Formspring.me @ Your Own Risk: Sign up for an inbox of word vomit

Did the creator of Formspring.me not foresee how disastrous allowing anyone to ask anything anonymously would be? The website kills. Literally. It’s cyber bullying at its worst. On March 22, 2010, Alexis Pilkington, a 17-year-old West Islip, NY High School graduate committed suicide, supposedly after her Formspring had been flooded with offensive comments about her. According to the New York Daily News, Pilkington’s parents do not believe that the comments were the main reason she committed suicide, citing that their daughter was already in counseling before she even created an account. However, her friends “blame insulting comments posted on Formspring.me, and vowed to boycott the social-network site.” What’s worse is that even after Pilkington’s death. Her Formspring page continued to receive vicious comments. Investigators will keep monitoring posts, but it seems pointless. The damage has been done.

Any so-called cyber bullying related suicide would be hard to prove in the court of law. Posting nasty comments on someone’s profile isn’t considered criminal. No federal law exists to prohibit cyber bullying, but several states, including New York, Missouri, Rhode Island, and Maryland, have passed laws against harassment through digital communication. The only federal law that comes close to addressing cyber-bulling is Title 18 of the United States Code § 875. According to the statute, “any communication containing any threat to kidnap any person or any threat to injure the person of another, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.”

Elizabeth Spiers, the website’s original editor, does not believe Formspring should be held responsible for users who are harassed online. She says, “When I was a teenager, plenty of anonymous bullying took place without the Internet (which we didn't have at my school and I didn’t have until college), mostly via handwritten anonymous notes left in lockers and whatnot. I don’t remember anyone suggesting that Mead should be sued for it, though.” She presents a valid argument. Bullying is a commonplace occurrence. Technology just provided another outlet for it. But then again traditional bullying can’t be made public knowledge, the way cyber bullying can.

Spiers, who has been mistaken as the creator of Formspring, is continually bombarded with accusatory emails. She answered one hostile post on her Formspring, stating how she still receives “some [emails] from parents who suggest their kids will get bullied anonymously thanks to the service and that Formspring should be sued if that happens.”

So why would someone create a Formspring account? Well, if you’re even mildly self-obsessed, it makes perfect sense. Having a platform where you answer questions about yourself is completely self-serving. The whole premise behind all social networking sites is the notion that people are actually interested in your life. But this addictive ego boost can easily become an outlet for verbal abuse. However, you do have the option to delete or ignore a question.

Formspring is oversharing on steroids. It takes Twitter’s microblogging to another level.

The site allows you to indulge in talking about yourself, while creeps are able to ask the most candid questions. Gawker.com, a blog about NYC’s media and gossip news calls Formspring the “sociopathic crack cocaine of oversharing.” Yes, it’s that bad. Some schools have even banned access to the website on campus. Despite, all the criticism, Formspring continues to grow and fuel the needs of narcissists and verbal abusers alike. If you become a victimized on Formspring, it’s your own fault. When you have a box with the caption ask me anything, it’s an open invitation, so really you shouldn’t be surprised if someone asks, “Why are you such an attention whore?”