— Anonymous, the networked hacking community markedly shifted from taking down big bank websites to sticking up for the little guy (or girl in this case).  Hopefully this marks the beginning of a new modus operandi for the group, something like what micro-loans were to finance in third world countries (for example Kiva).  Instead of conducting massive attacks anonymous hackers have a chance to reinvent themselves as a grass roots movement against cyber bullying.  You need a small army of talented programmers to form a proto cyber community watch.  In fact if I were Twitter I’d devote resources to an internal team specifically devoted to monitoring the service for abusive and dangerous situations.

   In the mean time, the enabled strong defending the unable weak in cyber Wild Wild West should make any romantic blush. Hopefully the fear of exposure, more importantly the fear of reprisals from social communities, will dissuade bullies from tormenting fragile teens from behind their cowardly digital veils.

    Hopefully the right people can come together to draw a solid battle line bullies dare not cross.

Keep reading for an early success and example of good.

—Endtheshow

      Last week, a 15-year-old named Kylie tweeted her suicidal thoughts, and a Twitter account called @KillYourselfKylie tweeted back a series of ugly responses. These included “We have 3 bitches who should cut and drink bleach” and “I think i just made someone cut herself yayayyyy” and “We hate you just die…” That last note was followed by a list of six first names—apparently teenagers who knew Kylie.

“Thats it. Im done,” Kylie wrote back. @KillyYourselfKylie replied, “I WILL NEVER LET YOU IN PEACE… NEVER!!!”

Read on