In this exercise, you will use an ethnomethodological approach (see Chapter 2) to understanding the stable and orderly proper­ties of interactions on the Internet. You will need to pay specific attention to the ways in which rules are broken on the Internet.

First, select a website that allows people to interact with one another (such as Facebook, Twitter, your favorite interactive blog, an online discussion forum, or the comments section of an article on your local newspaper’s website). In what ways does the Internet help facilitate behavior that would be devi­ant elsewhere? What norms are broken on the Internet that might not be broken in face-to-face interactions? What sorts of structural barriers exist on the Internet that might limit deviant behavior? Overall, do you think deviant behavior flows more easily because of the Internet? Given contemporary realities, a useful focus might be on efforts to encourage terrorism and to recruit terrorists.