'They Have to Err on the Side of Caution'
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Explaining away the kind of threatening prose that Lucas Caparelli posted on the Internet is not easy.
Montana Miller, an assistant professor in the Department of Popular Culture at Bowling Green State University, has extensively studied online communication. She said an online poster has to keep in mind how his words will be digested by a vast and often unknown audience.
"The trouble with Internet expression is that all of this expression is done in a particular frame, and for the kids, it may not be a serious frame," Miller said. "But for those who have to make the decisions about community safety, they may not know exactly how to interpret that frame. So they have to err on the side of caution.
"If the kid didn't realize it was going to be taken seriously, then the kid really doesn't have a leg to stand on. The climate is so highly publicized by the media and so obvious, I really think the student had a responsibility to be aware of that climate and know that writing that on Facebook was going to have major consequences."
Miller said she would have advised Caparelli to post a retraction and an apology. Removing the message only "staunched the bleeding," she said.
-- Preston Williams
