online

I'm watching to catch a predator and one of the men said something that struck really true with me. He said, "I would never do that, I would never do it in offline."

How true a statement. Online life allows people to be and do things that they would never do in real life. A sexual experience with a stranger, a random moment of vindictiveness when we tear something apart in the comments section, stalking. The internet gives us many different ways to explore any concept when in the past we were much more limited and if we wanted information that was taboo or embarrassing then we were forced to either remain ignorant or ask someone. Most times things were ignored rather than spoke about so the world remained in a sort of ignorance about things they might be interested in. Enter the computer and the world wide web. Information on any topic was suddenly available, easy and best of all, confidentially.

Now knowledge is a great thing in most cases, but when giving a direct link to a way to feed secret fantasies obsession can't be far behind. Once someone is obsessed they suddenly may find themselves able to do things in "real life" that they never considered.

Honestly, almost everyone you and I know have semi "stalked" someone in traditional terms. Even if it's just an actor or friend. When we google people and research them and learn about their lives online that's a form of stalking. Don't agree with me? That's fine, you don't gotta. However I did say traditional terms, meaning that you took the time and energy to hunt down multiple sources of information on the person. Including but not limited to public records, pictures, and networking sites, granted all is available at the press of a key!

Now teen sex might be a great example. With sexting and other forms of cyber sex going on is it any wonder that they're not only having sex younger and younger, but becoming much more open about the situation? When I was younger (and I'm sure my mother would say the same thing) we didn't talk about sex unless we hadn't had it. Virgins were allowed to talk about sex all the time, bragging about it and such, but those who actually had sex kept silent about it. It was taboo, one didn't brag (probably because it wasn't really brag worthy anyway.) However look at any myspace female profile and you'll probably see something about 1) bi sexuality 2) provocative / under dressed pictures.

Just a thought.