Review: Mob mentality on the Internet
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 6, 2013
"Trial by Fury: Internet Savagery and the Amanda Knox Case" by Douglas Preston is a Kindle Single that is definitely worth reading.  I didn't follow the case closely, but knew basically what was going on.  What I didn't know was what was on the Internet and how vicious it became and still is in the form of horrible hate statements and threats to Amanda Knox, her sister, parents and friends.  Websites and blogs are set up by what Preston calls "third party punishers" who, without knowing Amanda Knox or anything about her other than assuming her guilt, write the most awful and horrifying things condemning her and what they wish to happen to her and her family.This phenomenon of Internet savagery seems to be a human trait as is explained via experiments with chimpanzees who have no interest in third party punishment.  If one takes another's food, the third onlooker does nothing to the thief, but minds his own business.  Using the Internet in this way gives people a feeling of power and the ability to say things that they might otherwise not say if they were in front of the actual person.  It's anonymous, an outlet for people's frustrations and no one will come after them.  There is good information about third party punishers and the mob mentality of people who have no feeling of power in their lives.This single is an excellent look at what people will do when they can use a forum that allows them to be faceless, nameless punishers of a person who is most likely innocent.  There are a lot of good things about the Internet, but this is not one of them.  I plan to read Amanda's book, "Waiting to be Heard: A Memoir."