February 2007 - Setting Stupidity in Stone

By Anthony J. Lockwood

More than 20 years ago, my corporate masters put me on a team to create a new “on-line” medium that brought together in synergy technical magazine content publishing and an open publishing concept where independent third-parties could publish freely and for all time their thoughts, sage advice, and profound wisdom. This was pre-Internet (at least as we know and live it). It was also when I realized that digital communications are the barbaric yet highly seductive spawn of Lucifer.

Pre-digitalization, the problem with writing a letter, column, or book was that anything stupid you wrote was soon lost in the crush of more paper being spewed out of the info factories. So, even if a malicious someone recalled your dumb writings, they could not find it. You could then tighten your tie and go on with your life, unfettered by lurking records of late-night, booze-loosened epiphanies.

   

Lockwood, Editorial Director

Today, the problem with writing a blog or a column or an e-mail is that any thing you write chisels its way — and you know this already — into the stone of our global village’s collective unconsciousness through postings on the Internet. And once something goes out on the Internet, Google cements it there for all to find, link to, and ridicule forever. It’s like being the unwitting costar in a Pamela Anderson home video, only no royalty check lends succor to your poor judgment. Worse, we do not learn from the mistakes of others.

We see this in today’s headlines about corporate dons having their “smoking gun” e-mails impounded, clips of Saddam Hussein’s hanging, or politicians in charge  of protecting our children from online predators IM-ing kids with propositions.

These were stupidities and human failures we faced 20 years ago. For example, back in 1985 we had an online stalker using a credit card generator to set up accounts on our system. He used posts or e-mails to threaten a transsexual who worked for us. The authorities, mystified by our business, practically investigated us as we told our story. The best they offered were some snide remarks about our credit card algorithm validation code. Then the guy said something like, “Reagan too,” and the Secret Service, which handles credit card fraud, got interested.

Turned out — not making this up — that the guy, a European, had overstayed his visa, acquired a mail-order bride who did not share a common language with him, and worked for us, too. He just felt that a 6-foot 2-inch transsexual threatened our efforts, so he’d take care of it.

And this is how I learned that digital is the devil’s playground. Forget spammers — they’re just digitized pickpockets and street crazies. It’s us, as Pogo said. Normal and intelligent people who get online can get really, really stupid in a big hurry. The temptation to be less than you are is too great for many of us all too often.

When you’re online posting or e-mailing, you’re like the guy in the next car picking his nose: Not invisible. But whereas that guy drives away forever, our nasty, deviant, wise, or stupid stuff becomes — like this column for me — our legacy on line for good, set in stone. The thought of all of this gives me such a headache.

Thanks, Pal.—Lockwood

Lockwood is Anthony J. Lockwood, the Editorial Director of DE Magazine. He’s harmless. You can send Lockwood an e-mail by clicking here. Please reference “Diatribes, February 2007” in your message.