Mom attempt to shame daughter in Facebook lesson backfires as 4Chan makes girl's photo viral
- 10 years ago
A Colorado mother's plan to teach her daughter about the dangers of Facebook and online networking completely backfired last week when Internet users beat the parent at her own game.
Kira Hudson's 12-year-old daughter wanted to set up accounts on Facebook and Instagram. Her mother did not approve and explained that images posted online can spread farther than anyone has control over. To prove her point, she posted a photo of her daughter holding up a sign which encouraged users to share the image as widely as possible.
Hudson was absolutely right; the image was shared thousands of times, and liked more than a million times by the end of the experiment.
What Hudson did not anticipate was the backlash by online users who felt the project amounted public shaming. The photograph made its way to the 4chan photo board where fast-acting users modified the image in profane ways, then cracked Hudson's own online profiles to get her home address and phone number. Pranksters on 4chan crank called the number, and had pizzas delivered to the Hudson home.
Hudson subsequently removed the image from Facebook and later wrote a letter to the Huffington Post, telling netizens that she had learned a lesson about online security. She also added that the contact information they had uncovered was for her former home, and apologized to the current occupants of the house for any distress caused by the stunt.
Kira Hudson's 12-year-old daughter wanted to set up accounts on Facebook and Instagram. Her mother did not approve and explained that images posted online can spread farther than anyone has control over. To prove her point, she posted a photo of her daughter holding up a sign which encouraged users to share the image as widely as possible.
Hudson was absolutely right; the image was shared thousands of times, and liked more than a million times by the end of the experiment.
What Hudson did not anticipate was the backlash by online users who felt the project amounted public shaming. The photograph made its way to the 4chan photo board where fast-acting users modified the image in profane ways, then cracked Hudson's own online profiles to get her home address and phone number. Pranksters on 4chan crank called the number, and had pizzas delivered to the Hudson home.
Hudson subsequently removed the image from Facebook and later wrote a letter to the Huffington Post, telling netizens that she had learned a lesson about online security. She also added that the contact information they had uncovered was for her former home, and apologized to the current occupants of the house for any distress caused by the stunt.