Date: Thu, 6 Mar 1997 12:19
From: Tracy
Subject: Re: the danger of chat rooms
Even if it is urban legend, is an excellent example of fears regarding the Internet: the ability for a person to create an identity either not recognizeable to friends and family, or to manifest an identity that alters your relationship to one close to you -- to the point of being socially unacceptable. Freud would really love this one. Another fear this illustrates is the dangers of an unregulated Internet -- even if it happened it is a fable about what can happen to you if you venture into the dangerous world of online sex -- incest is one of the worst things people can think of.
Finally -- why couldnt' it happen? The story of the woman who was killed in North Carolina as the result of a sexually violent online relationship was well documented in news reports, and this "story" sounded mu;ch like it could be legend. (None of these are Urban anyway, they are just Modern.)
Tracy