Stolen Sidekick

(Story from Peter.)

The Internet is an impressive thing. The link in the title chronicles the trials of a girl trying to get her Sidekick back after she left it in a taxi.

Having done things like – repeatedly – I know how terrible it feels. But I’ve almost always been lucky enough to get the lost property back, because some kind person has gone out of their way to help me. And for that I thank them and whatever powers-that-be.

But that wasn’t the case in this situation, so it’s interesting from a media perspective to see how a regular citizen is acting almost as a journalist would, if it were a public situation in the old media. He’s acting as a moral watchdog, trying to embarrass these people into

My gut reaction is that if this guy can’t help this girl get her Sidekick back, somebody up there has decided that. But my opinion on the rights and wrongs of the situation isn’t important. What is important is whether this works, because it takes away the anonymity of the big city. That’s why more crime happens in cities: nobody knows who is being hurt or who’s doing the hurting. When you use new media to spread the news wide enough so that the small-town element of public shame is back – it’s a whole new ball game.

The wildest part, which really shows the power of the Internet – the site has only been up since yesterday, and already he’s gotten thousands of emails and enough information on these people to press charges. It’s an amazing thing.

[tagname]