The dangers of an over-connected community October 5, 2008
Posted by moonstarlady in Digital Media, Lifestyle observations.Tags: blogs, Choi Jin-Sil, internet, korea
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Korea is well known to be the one of the most connected countries in the world, now with more than 31.6 million Internet users since 2004 (Asia Media, Korea Times). It has a very active blogger scene and has the fastest growing internet population today, overtaking Iceland and Netherlands with 94 percent of South Korean households having the internet (The Korea Times).
While this is pure heaven for an internet marketer trying to break into the Korean market, it can also have a downside to this phenomenon. And one of the saddest outcomes broke in the news two days ago, when the media announced the apparent suicide and death of Choi Jin Shil, one of South Korea’s most famous actresses.
Miss Choi was found hanged in her bathroom, after returning home drunk and bursting out in frustration to her mother, following recent internet allegations of her causing the death of another South Korean actor Ahn Jae-Hwan by pressing him to repay her of his debts. This, coupled with a very painful & public divorce from her husband in 2004 that left her with two very young children to care for.
The Korean government is facing one of the toughest challenges in their administration, trying to curb the often malicious rumours and accusations spurred by individuals online against celebrities and other public figures. The suicide rates contributed by the online community is now in an all-time high with two of the mentioned actors as some of the victims this year alone.
While I am against media and internet censorship of any kind, perhaps too much unfiltered freedom is also very dangerous.
For more news on Choi Jin Shil’s suicide, please read The Seattle Times by AP reporter Jean H. Lee.
Choi Jin Sil, 39, found dead in her apartment bathroom on Oct 2,
I would be the last person to advocate for censorship on the internet. However, the daughter of a radical Islamic cleric living in London was exposed to be a “pole-dancer”. If in the future she becomes the victim of an “honor killing”, who is responsible? When people’s live’s are on the line, journalistic ethics should be re-introduced.
Hi Rei, apologies for the late reply-I believe in the case you just mentioned, she would’ve known the dangers of doing what she is doing when her father belongs to such a radical group. I would dare say she would’ve known the dangers posed upon her.
So even without the internet exposing her activities, word-of-mouth is enough to cause problems.
However, I do agree that when people’s lives are on the line, it is important to be careful in what we say and publish online. But I am not sure it will necessarily mean that journalistic ethics need to be revised. I think it is highly dependent on a case-by-case basis.