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My MySpace Article

This article was written for Buffalo Rising about an article printed in yesterday's Buffalo News. The one that's printed on the Buffalo Rising site is slightly edited and fixed up grammatically, etc, so here is the original:

I think it's pretty evident after yesterday's front cover article that the Buffalo News has run out of things to talk about. The article, entitled "Teen Online Profiles Have Parents Wondering: Who Is This Child?" bashes online communities such as Myspace for displaying personal information about teens. It's pretty much the most inaccurate, ignorant piece of drivel I have ever read.

Over the past two years or so since Myspace has been created, it has attracted millions of users, most of whom are teenagers. As soon as massive amounts of young people start flocking to anything, you know it's about time for uninformed parents to start denouncing it as a product of Satan.

I honestly thought that this whole FEAR-THE-INTERNET thing went out a while ago. Apparently not. I blame it on ignorance. You read an article every once in a while about a poor girl who was brutally murdered after meeting her online boyfriend at his car in a creepy parking lot. Then everybody who doesn't know better starts freaking out, going, "SUE THE INTRA-NET! IT'S UNSAFE FOR KIDS!" That's essentially what this News article is trying to do. Instill fear into parents over something that they know nothing about.

"You can learn a lot about your kids online," a quote from the article says. "You can find out if they're drinking, you can find out if they're smoking...." Not that that isn't true. In the left-hand sidebar of each Myspace profile, there is a section that displays general interests (favorite movies, books, TV shows) and personal information (such as zodiac signs, whether or not the person wants to have children someday, and if they smoke or drink).

The Buffalo News tries to make Myspace look like an online version of the Eastern child market when in reality, it's just a website that lets users communicate in a different way. In simplest terms, it's basically an instant messenger profile in website form. You can view the interests and optional personal information about a person and see who their friends are. Some people use it to keep in contact with friends within a tight-knit community like their school or their place of employment. Some people use it as a popularity-meter by comparing who has more friends. Some people, dubbed "MySpace Whores," simply go out there and add as many people as possible to their friends lists regardless of whether they know them or not. Some people use it simply show off their creativity by decorating their personal pages with fancy graphics or by displaying their band's music using the MySpace Music feature. Whatever the reason for using it, the action that goes on on MySpace is mostly harmless.

"You dont have to put out any information if you dont want, the choice is yours," says my friend Lena. It's true. Anything you put on MySpace is both open-ended and optional. You don't HAVE to put your relationship status and sexual preference. You don't HAVE to include your smoking and drinking habits. But if you do, it's not a big deal either. Why? Because, once again, MySpace is for friends. Your friends are the people who view your profile. Your friends are the people who post comments on it. Furthermore, there is a certain amount of anonymity that is still kept while using Myspace. Neither your last name or your home address is displayed. "A lot of it's just made up anyway. My friend isn't actually from Uzbekistan and one hundred years old even though that's on her MySpace profile," says Anastasia, a freshman at City Honors School. Unless you're hanging a sign around your neck that reads "COME RAPE ME!" and are giving your address out to people you've never met before, the risk of online predators is very low if not nonexistent.

The internet isn't the same place it used to be. With the emergence of online communities, blogging tools, and online-journaling sites like LiveJournal, more and more people are more open. Things that were once considered secrets or even taboo (relationships and constipation are a two examples) are now being written about in the most public of places. My advice is that people not bash the internet. Accept that fact that as time goes on, the internet will continue to bring people closer together. Personal information will become less personal. The big rule is to just be responsible about it. Don't give out your last name. Don't tell people your address. If your child is the kind of person who would go into somebody's car in a dark alley, they probably shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a computer anyway.

January 12, 2006 at 10:50 AM

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