Kyra Copeland Brophy BTT-101 Thursday, December 12, 2013

Just Kidding Not OK When Posting Slurs Online Introduction

Simple searches of Twitter or other social networks will find lots of abusive language, and the occasional just kidding! which doesnt take the sting out of all, according to a new poll. (Blissman), 20 !) "n a shift in attitude, most #oung people now sa# its wrong to use racist or se$ist slurs online, even if #oure %ust kidding. But when the# see them, the# dont take much personal offence. & majority of teens and #oung adults who use the "nternet sa# the# at least sometimes see derogator# words and images targeting various groups. 'he# dont often dismiss that stuff as %ust %oking around, not meant to be hurtful. ((ckers, )ul# 20 !) &mericans ages * to 2* sa# people who are overweight are the

most fre+uent target, followed b# ga# people. ,e$t in line for online abuse- blacks and women.

Callis Story
I see things like that all the time, sa#s .ito /alli, of 0eading, 1a. It doesnt really bother me unless theyre meaning it to offend me personally.

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(ven then he tries to brush it off. /alli, whose famil# emigrated from &rgentina, sa#s people tease him online with %okes about 2ispanics, but you cant let those things get to you. 2es t#pical of man# #oung people surve#ed. 'he ma%orit# sa# the# arent ver# offended b# slurs in social media or cellphone te$t messages 3 even such inflammator# terms as bitch or fag or the ,3word. 4et like /alli, 5ost think using language that insults a group of people is wrong. 'he high school sophomore sa#s he has tried, with difficult#, to break his habit of calling an#thing uncool gay or retarded.

Jefferys Story
)effer# Bakken, 2!, a producer at a video game compan# in /hicago, said the bad stuff online, especiall# slur posted anonymously, shouldnt overshadow what he sees as the #ounger generations stronger commitment to e+ual rights for minorities and ga#s than its elders. Kids were horrible before the Internet e isted, Bakken said. Its just that now its more accessible to the public eye. /ompared with an &135'. poll two #ears ago, #oung people toda# are more disapproving of using slurs online.

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,earl# 6 in (Booker, 20 !)

0 sa# using discriminating words or images isnt all .

right, even as a %oke. 7nl# about half were so disapproving in 20

,ow, a bare ma%orit# sa# its wrong to use slurs even among friends who know #ou dont mean it. "n the previous poll, most #oung people said that was 78. But the share who came across slurs online has held stead#. 5ore than half of #oung users of ouTu!e, "ace!oo# and gaming communities such as $!o% &i'e and Steam sa# the# sometimes or often encounter biased messages on those platforms.

Just Jo#ing(((
9h# do people post or te$t that stuff: 'o be funn#, according to most of the #oung people who see it. &nother big reason- to be cool. ;ess than a third said a ma%or reason people use slurs is because the# actuall# harbor hateful feelings toward the groups the# are maligning. !ost of the time theyre just joking around, or talking about a celebrity, )eff 2itchins, a white 2*3#ear3old in Springfield, 1a3, said about the insulting references to blacks, women and ga#s that he encounters on the )ine and Instagram image3shaving sites. "ate speech is becoming so commonplace, you forget where the words are coming from, and they actually hurt people without e#en reali$ing it. Some slurs are taken more seriousl# than others. 0acial insults are not that likel# to be seen as hurtful, #et a strong ma%orit# of those

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surve#ed 3 6 in

0 3 felt comments and images targeting transgender

people or 5uslims are.

&lmost as likel# to be viewed as mean3spirited are slurs against ga#s, lesbians and bise$ual people, and those aimed at people who are overweight.

*arias Story
5aria /aprigno, who has struggles with obesit# since childhood, said seeing mean images on <acebook stings. But she thinks the online world reflects the rest of the =.S. societ#. Its still socially acceptable to comment on someones weight and what someone is eating, said /apringo, >, of ,orwood, 5ass. %e need to change that about our culture before people reali$e posting stuff like that online is going to be offensi#e to someone.

+ric#s Story
(rick <ernande? of 9est ,ew 4ork, ,.)., sa#s what people share online reflects the influence of song l#rics and music videos and movies. <ernande?, 22, said he was probably #ery loose about that himself before he was chosen for a diversit# summer camp in high school that e$plained wh# phrases like &hats so gay are hurtful. ,ow a college student, he routinel# sees insulting language for women and people of color banded about online.

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I try to call some of my friends out on it but its really to no a#ail, <ernande? said. &hey brush it off and fi#e minutes later something else will come out. %hy e#en bother' "n the poll, #oung people said the# were less likel# to ask someone to stop using hurtful language on a social networking site than face to face.

,le%andrias Story
&le$andria 9ashington said shes accustomed to seeing men who wouldnt sa# offensive things to her in person post pictures of half(naked women in se ual positions, followed b# demeaning comments and slurs like whore and ratchet. &heyll post anything online, but in person its a whole different story, said 9ashington, 22, a graduate student in 'allahassee, <la.

Conclusion
'here seems to be a desensiti?ing effect. 'hose who report more e$posure to discriminator# images and words online are less likel# to sa# its wrong than those who rarel# or never encounter it. /onte$t is crucial, too. @emeaned groups sometimes reclaim slurs as a wa# of stripping the words of their power 3 like the feminist ABitchB maga?ine or ga# rights activists chanting %ere here, were )ueen, get used to it!

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9ashington, who is &frican3&merican, said that on most da#s she doesnt come across racial slurs on social media. But she stumbles upon bigoted words when race is in the news, such as surrounding 1resident Barack 7bamas re3election, and finds them hurtful in that serious conte$t. ;ikewise, /alli, the high school student originall# from &rgentina, said he could stomach almost an# name3calling but gets upset when someone uses a falsehood to denigrate immigrants.

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Works Cited
(Blissman), D. B. (2013, ep!ember 22). "socialmanners #ia T$i!!er.com. Boo%er, &. (2013, 'c!ober 1(). Social Media i!. )e!rie#ed December (, 2013, *rom $$$.socialmedia.bi+ ,c%ers, &. (&uly 2013). ocial -edia ,!i.ue!!e, &ournal--acleans. 1(-1/.

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"nde$
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