Not in My Space
The saga of Miss New Jersey's somewhat racy photos and the failed blackmail attempt to have her bounced from the Miss America pageant will fade from the public eye soon enough. Oh, it would be nice to know who thinks so little of Amy Polumbo of Howell to send the telltale photos to pageant officials. But in the long run, it's no big deal.
What this episode did expose is the pervasivenss of social networking Web sites, familiarly known by the most popular ones, MySpace and Facebook. Why people feel compelled to share their innermost thoughts and mostly silly photos with select friends online says something about the communication needs of younger people today. Is everything worth boasting about? Isn't anything private anymore? And as Polumbo, "American Idol'' wannabe Antonella Barba of Point Pleasant and others have learned to their regret, the images on their protected pages can get around.
Any teenagers so uncomfortable with this sharing frenzy that they forgo MySpace or Facebook and instead prefer one-on-one in-person privacy are probably labeled as weird. Maybe they're better off.
What this episode did expose is the pervasivenss of social networking Web sites, familiarly known by the most popular ones, MySpace and Facebook. Why people feel compelled to share their innermost thoughts and mostly silly photos with select friends online says something about the communication needs of younger people today. Is everything worth boasting about? Isn't anything private anymore? And as Polumbo, "American Idol'' wannabe Antonella Barba of Point Pleasant and others have learned to their regret, the images on their protected pages can get around.
Any teenagers so uncomfortable with this sharing frenzy that they forgo MySpace or Facebook and instead prefer one-on-one in-person privacy are probably labeled as weird. Maybe they're better off.
posted by Larry Benjamin at 3:45 PM
9 Comments:
Mr. Benjamin, I'm glad you brought up this subject. I have been going to college for a year now, and I was told that these websites can be looked at by any potential employer, and one can lose out on a job because of whatever is on that site.
Kids have to think about what they put there. To people over 35, we know that it is comparable to putting your diary forever out in cyberspace, to be retrieved by anyone at any time.
There should be courses offered in intermediate school (because that is about the time kids get interested in MySpace, etc.) about the proper usage and consequences of posting things on the sites aforementioned here.
It also bears mentioning that the rather slutty behavior of the woman is the real issue. Ultimately, it's her own fault for getting drunk and stupid.
The real issue is that she posted the "slutty behavior" on the internet.
She wasn't a slut, Ray. That's just your belief system saying as much.
I said her behavior was slutty. Have you seen the poses? And you think that wasn't slutty behavior?
No belief system involved here at all - just a description of her behavior. Perhaps you have a lower standard of behavior than I do.
Oh... Her behavior was slutty, she wasn't. Gotcha. Let me guess ... the old lady left you for someone that could actually satisfy her, right? Is that why you got this thing about women and their slutty behavior?
Her behavior wasn't slutty either. She was a college kid goofing around in front of a camera for laughs. If you think those photos are slutty than you must be a real laugh a minute at parties...not!
She wasn't just goofing around with the camera. She then posted it for anyone to see. Pictures taken and then put in a photo album is one thing. Putting them on myspace or sites like it is the ultimate in ignorance. She mustn't ahve read the fine print when she agreed to be a part of myspace, etc. She mustn't have known the potential for this sort of thing to happen. Well, she knows now, and at a pretty big price too.
anonymous wrote:
"Oh... Her behavior was slutty, she wasn't. Gotcha."
No, you still don't.
"Let me guess ... the old lady left you for someone that could actually satisfy her, right?"
My turn: You get some serious kicks watching a drunk girl cavort in front of a camera while lifting and spreading her lags and while a male companion bites her breast. So much so that you overreact when someone says something that makes you feel guilty about your internet jollies.
"Is that why you got this thing about women and their slutty behavior?"
Geez, what would a woman have to do before you admitted that her behavior is slutty?
"Her behavior wasn't slutty either. She was a college kid goofing around in front of a camera for laughs."
I see. So some women -- not college kids -- will be behaving in a slutty way if they do that.
"If you think those photos are slutty than you must be a real laugh a minute at parties...not!"
I have to wonder what your late night hours on the internet have done to your sense of what's over the line.
Hi Larry,
"Not in My Space" reminds me of a comment "not in my backyard" in the comments posted on the "Criminally Insane are target for lawmakers" article in last Sunday's paper. Another appropriate blog for you to consider.
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