The Snoop Next Door - WSJ 01/12/07

[Feraud]

In Friday's Wall Street Journal weekend section there is an article and weblinks about a new trend in community watch.
Everything from reporting bad drivers, neighbors stealing your newspapers, dog owners not picking up after their dog, littering, too loud cell phone conversations, bad nannies, dangerous drivers, and ill mannered constuction workers.

We have had numerous discussion on the board about the decline in neighborhood/society quality. Is this the proactive community participation we have all been calling for or unfair internet vigiliantism?

There is certainly an opportunity for people to misuse this particular instrument of Justice. It appears the lack of any consideration shown by the public necessitates a "calling out" of those rude, obnoxious, and entitled citizens that treat our streets like their personal property.

http://www.platewire.com/viewrate.aspx?rid=21129

http://www.caughtya.org/

http://www.litterbutt.com/v2/Home/Default.asp

http://hollabacknyc.blogspot.com/

http://www.rudepeople.com/

http://www.isawyournanny.blogspot.com/

 

[Paisley]

Some cities have a program where they show, on TV, photos of men convicted of soliciting prostitutes. I've heard that it helps deter them.

I looked at some of the links posted above, and they seem a little obscure, Some of the incidents that I read about, if they'd happened to me, I'd tell myself to get over them. They're irritating, but part of life.

I think an active neighborhood watch, where residents have meetings and a block captain, would be more effective for deterring things like vandalism than it would be to tattle via the Internet. It's worked pretty well in my neighborhood.

 

[Flitcraft]

Those people need to get a life.
Plus, how much do the website operators make off of their enterprise?

 

[Feraud]

People walking around with cellphones can be the new neighborhood watch if they so choose. In a city of 8 million there may be need for different techniques to help police a neighborhood.

Who wants to tell this young woman who was harassed to get a life?

Tonight around 10 PM, on a train back to her apartment in Williamsburg, a hooded man seated next to my best friend, a 22 year old woman, whispered in her ear "I am going to follow you when you get up." He did follow her, just a step behind, up the subway steps of her stop and out onto the street. With great clarity in a life-threatening moment, she stepped inside a bodega, while he stood outside, waiting for her, and was fortunate to find a couple who were willing to walk her the few steps from the market to her apartment door. When they exited the bodega, the hooded man was still there, waiting for his (potential) victim. Unfortunately, it took the help of two people--a woman to make her feel safe, and a man to protect her-- to allow this woman to arrive home unharmed.

The most important part of this is that my friend is safe, but I feel such anger and rage that men like this, who derive such a false, disgusting sense of power from physically and sexually threatening women in public (or private), can make strong, smart, powerful women like my friend doubt their decision to live alone if they choose, to live free and independent lives, or to merely live at all. I am completely disgusted, and concerned for my friend.

 

[Paisley]

Meaning no disrepsect to the near-victim in the above story, what was the point of posting the story on the Internet? Wouldn't it have been better to tell it to the police? How do we even know it really happened? These sites, unlike mainstream newspapers, don't necessarily verify their sources.

The potential problem I see with these sites is if they accuse someone of something.

 

[Feraud]

The websites are like any other tool.
They are intended to help but unfortunately people misuse them. Should they be disregarded? I tend to think not.
The use of a website like the ones listed are to put the information "out there". They allow the victims to vent and inform others of what is occurring, and what one can do in a similar situation. I would not want innocent people accused but that happends regardless of the use of cellphones and websites.

 

[Flitcraft]

The real danger of these websites is the annonymity factor- you can accuse anyone of anything at any time and suffer no consequences. In the WSJ article, it even made clear that some of the "acccused" didn't even know they had been "outed" on the respective websites until someone else contacted them.

Additionally, the owners of the websites are hoping they will be able to sell merchandise, advertising, or like YouTube, the site itself.

In the example of the young lady being harassed in Williamsburg, it would really would have been more effective to call the police with the cellphone, instead of involving private citizens, in case the situation escalated.

Plus, the police would have a record of the report in case the would- be assailant tried to find another victim that evening.

 

[feltfan]

I don't get it

I am very active in neighborhood improvement and neighborhood
crime watch. I work with my local police. My neighbors and I have
used every technique we know of to address drug dealing, loitering,
prostitution, dangerous drivers, illegal parking, animal problems, etc.

I have looked at all of those sites and I can't see how any of
them do anything except allow people to vent. If you want something
done, don't wait passively for information you leave on some obscure
web site to be found by the right person. That's a mystery.

Take your information to the right local authority who can get something
done about it or organize your neighbors to address the issue.
Get to know your neighbors, your local police, and your city representatives.
Find out what works.

Whining on the web may be easy, but doesn't do anything but
cater to peoples' neuroses and make people angrier. And after
venting they may never take effective action.

 

[carebear]

Meaning no disrepsect to the near-victim in the above story, what was the point of posting the story on the Internet? Wouldn't it have been better to tell it to the police? How do we even know it really happened? These sites, unlike mainstream newspapers, don't necessarily verify their sources.

The potential problem I see with these sites is if they accuse someone of something.

Just to be precise, the mainstream papers and press have a pretty dismal record of this as well.

Corrections buried on page three are about as helpful as baseless web accusations being removed. Most of the damage was done by the initial report.

Folks should have a personal sense of honor. If they have an issue with someone's behavior they should bring it up with them or the assumed aggrieved party directly, not post unverifiable accusations anonymously.

 

[Paisley]

Not only can individuals be falsely accused, but readers can get a false sense of danger or aggravation from reading these websites (or watching the local news, for that matter). The kicker for me is that at least some of the stories on these sites are probably urban legends. Remember the ridiculous e-mails about slashers who hid under cars at gas stations? (If you're a guy, ask any gal you know with e-mail--she's seen it.)

If someone is rude to me, I'll do my best to get over it as fast as I can, not dwell on it by posting it and awaiting sympathetic comments from others, who will relate their own stories that I can get irritated about. To me, it's a waste of precious life: if I'm venting, I'm not reading great books or spending time with my friends or my dog. I'm not dancing or enjoying the view.

 

[Feraud]

If someone is rude to me, I'll do my best to get over it as fast as I can, not dwell on it by posting it and awaiting sympathetic comments from others, who will relate their own stories that I can get irritated about. To me, it's a waste of precious life: if I'm venting, I'm not reading great books or spending time with my friends or my dog. I'm not dancing or enjoying the view.

Come on admit it, venting feels good. If we did not engage in the occasional vent there would be no Observation Bar.

 

[Paisley]

Actually, venting doesn't make me feel good. However, getting some sympathy or knowing that I'm not the only one does feel good.

 

[carebear]

Actually, venting doesn't make me feel good. However, getting some sympathy or knowing that I'm not the only one does feel good.

You should try actual vengeance. Verrrry satisfying.

Especially the warm glow of tired muscles and relaxed sense of closure you get after you tamp down that last shovelful of dirt.

 

[Paisley]

The closest I've come is hanging someone in effigy. That felt good.

 

[caughtya]

Hello,

As the webmaster for http://caughtya.org , I'd like to address some issues raised in this thread.

First, Caughtya.org is not a for-profit organisation. We do not sell subscriptions, advertisement, etc. We do not aim to "make off" with anything as flitcraft seems to suggest. While we do have a donation button on the site, it is there merely to recuperate some of the costs involved in running the site.

Second, caughtya.org is not about vengeance. The main page of the site points out:

* It isn't about revenge, though we readily admit to a certain satisfaction at the thought that offenders may be taught a lesson.
* It is about getting a better picture of the problem (pun intended).
* It is about being able to track data and show the "powers that be" what is happening in their parking lots and cities.
* It is about increasing awareness of an ongoing problem.

It is also about people with disabilities learning to empower themselves. Too often we just "sit there and take it". Frustrations build, with the impression nothing can be done about issues. A registered user on Caughtya.org reported that their spouse was told "don't park there, because there's someone who takes photos of cars parked in the disabled space and puts them on a website". The word has gotten around, and people are now leaving these particular spaces free for legitimate holders of disability parking placards.

Cheers

Fred

 

[Feraud]

Thanks for posting the clarification Fred.
No matter how effective some might argue a site like yours is, there is no denying a problem exists. Whether someone choose to vent by posting a picture of the offending idiot or rallying their neighbors is their choice.
I see too many people who think driving is "their right" and not a privilege granted by the state.

 

[Paisley]

Since my mother is handicapped, I'm glad for any more enforcement of handicap parking spaces. (And this may be a little off-topic, but I wish more people would remove the snow from their sidewalks; the deep snow makes it hard for my blind neighbors to get around.)

Want to hear something odd? My father will sometimes use my mother's handicap placard to park in a handicap spot for me to go into the store. (I can walk.) He gets mad when I say anything.