like in emails -people are more likely to lie in them because they have a sense of security.

I think that people who fall for scams on the net are the same people who would most likely fall for them in person.

Children are easily swayed anyways and sometimes if there is any link what so ever to the internet they blow it all out of proportioin in the news.

Thats why everyone should raise thier children to question authoritiy... even your authority over them because in the end it will serve them well when your no longer there to guide them.

A webcomic I read regularly recently posited Gabriel's Theory of Internet Anonymity:

Normal guy + Anonymity + An Audience = Complete and Total F**khead.

Originally posted by Xenographer

Normal guy + Anonymity + An Audience = Complete and Total F**khead.

so true. (too bad he is banned now-at least thats what i heard)

I think there are some children who need to seriously be monitered when it comes to the internet...and even tv, or certain books. When a child's mind has been programed to believe everything they hear(because since thier parents always tell the truth, shouldnt everyone else?), it is not safe to let them be mislead by media.

I know when i first out-drew my "disney only" phase, my parents sat me down and told me. "not everything you hear will be true. A lot of things are lies. If you are not sure, then come talk to us about it".

If that child had gone to his parents, or any older person for that matter, none of this would have happened.

wait...*reads article* these were teens? D*mn! I thought this was like a 10 year old.(i admit i dont usually read the articles, they are oftentimes too long for me to focus on)

I really don't know what to say. Once a child gets into high school, there really is no way to moniter what he/she can do on the internet. (or read or watch, for that matter)

I can only hope this is a select case, and the next generation isn't all as stupid as this!

Waht kind of an idiot can convince somebody else that "If you stab me,you can be a spy too!" And then how can you be dumb enough to stab some other guy because he said that he was a spy. No kid is a spy and even if they were, they wouldn't be allowed to let some other guy into the "Secret spy thing" just on their say so.

Originally posted by pineappleupsidedown

Originally posted by Xenographer

Normal guy + Anonymity + An Audience = Complete and Total F**khead.

so true. (too bad he is banned now-at least thats what i heard)

Gabe used to be on ATS?

Originally posted by hockey_crazy
Waht kind of an idiot can convince somebody else that "If you stab me,you can be a spy too!" And then how can you be dumb enough to stab some other guy because he said that he was a spy. No kid is a spy and even if they were, they wouldn't be allowed to let some other guy into the "Secret spy thing" just on their say so.

The kid didn't say he was a spy. It is much mroe complicated than that. Mind you, this whole thing took place over a series of months. The kid who got stabbed created six different personalities, and slowly lulled the other one into the web of lies that he created. One of the characters he created even sent him real actual mail, saying "By the time you read this, I will be dead." I imagine the whole thing started off seeming innocent enough to the one who got decieved, and the other one just gradually enraptured him in the fiction he had created. After the kid was convinced as to what was going on, can you blame him for wanting to be a spy?

Originally posted by spngsambigpants

Gabe used to be on ATS?

No, im sorry, i meant Xenographer.

Originally posted by pineappleupsidedown

Originally posted by spngsambigpants

Gabe used to be on ATS?

No, im sorry, i meant Xenographer.

OOOOOH hahaha