Hacker News Reader

Why? Technically speaking, it would be nice if there was another single word with the appropriate gravity and specificity that described the indirect destruction of people's lives and/or wellbeing, but practically speaking, there isn't, mostly because this particular kind of attack didn't exist in such a form in the past. Language evolves as society gets new stuff added to it.

View on HN

True, but seems doxing fits better conceptually into "harassment" than "violence".

> mostly because this particular kind of attack didn't exist in such a form in the past

This makes no sense. The "attack" of letting people know who a particular person is has always existed, but applied as an attack only in the very rare case where an exile came to your town and was later exposed. The norm was that everyone already knew exactly who everyone was -- in other words, that everyone was always and automatically subject to exactly the "attack" you claim didn't exist.

The attack of shaming has always existed and has generally been much more serious than it is now.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com