Starting from April 1, Google agreed to implement a “real name” system on Youtube Korea. Google submitted to the new Korean Government policy on the “real name” system regulations. South Korea is the only country in the world where Internet users are required to confirm their identity before posting many comments or contents. All South Korean Google Product users can post their comments and videos only after they confirm their resident registration numbers.This is the first time Google implemented a “real name” system on their service. Google allowed all users around the world to use Google services with only an online ID, password and email address. Many Korea Youtube users got angry about the Government decision to force the “real name” system on Youtube, because Youtube is a highly user-oriented website. Google first refused this decision, because they value users’ participation on their services. However, cyber bullying has become a serious issue in South Korea, and the Government strongly asserted that they cannot make an exception.
The decision shows how serious the privacy and cyber bullying issues are in South Korea. Why is South Korea suffering from these issues? Hiding behind the computer screens, the users become more violent and malicious with their comments. Because they know that they are not going to get punished for what they say or do, they freely express their feelings. More important issue is the group polarization. As a large group, Internet users believe that their responsibilities on their comments are diffused. In a group, people feel less guilty about doing something bad. Sometimes people show totally different personalities on the Web. And, they are using Internet as a refuge to relieve their stress. As more Internet users act “artificially” on the Web, the Internet will remain as an imaginary space. We should carefully think about how we want to use our space.
No comments:
Post a Comment