Moral panic and alternative identity construction in Usenet

In this paper the concept of the “moral panic” is applied to computer-mediated communication through a qualitative examination of the case of a “troll” poster to the Usenet group alt.tv.melrose-place over a four month period. The notion of Internet identity construction is analyzed as a collaboration between participants, and the resolution strategies that the participants used in order to neutralize the moral panic are examined.