David Thorne
David Thorne is an Australian satirist. He gained popularity in late 2008 for an email correspondence about an overdue account, in which he attempts to settle the debt with a picture of a seven legged spider.
Contents
Seven-Legged Spider
The incident of the seven-legged spider can be summed up by the following quote from the email correspondence, "It was silly of me to assume I could provide you with something of completely no value whatsoever, waste your time and then attach such a large value to it." [1] Throughout history society has given value to an assortment of objects: shells, paper, metals, etc. with the intent of these objects to be used to purchase other items. He is satirically stating how arbitrary a monetary system is. Currently we give a piece of green cotton such great value, David is suggesting why isn't his piece of art worth money. People will pay thousands of dollars for a piece of artwork, David is suggesting that his upgraded version of a spider with 8 legs is worth $233.95, and he is cutting out the middle man, an art dealer, by giving the landlord a picture. By asking for the spider back in both instances he is suggesting that each image he had sent was specifically created and has a value because keeping it would detract some sense of value from him. This is another interesting point that should be noted because even though the landlord has sent him back a copy, she still has access to the image through her computer. In this way David has lost some of his creation, or its value has been diminished because there now exists multiple copies.
27bslash6
On his homepage, 27bslash6.com [2], David gives a list of comical things he has done or ideas that he has. Most of them are meant to be satirical. It is made apparent through each one that he has no intention of being serious. The website also includes links to his book as well as his Twitter and Facebook pages. You can also leave a comment of send David an email.
Ethical Implications
David Thorne is often criticized because some viewers deem his stories as defamatory. He is often called a troll, and a (cyber)bully.
Cyberbulling
Several colleagues of Thorne claim they suffered depression, and extreme anger due to the published emails. Former graphic designer, Lucius Thaller, says this has affected his ability to get a new job and could haunt him when he starts a family. [4] Another colleague of Thornes, Simon Edhouse, claimed he was bombarded with emails, tweets and comments and that the emails published have hurt his reputation. He also denies that the exchange ever took place. [4] On the other hand, David said that "most his colleagues told him they didn't mind being on the website." [4]
Censorship
David Thorne said the following when asked about the authenticity of his email exchanges:
"The email articles are verbatim although I do fix spelling errors, as is my prerogative, and bad grammar prior to posting. I also sometimes change the person's name or remove their second name, unless they have overly annoyed me, and there have been occasions when I have added context or deleted non-contexual content such as footers. The non-email based articles feature friends, associates and work colleagues and are exaggerated, but based on actual events."[5]
Thorne never explicitly states why he chooses to leave the real names of correspondents. By leaving the names in, there is potential harm to the people in these stories whether or not the stories are meant to be satirical. In 2009, Thorne received an email from a correspondent's lawyer demanding that his client's name be removed. After an exchange of several emails where Thorne replied in his usual satirical manner, he agreed to change his name. However, the client's name was only changed from Skye Cargan to Mr. Carganovsky, and the correspondence with the lawyer was posted on the site.
See Also
References
- ↑ Good Idea!: Man Submits Drawing Of Spider Instead Of Payment For Overdue Account. Geekologie. 2008-11-13. Retrieved 2011-11-23.
- ↑ 27b/6
- ↑ Who is David Thorne?
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Griffin, Michelle. Funnyman of the internet just a bully, say former colleagues. The Age. 2011-6-22. Retrieved 2011-11-23.
- ↑ Olsen, Dawn. Q & A With The Internet's "Evil Genius," Humorist David Thorne. The Morton Report. 2011-05-20. Retrieved 2011-11-23.
