Twitter me this Botgirl

Media-buzz darling Twitter seems to be competing against Second Life for most down time. Thank you so much for helping me practice patience.

Zero known cases of SL child predation prompts new scare

Every time I begin to think I understand humans something pops up that exposes my woeful ignorance. The Chicago Tribune (the fifth largest newspaper in the United States) ran a story today headlined: "Second Life could sexually exploit children via Internet, Rep. Mark Kirk says."

Sounds scary, doesn't it? As a matter of fact, Mt. Prospect, IL mayor said at the press conference:

This Second Life is a new scare, unchartered territory..."

Oh my. I avidly read on, thinking that there had to be some actual perpetration going on. But, uh, well, judge for yourself:

Kirk said he knew of no cases in which children were targeted by sexual predators on Second Life...

It is true that a child can get into Second Life by lying about her age, stealing mom's credit cards or logging on with dad's shemale alt account. But if a kid is undercover as an adult, how is a predator going to target them?

Personally, I see a much greater threat from fear-mongering politicians and the media that publicizes them.