17. What Do Anonymous and MTV Have in Common?

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/bulle/2012/11/anonymous_and_mtv_trying_to_protect_kids_online.html

Emily Bazelon posted an article on Slate Magazine on November 20th about cyberbullying. Her article started with an attention grabbing story of a young teenage girl Kylie who was about to commit suicide after receiving hate comments like “I think i just made someone cut herself yayayyyy” and “We hate you just die…” through Twitter. Two internet groups known as Anonymous and Rustle League appeared and stood up against cyberbullying against Kylie, as well as threatened to reveal the bullies' names. The organization of the article was progressive, starting with the problem, moving on the the action taken, and the solution and results. Next, Bazelon introduced MTV's app "Over the Line?" and showed how this one too, was in favor of protecting kids online. The article had examples from MTV's app and from New York Times of kids struggling to reveal themselves in fear of being bullied or rejected by others. Her conclusion connected both MTV's app and Kylie's case together, giving a strong closing to the article.

The author's purpose in this article was to both inform and bring awareness about bullying that does not only occur in schools, but also through the internet. The author's diction was formal, but not very hard to understand, which probably made the article directed to teenagers who could relate their lives with Kylie's, and parents who could be aware of this kind of problem. The fifth paragraph explicitly revealed Bazelon's stand regarding the situation, and this was evident in phrases such as "I find it utterly dismaying and weird—why on earth would anyone court that kind of danger?" and "I agree with Laura Beck at Jezebel that it would have been nice to see some of Kylie’s peers step up to defend her, but in their absence, I’ll take the adults who showed up this time to police the Internet." In addition, she portrayed the hacktivist group Anonymous as people who did good - fought against bullying - which clearly showed she praised the group for such action.