Akple - when online turns the timid into belligerent
Hyunjung Kim, a MBA student I met back in April while presenting at the University of Seoul, is explaining what the “Akple” phenomena is all about. Read it, we will face it in 2-3 years!
The term “Akple” […] refers to malicious comments or curses in online posts with the intention to degrade the person whom the comments are addressed toward. With the recent incidents of famous entertainers’ being the focus, Akples became a heated debate topic and the voice to implement systems to control. […]Most Akplers are presumed to be students, unemployed, and “WangDda”, a “defeated group” of the society, who are rather timid and oppressed in the real world that turn belligerent online. Akplers, whether intended or not, are becoming an evermore disturbing factor in the Korean society causing mental and/or emotional shock, leaving detrimental legacies such as elopement of minors, depression (and in some radical cases, deaths).
Akple has forced a strong reaction from the government, who took some radical measures in the form of the “Internet Real Name System”.
The government has passed a bill called “Internet Real Name System” that will be effective July, 2007. Any online postings posted on a portal with more than 300,000 daily visitors, would reveal the poster’s real name and her personal information.
