Twitter gives everyone a voice. Too bad some people use that voice to be mean to people they don’t know.
Today in Japan, the following tweet appeared on 2ch, the country’s largest forum. The young woman who tweeted it, wrote, “I’m on the train now (lol). There’s a fatty taking up three seats by himself (lol). [My friend] and I are cracking up right now. And that game is fuuuuuuucking old! Gameboy Advance (lol).”
On 2ch, people did appear amused. “This person just made enemies with GBA fans,” wrote one 2ch commenter. “What’s wrong with the Advance…” asked another. Others said it was wrong to mock people like this, while some wondered if this means you’ll get mocked if you play retro games on the train.
“Isn’t that a Game Boy Colour game?” one commenter wryly asked, and another pointed out that if men take photos of women without their permission, they get arrested (while the same isn’t true for women who do it.) The commenter added that it seemed like discrimination.
The tweet has since been deleted, and the account has been locked. But photos of the young woman’s tweet continue to circulate online, and the young woman, who is still in high school, is being spammed like crazy right now. Internet vigilante justice is in full force, with some Twitter users even publishing what’s apparently the phone number for her high school so people can report her behaviour. There is a precedent for this: Back in 2012, one high school in Japan even apologized for a student’s idiotic tweets.
“Taking peeping photos is a crime,” wrote one Twitter user. “I am going to report you to your school and to the cyber police.”
As Kotaku previously pointed out, Japanese privacy laws are incredibly strict, and you can be sued for taking photos of people without their permission — even if that is done in a public place.
This is yet another example of a young person getting on Twitter and doing something stupid or mean. It’s also another example of the internet taking things into its own hands, and, for better or worse, meting out what it seems fit. Teens today don’t just get a voice, they also get to experience the consequences in a very public space — in a way that previous generations were able to avoid.
One commenter might have put it best. “Smartphone should be restricted to those 20 years old and up. It would be better if licenses were used.” I’d suggest extending that to the entire internet as well.
Comments
23 responses to “The Man Was Fat Shamed. Then, He Was Game Boy Advance Shamed.”
I wish having a kid required a license.
Isn’t there something in the pipeline in NZ that allows courts to ban serial offenders/drug addicts/etc having kids?
You don’t need to be a drug addict to be a bad parent.
It helps though.
Well no. The term drug addict is very broad.
Some people go into hospital for surgery, come out with painkillers then get hooked on said painkillers. People get hooked on prescription drugs all the time.
Valium is prescribed by doctors regularly and the dosage has to be monitored VERY closely because it is incredibly easy to get addicted to.
I don’t get your point…do you think being addicted to Valium improves one’s parenting skills?
His point is it does not necessarily degrade from the ability too.
if only those dastardly Nazi’s didn’t ruin eugenics for the rest of us.
As once wisely spoken by Keanu, and now just as wisely spoken by Neo.
(edit: of course I’m implying that you are, infact, Keanu)
I commend the shit out of that guy for having a GBA, what a legend.
Dude’s a legend for just rocking out on the train with his oldschool game. Enough about the girl who posted the comment, how do I get in contact with GBA man? I wanna be HIS friend.
I own an Atari Lynx. Can I have some effusive praise?
As a someone who loved my Atari Lynx before it died, I give you praise :).
“This is yet another example of a young person getting on Twitter and doing something stupid or mean.”
Oh but when it’s an immature male mocking a woman’s appearance, it’s Misogynist Male Patriarchal Super Force Go!!!
I actually feel sorry for people that feel the need to post this kind of stuff. Imagine how shallow and insecure they must be to try and name and shame a complete stranger. It’s poor form and should be condemned outright.
The only hope is it tends to be young people who think this way, and can only hope they grow out of it. Schoolkids are all about image and popularity, and most grow up once they’ve left school and realised that kind of attitude generally doesn’t cut it in the real world.
I for one commend the guy for rocking an Advance on the train, but hope internet justice doesn’t go too far like it sometimes does. Hopefully the photographer feels like a right tit at this point and learns their lesson by default.
Not to stereotype but if there’s one demographic out there you’d expect to be shallow, insecure and somewhat catty, it’s teenage girls, which was very much the case here.
As for this guy…. That is a Japanese ‘fatty’ worthy of internet ridicule? I mean sure, he’s not small, nor is he Kevin Smith. I’d say he’s within spitting distance of the median male size in Australia from what I see every day,
Yeah, and three seats is a little exaggerated. Not to mention the seats on Japanese trains are mighty cosy to begin with.
cosy is an understatement, at the time of my vacation in japan i was underweight for my height, and only barely fit inside 1 seat… then bashed my head getting off the train 😛
Yeah I’m a fairly solid guy, and opted to stand unless there were a bunch of seats free.
Well it can be assumed then that most the population of Reddit/4chan etc are a bunch of shallow insecure people.
‘Shaming’ people for how they look is stupid irrespective of how they look physically. It’s just a dick thing to do. People are how people are that is none of my business nor yours.
I dunno. I sort of understand the impulse, though this particular instance was just cruel. But I’ve received amusing enough text messages from a friend who was commenting on the location they were in.
“Jesus, it’s like bogan safari in here… the detritus of (not-always) bi-pedal existence in one food court. Hell, I’ve almost got enough examples to fill my bogan-safari score card– ohwait. Is that? Aaaaand she’s cleaning her ear with her car-keys and eating the wax. Card filled, nobody wins.”
Sometimes when your sensibilities are offended enough, you feel compelled to share.
But there’s a difference between sharing privately with friends and publishing an actual picture of someone online, ridicule attached. I’m sure the intention wasn’t for the world to see it, they probably didn’t think that far ahead.
You are right though, it can be hard to contain yourself when people offend you for long enough.
I thought it was wrong to insinuate marginalization can occur with all types of people?