The Kaycee/Debbie dilemma is certainly an interesting one. I had not heard of this particular case before, but I have heard of similar ones where a person decieves many others into believing that they are terminally ill, and worse, take advantage of donations from generous people. The Kaycee case brings up some compelling questions about online identity and community. Debbie's deception brought many people together in the concern for Kaycee, but her lies hurt these trusting and compassionate people once the real truth was revealed. And the revelation didn't just heart individual bloggers who sympathized with Kaycee; it profoundly effected people's notions of what to expect in online communities as a whole.
Before the truth was let out, some people who heard of Kaycee were skeptics. They looked for evidence to prove that Kaycee wasn't really who she said she was, and looked for things such as photos and other posts to prove their belief. Of the others that did believe Kaycee was genuine, some admonished these skeptics for being excessively cynical and "cheapening" Kaycee's experience and suffering. After Debbie's confession, online communities had to reevaluate themselves. With online identities, it is much easier to become someone you actually aren't. How much of what we see on these online forums and blogs should be taken to heart, and how much should be taken with a grain of salt? How much trust should be have in other online community members...how much is necessary to keep the community a community, and how much skepticism is needed so that similar situations don't happen again?
The perspectives given in this article were very thought-provoking and is certainly still relevant today. Unfortunately, some people do still try to pretend to be other people and take advantage of the compassion of others, only to turn around and say, "Haha, how gullible were they?!"
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