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See the original image at voiceofsandiego.org

The Dark Side of Social Networking: An Interview

voiceofsandiego.org — Last summer, a local San Diego CBS affiliate television station, News 8, aired a story about a website called BumFinder.com. The website solicited users who would spot people who appeared to be homeless and plug in their location coordinates using a Google Map. The station interviewed San Diego's most famous homeless advocate, Father Joe Carroll...

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  • arlok789, on 05/17/2008, -3/+22This raises all sorts of questions about civil liberties. Could you imagine a website called "InsertMinorityGroupHereFinder.com" Thats messed up but at the same time I can understand where its coming from. I actually don't even know what to say about that. Damn. Messed up.
    • chapium, on 05/17/2008, -0/+8That would be census.gov

      The bumfinder site definately has its pros and cons. On one side, it could help identify where the homeless to make targeted aid work better. On the other hand they could be stalked as well.
      • spawnfree, on 05/17/2008, -2/+3somebody just showed me a better business card than mine.
        time to clean the streets
    • uziko, on 05/17/2008, -15/+7it raises what questions?

      you idiots need to get it through your brain that the world is not a perfect and nice place, and your futile attempts to make the government force people to act the exact way that you feel is "nice" is just going to piss people off.

      theres two things; crimes, and "not being nice"

      heres the difference:

      crimes: killing, stealing, raping

      heres "not being nice": calling people names, ripping somebody off by charging a high price for a product, not helping somebody in need

      here are what the consequences should be:

      crimes: jail time

      "not being nice": possible other people "not being nice" back

      one example of this is the lady that called that girl names over the internet and she killed herself
      hey people we have a right to "not be nice"

      in short JUST QUIT BEING A PUSSY AND CRYING OVER ***** LIKE SOMEBODY SAID YOU WERE A BAD NEIGHBOR AND TRYING TO GET THE GOVERNMENT TO HELP YOU PUSSY SELF OUT
      • thestranger, on 05/17/2008, -6/+3How bout the fact just "names" and "words" can hurt people emotionally? How bout the fact that just "names" and "words" effect the mind, especially after being repeatedly called and told the same thing over and over again? How bout the fact that there is no separation between mind-body? What effects your mind will effect your body and vice versa.
        • Onyxblaze, on 05/17/2008, -4/+1Plus, public slander is illegal. What would you do if I called up your boss and told him you had been looking at child porn on home computers or were a wife beater. It could ruin your career depending on your boss.
        • rossisdead, on 05/17/2008, -1/+4And if you start legislating for every time someone got their feelings hurts, nothing would ever get accomplished. Why? Because everyone gets upset about different things.
        • neko6, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3Public slander is a crime, it is different than being called names by someone.

          Harassment is also a crime, so you are able to get rid of repeating negative influences.
        • Sawta, on 05/18/2008, -0/+3@ thestranger
          I'm pretty sure that's the lamest thing comment I've ever read on this site.

          To quote a movie: "The problem isn't that they think you're gay. The problem is that you give a *****."

          If someone is berating you on a consistent enough basis to cause physical and emotional distress, you've probably done something pretty serious to deserve it. it (Car accident, running over someone's pet, etc.) And if not, then you need to learn how to be an adult and confront them with: words, fists, or a restraining order. I'm so sick of idiotic laws being past because of incodents like these; simply because people have forgotten how to interact with each other in a mature and sane manner (outside of a court room).
    • skinjester, on 05/18/2008, -1/+0...
  • LewP, on 05/17/2008, -4/+7Very interesting story..good job. Dug and submitted to today's DDD!
  • darlene1947, on 05/17/2008, -5/+5Great article!
  • ArtMotionPro, on 05/17/2008, -13/+2I think the concept has good intentions, to be able to find somebody who may have become homeless and has lost contact with family and friends. At the same time it could be dangerous, but not as bad as something like Google satellite and related....
    • dinostabOMG, on 05/17/2008, -0/+4If you check it out, you'll notice that that wasn't the intention.
      • userperson, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2One could do something with that intention... or maybe someone already has, I thought that was what it was before I read.
  • Dumbledorito, on 05/17/2008, -5/+14Hey, this is a valid resource for those who can't find their bum even when using both hands and a flashlight.

    What?
    • counterplex, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3It's hot enough to boil a monkey's bum!
      • Dumbledorito, on 05/18/2008, -0/+2That's a strange expression, Bruce!
  • dinostabOMG, on 05/17/2008, -3/+22This guy sounds like a real douche.
    • dman24752, on 05/17/2008, -5/+2An absolute slimeball...
      I think I'm in love...
  • drmobutu, on 05/17/2008, -1/+7Huh...I read the title, and assumed it would be about all the drug dealers on Facebook...THAT is a story that has yet to be told...
    • Mononuclear, on 05/17/2008, -1/+2not on facebook but the story of drug dealers has been told about orkut google's social network site. In Brazil a huge percentage of the population use orkut (it's more popular than facebook or myspace is in the US) and there are also a lot of problems with drug dealers, child pornography, etc on there and has been covered in Brazilian news as well as mainstream US news
    • cplusplus, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2Look for your friends with the most friends and they are probably dealers.
  • chkdg8, on 05/17/2008, -4/+47If anyone carefully read this story and in between the lines, you'll notice that this guy is very shady. First he had BumFinder.com (The website solicited users who would spot people who appeared to be homeless and plug in their location coordinates using a Google Map.) That's a textbook tattletale engine that was first implemented by the U.S. government onto it's citizens. Just google 'tattletale squads'. Then comes FakeYourSpace.com (which sold counterfeit friends, using stock photos of models, to MySpace users looking to juice up their online posses.) By the way, both of them now are offline.

    Now he graduated to another "Snitch" format called RottenNeighbor.com (I immediately noticed a rotten smell coming from the neighbors directly across the hall. It smelled like garbage, but quickly learned that it was their cooking.) So now our cooking will be under question and scrutiny from snitching ass little bitches like these. I wonder who his shady ass VCs are as well.
    • AlaskaLoneWolf, on 05/17/2008, -0/+6Indeed. Won't be long now until we have the equivalent of a world-wide watchdog.
    • ReyX, on 05/18/2008, -0/+1This is a great proxy for xenophobia. I bet you the "rotten smell" was food cooked by someone who scored high on the "swarth-O-meter". We can't have THOSE people around the neighborhood, you know...
  • RicardoWilliams, on 05/17/2008, -7/+3an interesting read...
  • donrando, on 05/17/2008, -3/+28Slimeball 2.0
  • lasVegas702, on 05/17/2008, -17/+5He's an entrepreneur you imbeciles.
    • desertDenizen, on 05/17/2008, -0/+7Entrepreneur need not = douche. This guy is a douche. If he's got so many great ideas, why must he only execute those of questionable ethics? Answer: Other people haven't already done them... because most people aren't douches.
      • arlok789, on 05/17/2008, -0/+5I'm an entrepreneur. My internet company that I am in the process of starting is based around NOT being a douche. Maybe its just part of the product I plan to sell but I find people respond well when you help people in need. Somebody kick my ass if I ever start racially profiling people and propagating stereotypes.
  • Holocaust, on 05/17/2008, -10/+1The Dark Side of The Moon?
  • spyd3rweb, on 05/17/2008, -6/+5I wouldn't suppose some governmental entity is behind the funding on this.
  • chrisbosh123, on 05/17/2008, -5/+18"BumFinder.com was a great experiment I conducted into how I could leverage the media to spread my ideas through the internet."

    What an ass.
  • scabbers, on 05/17/2008, -3/+5This would come in handy for the Brazilian police death squads in tracking down street children.
  • Serial0Hacker, on 05/17/2008, -2/+20He should sell a book. "Making money online for assholes."
  • motters, on 05/17/2008, -0/+5Interesting article about what is probably an emerging darker side of the web which I'm sure we'll be hearing more about in future years. Governments (both democratic and despotic) may actually want to promote tools like these in order to marginalise minority groups within society deemed to be "bad" for one reason or other. I can think of various anti-social networking applications, although I'm not going to elucidate upon them for fear that they might actually come about.
  • Nubli, on 05/17/2008, -3/+9If you're living unlawfully on public property, you might as well be publicly displayed and accounted for.
    • empiric, on 05/17/2008, -1/+2"Public" meaning here all of the public except you?
  • judi, on 05/17/2008, -3/+0A book about the dark side of social networking:

    http://www.aarongreenspan.com/authoritas.html
  • boodog, on 05/17/2008, -3/+6LoWLife ... does he not have any ideas that are not exploitive, deviant or outright greedy?

    How about creating a technology that adds value to society! You wouldn't have to take the site down and your mother would be proud! Unless you F(ed) her over too?
  • desertDenizen, on 05/17/2008, -2/+4Here's an idea for a site: BrantShadyDoucheWalkerWatch.com
  • gorgalor, on 05/17/2008, -3/+9All of you whiners have a hard time getting a bit of a chuckle out of this! You take your lives too seriously.
  • thestranger, on 05/17/2008, -0/+8WOW that guy is a total D-Bag!
  • Somedude2137, on 05/17/2008, -1/+5Dugg for the psychopathic face
  • billbugger, on 05/17/2008, -4/+3YOu may not agree with the websites he's creating but he's doing something 99% of you aren't. He's paying attention to resources 'missing' in his life, then he's getting off his ass and actually doing something about it. This is a classic trait of an entrepreneur. I personally have used his rottenneighbor.com website because i had that typical old lady in the neighborhood that spied on the other neighbors and would yell at people as they walked by her home. She was horrid! I felt others looking to move to that neighborhood should be aware of her.
  • paulmer2003, on 05/17/2008, -1/+7 A graduate of San Diego's Platt College with a web design multimedia degree, Walker's first business was a website called FakeYourSpace.com, which sold counterfeit friends, using stock photos of models, to MySpace users looking to juice up their online posses.

    Anyone who used that ***** should be shot in the face, lolol.
  • d0LLZ19, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3He seems to think he is the greatest thing since sliced bread.
  • n0odles, on 05/17/2008, -1/+4What an asscrack. Seriously, he thinks he's some Internet pioneer. I bet use to torture squirrels when he was a kid.
  • Strungout, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3Eh Bumfinder is messed up, I don't see why they took him to task for RottenNeighbor though with sites that let you rate your ex's with descriptions on why they suck.
  • taradisiac, on 05/17/2008, -7/+2They're bums who gives a damn about them. They're barely human.
    • Cornrider, on 05/18/2008, -0/+1another inhabitant of planet Doucheopolis pops out of Digg's ass :O
  • painperdu, on 05/17/2008, -0/+5Why give crap like this publicity?
  • aetherboy, on 05/17/2008, -2/+2While I don't think the site is very ethical, I think a lot of the comments here stink of jealousy. He's created sites that get press and make him money and most of you have not...Like the ideas or not he's an entrepreneur.
  • mi2ca, on 05/17/2008, -1/+3he's a total lowlife.
  • smek2, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1So there's a dark side to Scientology? Who'd knew?
  • Tomboys, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1He says he can't be held liable but can the people who post slanderous stuff on his site be held liable? Anyone know?
  • thestranger, on 05/18/2008, -0/+1sorry, posted this wrong in the wrong spot to neko6 :I never said it wasn't. I was talking about what is against the law and isn't I was talking about that guy calling people "pussies". But since you brought it up, slander and harassment are very hard to prove, and also the repeated hate speech and toxic verbal abuse is often times not reported and not by one particular person over and over. The problem is that people don't see how being called; a F**Kin' fag can be to people (or whatever names) for their entire life. Hell, I am not even gay, have a girlfriend, and still to this day get called a fag at bars at least 2-3 times a year. Not sure why? Cause I wear slightly tighter clothes, skinny, dress decent?!? Who knows, but all I know is that when I hear that (i've been hearing since I was about 12) my stomach twists, my face gets, and I immediately want to leave. I can only imagine what it's like for people who are openly gay, or gray more "effeminate", or have "gay" mannerisms.
  • ijustlost, on 05/18/2008, -0/+2This epitomises all that is bad with the world
  • drexl, on 05/18/2008, -0/+3His next venture will be "You to can Be an *****"
    • princessrachel, on 05/20/2008, -0/+2TOO
    • drexl, on 05/28/2008, -0/+1You know what Princess....I noticed that after the editing ended and hoped no one else would.....thanks a lot :)
  • Sawta, on 05/18/2008, -0/+1Huh, I thought this story was going to be about websites that directly rip off and (poorly) implement other peoples ideas. At least this guy had some original ideas, they were just pretty horrible ones.

    Actually, now that I think about it, RottenNeighbor just sounds like a rip off of RateMyProfessor. Just a slightly different angle.
  • Cornrider, on 05/18/2008, -0/+1Our friends from Anonimous need to pay this angel a visit, get medieval on his ass (you know, the torches, the truly spiked sex toys and 10 minute emergency facial surgery kit, etc) Right after that any of us can upload his picture and build an awesome website called, maybe: "www.momialmostobliteratedhitlersreincarnatemutantsonoutofthisplanet.org". yes, I know Anonimous are not out to do anything like that but I was trying to create something in my mind which is like a white canvas where I create fantasies that will benefit the world.
  • CassandraCruise, on 05/18/2008, -1/+1interesting...dugg it!
  • NoSalt, on 05/19/2008, -0/+3DARN ... from the name of the website I assumed they were finding chicks with hot butts.

    I'm sad now ...
  • jnau, on 05/20/2008, -0/+0I would argue though that rightly or wrongly, social networking or anything online really is part of our society. Real or online, it is a reflection of who we are and what we do, as evidenced by the differing viewpoints here. Fortunately the net is still democratic enough that we can have all sorts of services.

    The downside of this service is though, does it become like a credit rating? If someone falsely paints you as a bad neighbour maliciously do you have recourse? What if you are denied tenancy because some real estate agent has gone off a malicious report? What if that malicious report makes it into some other real estate or credit system?
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