How the internet became a web of spite and revenge

The web is becoming an increasingly bitter and dangerous place, especially if you are a beautiful young thing, or a scorned ex, says Louise O’Neill

The photos had respectable origins, first appearing in the Washington Post in an article about the surprisingly warm weather Sochi was experiencing during the winter Olympics. One photo showed a young volunteer, wearing blue ski pants and a navy shirt pulled up to expose her midriff, her eyes closed as she leans against a banner that reads ‘Sochi 2014 — Hot. Cool. Yours.’

The photo was posted to Reddit, a social networking service and news website that, along with the image-board website 4chan has been described as the ‘front page of the internet’, boasting over 3 billion page views a month. Within hours, Reddit users had tracked down the Sochi volunteer on Facebook, and posted her real name as well as numerous photos of her in her bikini, leading one user to comment that “I knew that chick was looking for this attention.”