If your daughter tells you she wants to be a "hot girl," don't panic; she may be referring to the non-profit organization HOTGIRLS Inc., an Atlanta-based youth activist group founded in 2001 by Dr. Carla Stokes. HOTGIRLS, or Helping Our Teen Girls In Real Life Situations, works to help young women of color improve their lives. They focus on health education, specifically AIDS-related issues, and female empowerment in the hip hop generation.

In an impressive effort to reach more girls, HOTGIRLS Inc. has taken their message to the web, creating FIREGRL.com, a website that "will provide a safe space for girls to speak out, give advice, receive support, and discuss issues of concern via online discussion forums and other interactive online community features." Congratulations to this grass-roots organization for their positive use of Internet technology and for making young women proud to be HOTGIRLS! Look for the launch of the remodeled website in 2008.

For more news on HOTGIRLS Inc. read about them in the NY Times.

On November 11, 2007 a Missouri newspaper broke the story of 13-year-old Megan Meier who had committed suicide a year earlier following a cyberbullying attack. Since that story first appeared, an online blogging war has ensued over who is to blame for the tragedy.

Megan had been conversing with a teenage boy named "Josh Evans" on MySpace, or at least someone she thought was a teenage boy. According to the official police report, the Evans account was created and maintained by Lori Drew, the mother of Megan's one-time friend down the street. After the girls had a falling out, Drew decided to "friend" Megan through the Evans account so she could get Megan to open up about her daughter. The Josh Evans account appears to have been the combined effort of Drew, her 18 year-old employee, at least one other neighbor, and possibly Drew's daughter. In the wake of the criminal investigation, those involved have been playing the blame game, each pointing the finger at the other. The whole truth may never come out, but in the meantime St. Charles County Prosecutor Jack Banas has decided that no crime was committed, therefore Drew will not be charged.

The original article withheld the name of Lori Drew for two reasons: she had not been charged with a crime, and her teenage daughter would have felt the repercussions at school. Two days after the original article an outraged mother, Sarah Welles, posted a blog outing Lori Drew as the MySpace Mother setting off a firestorm of controversy over online shaming and vigilante justice. All of Drew's contact information has been posted online, including her address, telephone numbers, business contacts, even a satellite picture of her house. Thousands of comments have appeared on forums, comment boards, and blogs attacking Drew.

Online shaming, also known as virtual vigilantism, is not new (check out the story of the dog poop girl), but this blogging war has reached epic proportions. On one side are the vigilantes intent on shaming Drew for her hoax, on the other are those insisting that online shaming is no different from the cyberbullying that Megan experienced. One especially disturbing blogger called "Megan Had It Coming" claimed to be Lori Drew herself, although it now seems to be the work of a hoaxer (police are currently investigating the identity of the blogger). That blog alone garnered over 2000 responses.

So which side are you on? Should Drew be shamed for her actions or should the vigilantes back off? Blogging has proven to be an especially powerful media tool capable of swaying public opinion and fanning the flames of outraged citizens, but will it bring any kind of peace for Megan Meier's family? One thing is certain: as accusations fly and the blame game continues, the blog war does not seem to be ending anytime soon.