Stranger 109

Today I wanted to take a break from gaming and address an article from the new Wired that just came out. As a technophile, my subscription seems almost obligatory, though upon seeing Martha Stewart on last month’s issue baking a Wii cake I nearly canceled it. That is not to say that I don’t enjoy the magazine because I certainly do. It’s probably the only recreational reading I do anymore that actually consists of ink on the page. Not to mention I’m a big supporter of Chris Anderson’s Long Tail theory of digital distribution and have used it in my classes on many occasions. But as a new media scholar, I have had trouble with their often celebratory take on the the emancipatory potential of digital media. Without a doubt, they love to hype. And I do too on a occasion, hence the subscription. However, I also see the need to take a step back and critically engage new technologies and their cultural implications. Which is what leads me to today’s post.

Nadya Libi’s gripping account of the true story about a 46 year-old father of two, Thomas Montgomery, going online and assuming the identity of an 18 year-old Marine and falling in love with a 17 year-old girl named Jessi reads like a cautionary tale out of early 90’s. I won’t spoil it for you if you haven’t read it, but I will admit that the piece had me riveted. In part due to Libi’s narrative command of language, but mostly because this instance of escapism is not something that I have personally encountered much. I also feel its part of my job as an advocate of new media not to play into this stereotype of what the Internet can “do to people.” This, of course, makes me a huge fan of that Sandra Bullock vehicle about the dangers of what can happen to people online, The Net. I imagine that Wired’s goal was to use this as a think-piece to reflect upon the current state of online culture based on the teaser for it on the cover: The Lives We Live Online. And for a magazine notorious for its hype, I applaud the effort. However, as I continued to read through the events that unfold in this story, to a shocking and tragic turn, I wanted it all to be fiction. Knowing that these were actually real people who lived through this raised two concerns for me. As much as Libi’s effort here may have been good intentioned in conveying the actual events in as much vivid detail as possible, as a good journalist should, I couldn’t help but feel the whole thing was largely exploitive. I understand that once you take certain actions in this country, you revoke rights to privacy and your life essentially becomes public record. And I certainly don’t want to paint Thomas Montgomery as a victim, though he is absolutely a tragic character. But going so far as to include entire IM sessions between Tommy (his online alter ego) and Jessi seemed to drift into the realm of sensationalism that I found surprising for Wired.

What troubled me most about the piece, however, was the fact that I came away from it not entirely sure why I was presented with this tragic tale of identity swapping. Unfortunately it ends with the harsh reality of how this story actually turned out. No reflection on what you just read, not even a looming question for the reader to ponder as you walk away. I realize that this is entirely rooted in the truth and stands as a testament of how the Internet can feed into human weakness and spiral into a dark place, the way it did for Tommy and Jessi. But I wonder what the angle for Wired is here? As a magazine dedicated to promoting digital and online cultures, why would they detail the horrific accounts of what can surely be considered an anomaly of the way people live their lives online? I have personally never participated in an IM affair, but I understand that the stripping away of inhibition that speaking in that unfiltered way could lead individuals to behave in ways they would not in “real life.” Regardless, I want to believe that most of us are capable overcoming the lures of that level of escapism. I constantly try and combat that very stereotype in discussions in my media courses. Despite the fact that my students are the MySpace and Facebook generation, they still feel that there is something “creepy” about meeting people in online communities like WOW and Second Life. Horror stories like this only feed into that negative characterization of the technologies I believe ultimately provide opportunities for individuals to connect. And it’s not like those students are reading Wired, nor would I imagine the many people who still fear the net are either. So if the piece is not trying to play into those fears, which are not ones I assume the Wired demographic to possess, what are we to take away? Am I supposed to feel better about my own online life because it’s nothing as tragic as this? I understand people watch Jerry Springer for that same sort of affirmation of their lives, but I guess I just expect a bit more from Wired.