A Rape in Cyberspace

I found the article by Julian Dibbell quite interesting. Obviously, Mr. Bungle was a sick and twisted character, but I feel like that’s the extent of it.. He was just a character. Do I feel that what this person did was right? Definitely not. However, I feel that the women who were “raped” in this virtual space understood going in, exactly how people can get on the internet. The anonymity of places like LambdaMOO gives people the feeling that they can do or say whatever they want. This is exactly how it was for the person who created Mr. Bungle. While I do understand how the women felt violated from these violent online attacks, I feel that they may have exaggerated a bit. I find it really interesting, though, how close someone can feel to a virtual character they create online. It’s almost as if they were the character on the screen.