Impassioned apologies from remorseful rioters rolled in over the weekend and on Monday as online efforts to expose alleged contributors mounted.The scale of online name-and-shame efforts is unprecedented, according to social media experts, who note that the fallout for alleged hooligans could be enormous. They say fear of real-life consequences as well as attempts to preserve online identities are two explanations for what is motivating the public pleas for forgiveness.
“I think in part it has to do with the fear of repercussions — of getting caught,” said Christopher Schneider, a sociology professor with the University of B.C. Okanagan, who added that some people are likely responding to the online pressure in the hopes of more lenient treatment by police and the courts. But he said another motivation could be attempts by rioters to clear their online record.
“You don’t even need a resume any more. You say my name is so-and-so, and they Google you,” Schneider said, of employers and others.
Many alleged rioters including Nathan Kotylak, Camille Cacnio and Tim Kwong, now have a substantial amount of negative online commentary that could follow them indefinitely.
A blog post ostensibly written by Cacnio notes that “The aftermath has been a tough ordeal.”
Schneider said other people who did not contribute to the riot directly, but who were captured witnessing the events could also soon find themselves wanting or needing to explain their actions publicly.
“Now we have this riot-like mentality happening in cyber space,” said Schneider, who added that the same ideas of individual culpability that were thrown out the window during the riot are also now being cast aside online.
Indeed, not only rioters, but their friends and families are also being criticized online.
Tim Kwong was identified online for allegedly participating in the riot. A Facebook message posted under his name and since reported to other sites reads:
“I am Truly Sorry for what I have done ... I hope you one day see that I do care about this town and my friends n family and this is NOT like me! ”
Peter Chow-White, a social media and communications expert with Simon Fraser University, explained that some rioters could be motivated to apologize to counter what they feel are mistaken characterizations of themselves.
“We can’t control what other people put up online,” he said. “This can lead to identities that aren’t really like us.”
Chow-White said most people are not used to the intense online scrutiny that has hit some alleged rioters.
“We’re used to seeing this with politicians, sports stars, movie stars, but we’re not used to seeing this for everyday people,” he said.
Peter Suedfeld, a psychology professor at UBC said people should not be too quick to overlook another important explanation for what could be leading people to apologize for their actions.
“One other motivation out there is that they may genuinely feel sorry that they did it,” he said.
“Many of the people simply caught the fever and really didn’t think about what they were doing ... they may be very apologetic.
“I don’t think one should assume that people can’t say sorry for what they did when they think back on it.” By Matthew Robinson, Vancouver Sun
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