Signs of Internet Immaturity

1999-04-27

Three young, exuberant individuals in the US are landing up in court following a spoof press release concerning the availability of high-speed communications bandwidth. This unfortunate April Fool incident, in which the joke seems to have turned on the jokers, is just one example (there were unfounded stock rumours being posted on message boards last week) of immaturity being seen on the internet. This is not really about the childishness of the people posting the information. We all need a sense of humour. No, this concerns the current state of the internet and the resulting gullibility of its users. Hey, it’s not their fault. The electronic superhighway needs us to be reasonably open to just about anything happening – there are so many advances in technology and capability that we seem required to suspend our disbelief for a good few years yet if we are to benefit from its potential.

Unfortunately, this leaves us open to confidence tricks, both humorous and malicious. So what should we do? We should move forward with open minds, learning as we go to take advantage of this new medium. Should tricksters try to hold our naivety to ransom, they should pay for their actions. But we should allow a little flexibility to deal with the occasions when undergraduate tomfoolery catches us out.

(First published 27 April 1999)