Okay, so I know you're probably watching this video and thinking it has no relevance AT ALL to the internet/new communication technologies, but I've tried to think outside of the box with this post :)

Nowadays, when I think of the internet my thoughts go straight to the negatives. Cyber bullying, harassment, hacking, fraud etc. So I thought I'd focus on harassment/cyber bullying and the uncertainty of talking to strangers online. In this video you see a man dressed up in women's clothes pretending to be Katy Perry. Obviously, it's a joke but if we think past this video we consider the types of people on the internet. We never truly know who we're talking to.

Cyber harassing "can take a variety of guises. A direct form of Internet harassment may involve the sending of unwanted e-mails which are abusive, threatening or obscene from one person to another. It may involve electronic sabotage, in the form of sending the victim hundreds or thousands of junk e-mail messages (the activity known as “spamming”) or sending computer viruses. Indirect forms of harassment may involve a cyber- stalker impersonating his or her victim on-line and sending abusive e-mails or fraudulent spams in the victim’s name." (Ellison & Akdeniz, 1998) 

In this video all sorts of people have gone on this website for fun, hoping to talk to some cool new people, instead they are confronted with this crazy looking man. I know he hasn't done anything illegal or wrong, but it just makes you think of the many times you've gone on a website and spoken to someone who wasn't who they said they were. The internet is a scary place, and the extent of it is greatly underestimated.

Reference:

Ellison L & Akdeniz Y, 1998 'Cyber-stalking: the Regulation of Harassment on the Internet', Crime, Criminal Justice and the Internet, pp 29-48, viewed 26th August 2011, via Griffith University Database.