When MySpace Attacks!

So
there's been a feeding frenzy in the media recently
about the potential dangers of social networking and
blog sites like Xanga,
Facebook and LiveJournal. However,
one site in particular seems to be getting piled on
for its potential threat to today's youth: MySpace.

I've
been meaning to blog about this for a while, so my collection of news
articles with alarmist headlines like "Teens
find fun, trouble on MySpace.com" has grown uncomfortably
large, as will this entry. You are warned.

Now, I've
blogged before about the perils of revealing too
much personal information in your public blog. It's a valid
concern, and while it happens
to us old folks, teens seem especially
keen on blabbing
too much online.

They say outrageous things
online (some of which may actually be true), not fully
realizing or caring that their blog will eventually
get read by people whom they don't want reading
it, such as their mom, boss, judge, parole officer, college
admissions officer, future
employer, the police, etc.

This is
especially important to remember if one blogs about
illegal activities, such as being
a minor in possession of handguns, or posting photos of
underage crunkage or other probation
violations.

Maybe it's because all
teenagers are naturally invulnerable and immortal, or maybe it's
because they just haven't been burned yet -- I
particularly liked one quote in this article about mom
finding out about MySpace:

"It's the
Internet," said Sonia, 15, a Palo Alto High School sophomore. "I think
you should be able to write whatever you want."

You
would think a 15-year-old would have heard "Life isn't fair" about a
billion times by now.

Anyway,
part of the problem here is that what you post on the Internet never
really goes away -- it gets cached, copied, spidered or saved by
someone, somewhere, and these things have a funny way of coming back to
haunt you.

So, there is a legitimate concern out
there. I'm not even taking into account the ever-looming threat of the
stereotypical creepy old guy sexual
predator stalking minors.

But why pick on
MySpace? When it comes to social networking, MySpace is the top dog out
there, by a long shot, and it's still growing
like crazy. (This
just in: All of the American Idol finalists are going to have
MySpace pages.)

This makes the pundits go
wild, because on the one hand, they can ask, Can
MySpace Be Beaten?, and on the other hand, they can ask Is
MySpace All That?

Yes, some say, MySpace
will take over the blogosphere. No, others say, it
won't.

Looked at another way, is this
backlash
against MySpace just because everyone else is jealous of
their success? Are people just hatin' on MySpace, as they say?
Personally, I know I'd like to have their
traffic.

Having been around the block a few times, I
can remember when all
this "we have to do something to protect the children from the
Internet!" was focused at
those new-fangled chat rooms. So it's kind of
interesting to see someone else in the hot seat.

In
an interesting talk last month, blogger and researcher danah
boyd presented her research on why kids love
MySpace (the actualtitle is much more academic:
"Identity Production in a Networked Culture: Why Youth Heart
MySpace").

She feels that part of reason
there's a media frenzy around MySpace is that it's just the latest in a
long string of moral panics that come with any major
cultural disruption, like rock 'n' roll, jazz and television (I would
add to the list the automobile, telephones and
hip-hop.)

Anyway, in a line of reasoning that seems
pretty hard to disagree with, she says that the reason why MySpace
(along with other social profile and blogging sites) is so popular with
young people is that it lets them engage in identity
production -- that is, they can make themselves, or "be
someone."  Plus, it gives them a place to just hang out,
especially in a world where teens have less access to physical public
space.

If you like thinking about these things, you
should check
out the talk, which is pretty good, even if it is filled with
terms like friending, impression management and asynchronous
communication.

It's pretty apparent that MySpace is
here to stay (until the next big thing comes along -- does anyone
remember Friendster?). So what are
we supposed to do about all this? (Don't ask me, I just raise
questions, I don't answer them.)

Of course, you can
always go against the tide, become a refusenik and
reject
Facebook, MySpace, blogs, etc. Though that hardly seems like it's going
to catch on.

If you're a school, you're going to
have to evolve
your policies that deal with blogging and social networking.
Predictably, some are going to try cracking
down, though trying to ban things outright doesn't seem like
a success strategy in the making.

Just as
predictably, the
politicians are starting to get involved -- who knows what
will happen there?

In the meantime, teens
and bloggers of all ages should continue to watch
what they say online and try not to let out Too Much
Information. Parents should teach their kids will (they are, after all,
our future -- let them lead the way), then keep an eye on what they do online without going all crazy and control
freak-y (check out this MySpace
cheat sheet for parents).

I suppose that
this whole long piece was just an excuse for me to link to this Daily
Show bit on Social Networking, done last month by
correspondent Demetri
Martin, who of course, has a MySpace of his
own.

Thanks -- Joe