I just complained about My Feed feeding me pictures of busty teen-agers. Now it’s not so funny: My Feed is now pushing the frightening but false notion that child abductions are “common”, or at least that there are lots of “common tricks” that abductors “commonly” use. As Reason’s Elizabeth Nolan Brown explains, abductions aren’t common. They’re very uncommon. So don’t fall for MSN’s pitch to subscribe to, or even donate, to the paranoia that periodically pops up regarding this topic.
I know that big outfits like Microsoft are under endless pressure to be good corporate citizens and donate to good causes, and the easiest way to handle that pressure, when you’ve got as much as cash as Microsoft, is to toss a roll of Benjamins in the pot and go on your merry way. But spreading paranoia is not a good cause, and there’s more than enough of it on the web already. In fact, if you want to contribute to a “good cause” that is actually, you know, “good”, consider Let Grow, which shockingly argues for more freedom for kids rather than endless worry for their parents.
