Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Carole Lieberman Laments the Amazon-Bombing Phenomenon

Dr. Carole Lieberman: Cyberbullies’ Amazon-bombing hurts us all. (Capital Times, 4/27/2011)


Excerpt: As our world spins out of control, more people, demoralized and frightened by a struggling economy, terrorist attacks, and gloomy predictions about 2012, sit behind their computers lashing out against society. Just like real world bullies, cyberbullies are insecure cowards who terrorize their victims in a pathetic attempt to prove they are big and strong. Still, people get hurt. And, just like companies are held liable when someone gets attacked on their premises, company-owned websites should be held liable when people are attacked by cyberbullies on their online “premises.” At some point, free speech becomes libel.

Ever heard of “Amazon-bombing”? If not, you are not alone. It’s the new and virulent cyberbullying that occurs when “gangs” of vengeful marauders target an author by posting a barrage of scathing reviews, despite not having read the book. I had never heard of it until now, when the five-star reviews for my latest book, “Bad Girls: Why Men Love Them and How Good Girls Can Learn Their Secrets,” were eclipsed by more than 100 one-star vicious reviews overnight, literally. Why? Because my recent quotes about violent video games causing desensitization to violence and increased aggression hit a nerve with the large gaming community, which retaliated by maliciously using this new cyberbullying tool
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The book is not available in LINKcat.  Amazon provides no book reviews from standard sources, although its bestsellers rank is 8,856, so the author's flogging (2c) her title on TV and online probably helps.  (I wonder if flogging, as in sense 1a, is found in the index of the book.  Or even if the book has an index.) 



It's all Donna Summers' fault.

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