MySpace Needs Better Policing?
July 16, 2006 11:49 AM Subscribe
Underside of MySpace "The groups allow users to trade tips and advice or to discuss shared interest in drugs, self-harm or other topics." Can't seem to understand why this site has become some popular, especially for young folks.
Um, so what makes this any different from, say, AOL, IRC, Google Groups, Yahoo Groups, or anything else on the internets? The trendiness of Myspace-hating maybe?
posted by Oops at 12:05 PM on July 16, 2006
posted by Oops at 12:05 PM on July 16, 2006
So let me get this right, it's myspace's fault that these kid's parents have no idea what a myspace group is and that their children are gleaning destructive information from them. That makes as much sense as saying the city I live in is at fault for building street corners that kids can hang out on and have conversations about the same sort of stuff.
for fuck's sake doesn't anyone think about personal responsibility anymore?
posted by photoslob at 12:05 PM on July 16, 2006 [1 favorite]
for fuck's sake doesn't anyone think about personal responsibility anymore?
posted by photoslob at 12:05 PM on July 16, 2006 [1 favorite]
Ugh. That article almost reads like a parody of the WON'T SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN?? newstory genre.
I don't understand why more people don't realize that this sort of fear-mongering is less about the actual safety of children and far more about parents indulging their irrational fears and need to identify monstrously oversized threats to their kids so they can feel comfortable ignoring the inumerable threats they have no control over, or that are uncomfortably close to home (like child abuse by a relative). This lack of insight is especially puzzling to me given its ancient history and almost every adult's experience of this parental hysteria and misidentification of threats when we were children ourselves. When we were children, we thought it the most absurd thing in the world that our parents worried that listening to rock music would make us become Satanists and kill ourselves in despair. Now, as adults, so many of the same people are just as hysterical and clueless about contemporary "threats" as their parents were.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 12:06 PM on July 16, 2006 [3 favorites]
I don't understand why more people don't realize that this sort of fear-mongering is less about the actual safety of children and far more about parents indulging their irrational fears and need to identify monstrously oversized threats to their kids so they can feel comfortable ignoring the inumerable threats they have no control over, or that are uncomfortably close to home (like child abuse by a relative). This lack of insight is especially puzzling to me given its ancient history and almost every adult's experience of this parental hysteria and misidentification of threats when we were children ourselves. When we were children, we thought it the most absurd thing in the world that our parents worried that listening to rock music would make us become Satanists and kill ourselves in despair. Now, as adults, so many of the same people are just as hysterical and clueless about contemporary "threats" as their parents were.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 12:06 PM on July 16, 2006 [3 favorites]
These types of articles really tick me off. I mean does anyone spend the time to even research what they are sensationalizing about anymore? MySpace is just the latest popular service on the Internet. Every point discussed in this article can pretty much be made about any form of social communication. What? Did they already forget about the creeps on Yahoo chat? “Lets start attaching Skype because it lets my 12 year old daughter speak with another 12 year old about how to get away with hiding their eating disorders”. What about IM? You don’t think that your kids can talk to strangers on AIM about how to slice themselves up with out being noticed?
Your parental skills suck. Your kids are whining idiots who use a perfectly good method of communication as a narcissistic playground. You can’t do anything constructive about it at home, so you start using the media to build up support amongst other pathetic ignoramuses.
I got an idea, lets get our church group together and lobby congress so I don’t have to be a parent!
Fuck of losers.
posted by hex1848 at 12:09 PM on July 16, 2006
Your parental skills suck. Your kids are whining idiots who use a perfectly good method of communication as a narcissistic playground. You can’t do anything constructive about it at home, so you start using the media to build up support amongst other pathetic ignoramuses.
I got an idea, lets get our church group together and lobby congress so I don’t have to be a parent!
Fuck of losers.
posted by hex1848 at 12:09 PM on July 16, 2006
myspace is popular because kids remember what the internet looked like in 1996 and are nostalgic for it.
posted by StrasbourgSecaucus at 12:09 PM on July 16, 2006
posted by StrasbourgSecaucus at 12:09 PM on July 16, 2006
I'm less woried that kids are learning about drugs from MySpace and more worried that they're learning to thiink that embedded audio is okay on a Web page.
posted by Astro Zombie at 12:14 PM on July 16, 2006 [9 favorites]
posted by Astro Zombie at 12:14 PM on July 16, 2006 [9 favorites]
Ethereal Bligh: I don't understand why more people don't realize that this sort of fear-mongering is less about the actual safety of children and far more about parents indulging their irrational fears selling more newspapers, getting more viewers, and scaring the crap out of everyone as much as possible to maximize profits, which is what most "news" outlets are best at.
There, now we're talkin'.
posted by LooseFilter at 12:21 PM on July 16, 2006
There, now we're talkin'.
posted by LooseFilter at 12:21 PM on July 16, 2006
I don't understand why more people don't realize that this sort of fear-mongering is less about the actual safety of children and far more about
... trying to scare people about the internet so the government will be under pressure to control it, people will be less likely to participate in it, and the traditional media will have less competition
posted by pyramid termite at 12:26 PM on July 16, 2006
... trying to scare people about the internet so the government will be under pressure to control it, people will be less likely to participate in it, and the traditional media will have less competition
posted by pyramid termite at 12:26 PM on July 16, 2006
Since it's hardly annonymous, they're all really just screwing themselves in the ass.
posted by HTuttle at 12:28 PM on July 16, 2006
posted by HTuttle at 12:28 PM on July 16, 2006
(hey, it can be a theme:)
I don't understand why more people don't realize that this sort of fear-mongering is less about the actual safety of children and far more about
...lazy reporters who don't really want to work to find an interesting story that might be actual news, so just regurgitate "x new thing that oldsters don't understand is RUINING THE CHILDREN!!"-type stories to fill column space.
posted by LooseFilter at 12:46 PM on July 16, 2006
I don't understand why more people don't realize that this sort of fear-mongering is less about the actual safety of children and far more about
...lazy reporters who don't really want to work to find an interesting story that might be actual news, so just regurgitate "x new thing that oldsters don't understand is RUINING THE CHILDREN!!"-type stories to fill column space.
posted by LooseFilter at 12:46 PM on July 16, 2006
I'm more concerned about MySpace teaching our kids that poor design and shoddy coding are acceptable.
posted by Artw at 12:51 PM on July 16, 2006
posted by Artw at 12:51 PM on July 16, 2006
I'm more concerned about all these things people are more concerned about.
posted by zerolives at 12:53 PM on July 16, 2006
posted by zerolives at 12:53 PM on July 16, 2006
Yesterday, I was offered heroin in my stairwell.
MAKE STAIRWELLS ILLEGAL.
posted by milquetoast at 12:54 PM on July 16, 2006
MAKE STAIRWELLS ILLEGAL.
posted by milquetoast at 12:54 PM on July 16, 2006
Again?
posted by First Post at 12:57 PM on July 16, 2006
posted by First Post at 12:57 PM on July 16, 2006
I bought drugs off the internet way before MySpace.
The fear mongering concerns me because legislation like DOPA, despite its truly stupid name, are things that many people will have to deal with. Schools and libraries will be using tax dollars to buy crappy software to block crappy sites that are mostly harmless instead of buying stuff like books and pencils that are themselves only mostly harmless.
People voting on these issues think the Internet is made of tubes and think that MySpace is made of predators because all they know about it is what they read in the paper.
posted by jessamyn at 1:06 PM on July 16, 2006
The fear mongering concerns me because legislation like DOPA, despite its truly stupid name, are things that many people will have to deal with. Schools and libraries will be using tax dollars to buy crappy software to block crappy sites that are mostly harmless instead of buying stuff like books and pencils that are themselves only mostly harmless.
People voting on these issues think the Internet is made of tubes and think that MySpace is made of predators because all they know about it is what they read in the paper.
posted by jessamyn at 1:06 PM on July 16, 2006
Drugs! You mean kids are swapping info on the ADD medications they're taking? This has to be stopped at all costs! Bring on the task force! Think of the chillllllldrun!
posted by telstar at 1:10 PM on July 16, 2006
posted by telstar at 1:10 PM on July 16, 2006
Holy shit. That's not an Onion article?
*throws hands up in the air, runs around screaming*
MetaFilter: Fuck of losers.
posted by loquacious at 1:15 PM on July 16, 2006
*throws hands up in the air, runs around screaming*
MetaFilter: Fuck of losers.
posted by loquacious at 1:15 PM on July 16, 2006
If only the Iraqi children could build Myspace pages with embedded audio of thrash metal bands mimicking their mother's shrieks, then maybe they'd not all grow up to be terrorists like they are now. Spread the good "techno-drugs" to the third world, but keep those evildoin' terrorist drug dealin terrorists from guiding our kids toward drugs and abuse back home...because you know that the terrists r behind these evil-doin convo's and groups!
Pray for them!
posted by Sir BoBoMonkey Pooflinger Esquire III at 1:24 PM on July 16, 2006
Pray for them!
posted by Sir BoBoMonkey Pooflinger Esquire III at 1:24 PM on July 16, 2006
Some folks are always looking for an easy explanation of why things are screwed up. Blaming myspace for all the ills of the world is a case in point. As others said, maybe if parents paid more attention to what their kids were doing, they wouldn't have to blame the internet for eveything that goes wrong.
BTW, new measures to require kids under 14 to have parental approval and such for an account are laughable. Yeah, that will solve everything. Kids will just lie about their ages then. Reminds you of underage drinkers getting fake ID's, doesn't it?
But there will always be some simpleton in Congress who wants a little press who will propose regualting everything and anything just because someone might get hurt.
As the saying goes: If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, then baffle them with bullshit.
posted by bim at 1:25 PM on July 16, 2006
BTW, new measures to require kids under 14 to have parental approval and such for an account are laughable. Yeah, that will solve everything. Kids will just lie about their ages then. Reminds you of underage drinkers getting fake ID's, doesn't it?
But there will always be some simpleton in Congress who wants a little press who will propose regualting everything and anything just because someone might get hurt.
As the saying goes: If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, then baffle them with bullshit.
posted by bim at 1:25 PM on July 16, 2006
Can't seem to understand why this site has become some popular, especially for young folks.
Cant seem to understand why this irrelevant disclaimer has to appear everytime someone over 25 mentions MySpace.
It's a site that's easy to use and lets you connect with your friends online. Not that complicated, really.
posted by drjimmy11 at 1:36 PM on July 16, 2006
Cant seem to understand why this irrelevant disclaimer has to appear everytime someone over 25 mentions MySpace.
It's a site that's easy to use and lets you connect with your friends online. Not that complicated, really.
posted by drjimmy11 at 1:36 PM on July 16, 2006
It's a site that's easy to use and lets you connect with your friends online.
Plus, it's such a great outlet for all the (apparently) millions of attention whores among us, to really let their freak flag fly.
posted by LooseFilter at 1:46 PM on July 16, 2006
Plus, it's such a great outlet for all the (apparently) millions of attention whores among us, to really let their freak flag fly.
posted by LooseFilter at 1:46 PM on July 16, 2006
Hey, I'm way over 25 but this band that I like puts a lot of pictures and videos on myspace. You need a myspace account to get to the pics and videos. So I have a myspace account. Big deal. Myspace is just another internet place, If folks don't like it, well don't go there. It seems pointless to look down your nose at it though.
posted by bim at 1:50 PM on July 16, 2006
posted by bim at 1:50 PM on July 16, 2006
Oh yea...and many myspace webpages take "excess" to the nth degree. Eh, who cares. Let them have their fun.
posted by bim at 1:51 PM on July 16, 2006
posted by bim at 1:51 PM on July 16, 2006
"In a group called "Druggies," a 15-year-old MySpace member started a topic called "Which drug do you like best?" The answers included marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy, OxyContin and crystal meth."
Give this guy a Pulitzer!
posted by pwb503 at 2:06 PM on July 16, 2006
Give this guy a Pulitzer!
posted by pwb503 at 2:06 PM on July 16, 2006
I don't quite get the anti-myspace attitude either. OMG IT'S NEW, THEREFORE IT SUCKS. Old people don't like learning new things, so when they're confronted with new things they invariably freak out. Which is fine, but it's a little annoying how they get so self-righteous about it and naturally assume that they way they feel is the 'correct' way to feel and that anyone who disagrees with them is out of their minds.
It's like someone being proud they can't read or do math.
posted by delmoi at 2:11 PM on July 16, 2006
It's like someone being proud they can't read or do math.
posted by delmoi at 2:11 PM on July 16, 2006
I don't quite get the anti-myspace attitude either. OMG IT'S NEW, THEREFORE IT SUCKS.
For the record I concidered Geocities to suck as well.
posted by Artw at 2:22 PM on July 16, 2006
For the record I concidered Geocities to suck as well.
posted by Artw at 2:22 PM on July 16, 2006
"Parents of teens frequenting such groups "are usually completely unaware" of it, he said."
Any yet, MySpace is the problem?
posted by mr.curmudgeon at 2:33 PM on July 16, 2006
Any yet, MySpace is the problem?
posted by mr.curmudgeon at 2:33 PM on July 16, 2006
For the record I concidered Geocities to suck as well.
Doesn't it still?
posted by oaf at 2:48 PM on July 16, 2006
Doesn't it still?
posted by oaf at 2:48 PM on July 16, 2006
Doesn't it still?
Good lord, it still exists! "Now with Blogging!"
posted by Artw at 2:56 PM on July 16, 2006
Good lord, it still exists! "Now with Blogging!"
posted by Artw at 2:56 PM on July 16, 2006
I have no problem with MySpace except for who owns it. I have a difficult time trusting Murdoch with most anything.
posted by Sir BoBoMonkey Pooflinger Esquire III at 3:22 PM on July 16, 2006
posted by Sir BoBoMonkey Pooflinger Esquire III at 3:22 PM on July 16, 2006
Flashback to 1994. A young Jimbob is trading copies of The Jolly Rogers Cookbook on floppy disc with his classmates, and sneaking a peak at it on the PCs in the school library. Attemptes to smoke banana peel to get high.
His friend Simon shows him his amazing porn collection he has on his PC - stored on a harddrive he hides from his mother by disabling it in BIOS.
posted by Jimbob at 3:35 PM on July 16, 2006
His friend Simon shows him his amazing porn collection he has on his PC - stored on a harddrive he hides from his mother by disabling it in BIOS.
posted by Jimbob at 3:35 PM on July 16, 2006
OMG IT'S NEW, THEREFORE IT SUCKS.
Nope, I'm pretty sure myspace sucks because it's the fat, ugly, whining comic relief in the soap opera of the web. Its ubiquity is merely the icing on the cake of suck, and its newness hardly warrants a mention.
posted by Sparx at 3:36 PM on July 16, 2006
Nope, I'm pretty sure myspace sucks because it's the fat, ugly, whining comic relief in the soap opera of the web. Its ubiquity is merely the icing on the cake of suck, and its newness hardly warrants a mention.
posted by Sparx at 3:36 PM on July 16, 2006
Stop hating on MySpace.
Where else can kids go to post pictures of themselves wearing emo glasses and craning their necks at odd angles?
You kick them off MySpace, and they're only going to go somewhere more dangerous to do it!
posted by Alexandros at 3:45 PM on July 16, 2006
Where else can kids go to post pictures of themselves wearing emo glasses and craning their necks at odd angles?
You kick them off MySpace, and they're only going to go somewhere more dangerous to do it!
posted by Alexandros at 3:45 PM on July 16, 2006
WTF is with that odd angles thing? Do MySpace and LiveJournal distribute some kind of freebie webcam that only works if you tilt it downwards by about 30 degrees?
posted by Artw at 3:53 PM on July 16, 2006
posted by Artw at 3:53 PM on July 16, 2006
That's right. Stop hating on myspace. Weren't you a goofy kid once? :>
posted by bim at 3:58 PM on July 16, 2006
posted by bim at 3:58 PM on July 16, 2006
You kick them off MySpace, and they're only going to go somewhere more dangerous to do it!
Or force 'em to steal daddy's credit card and join MeFi...
posted by Ufez Jones at 4:13 PM on July 16, 2006
Or force 'em to steal daddy's credit card and join MeFi...
posted by Ufez Jones at 4:13 PM on July 16, 2006
Saucy Intruder said
I have no problem with MySpace except for who owns it. I have a difficult time trusting Murdoch with most anything.
Seems like myspace indiscretions have already led to many arrests.
Only the most ignorant of users believe their myspace words are unmonitored.
So what's to trust?
posted by surplus at 7:03 PM on July 16, 2006
I have no problem with MySpace except for who owns it. I have a difficult time trusting Murdoch with most anything.
Seems like myspace indiscretions have already led to many arrests.
Only the most ignorant of users believe their myspace words are unmonitored.
So what's to trust?
posted by surplus at 7:03 PM on July 16, 2006
"It's a subculture of users who gather in "groups" -- or message boards -- focused on dangerous and sometimes illegal activities..."
That's about as far as I got before I was laughing so hard I couldn't see the screen for all the tears. They gather in groups ooh! They gather in groups! Human beings gathering in groups, you say? There ought to be a law! ROTFLMAO.
Yes it's fear mongering. Yes it's to increase their profits. Yes myspace has people on it doing questionable things and yes it's all out there for the world to see and ooh isn't that awful, or mahvelous! Or, oh whatever you think it is.
Yes yes yes to all the above. So what else is new? Newspapers like the Washington Post have always sold what their audiences want. ...What? You thought reporters actually told the TRUTH? That went out with William Randolph Hearst! Where you been?
What's most disturbing is that this IS what the consumer audience wants. We're always blaming the messenger. Or the message. We should be looking at the people who pay for this kind of story.
posted by ZachsMind at 7:23 PM on July 16, 2006
That's about as far as I got before I was laughing so hard I couldn't see the screen for all the tears. They gather in groups ooh! They gather in groups! Human beings gathering in groups, you say? There ought to be a law! ROTFLMAO.
Yes it's fear mongering. Yes it's to increase their profits. Yes myspace has people on it doing questionable things and yes it's all out there for the world to see and ooh isn't that awful, or mahvelous! Or, oh whatever you think it is.
Yes yes yes to all the above. So what else is new? Newspapers like the Washington Post have always sold what their audiences want. ...What? You thought reporters actually told the TRUTH? That went out with William Randolph Hearst! Where you been?
What's most disturbing is that this IS what the consumer audience wants. We're always blaming the messenger. Or the message. We should be looking at the people who pay for this kind of story.
posted by ZachsMind at 7:23 PM on July 16, 2006
Since it's hardly annonymous, they're all really just screwing themselves in the ass.
posted by HTuttle at 12:28 PM PST
Yea, because no one would use a fake name on the internet, right Mr. Tuttle?
posted by rough ashlar at 12:16 AM on July 17, 2006
posted by HTuttle at 12:28 PM PST
Yea, because no one would use a fake name on the internet, right Mr. Tuttle?
posted by rough ashlar at 12:16 AM on July 17, 2006
my boyfriend says this "myspace is like aids, everyone is getting it"
i have not one but two myspace accounts, one for music, one for closer friends, i enjoy the odd angle photos and narcissistic bloggin, and i dont belong to any self harm/ drug/ negative body image groups, and yeah perhaps the kiddies should be reading something else, but if their parents were paying attention, its right there, easy enough to find....
my space is Not the reason kids do drugs, have sex etc...
posted by beachgrrlmusic at 8:08 AM on July 17, 2006
i have not one but two myspace accounts, one for music, one for closer friends, i enjoy the odd angle photos and narcissistic bloggin, and i dont belong to any self harm/ drug/ negative body image groups, and yeah perhaps the kiddies should be reading something else, but if their parents were paying attention, its right there, easy enough to find....
my space is Not the reason kids do drugs, have sex etc...
posted by beachgrrlmusic at 8:08 AM on July 17, 2006
Artw writes "WTF is with that odd angles thing? Do MySpace and LiveJournal distribute some kind of freebie webcam that only works if you tilt it downwards by about 30 degrees?"
They've all got internet disease.
posted by youarenothere at 8:17 AM on July 17, 2006
They've all got internet disease.
posted by youarenothere at 8:17 AM on July 17, 2006
how many chances in day to day living do we get to decide exactly how people view us, personally ive found internet disease empowering...but im weird, haha.
posted by beachgrrlmusic at 8:22 AM on July 17, 2006
posted by beachgrrlmusic at 8:22 AM on July 17, 2006
I must say, having discovered drugs as I approached legal age, my experimentations were made much safer by the internet.
If Erowid didn't exist, I might have done some foolish things. Of course, not every kid is going to research a substance before trying it for the first time, but I sure did. I also was able to help educate my friends who were experimenting with me. I was able to avoid some things that utterly destroyed others.
So for every kid getting encouragement to engage in self destructive behaviour, there's a kid like me getting educated and learning how to experiment safely.
posted by utsutsu at 9:34 AM on July 17, 2006
If Erowid didn't exist, I might have done some foolish things. Of course, not every kid is going to research a substance before trying it for the first time, but I sure did. I also was able to help educate my friends who were experimenting with me. I was able to avoid some things that utterly destroyed others.
So for every kid getting encouragement to engage in self destructive behaviour, there's a kid like me getting educated and learning how to experiment safely.
posted by utsutsu at 9:34 AM on July 17, 2006
January Payne...seriously?
posted by Smedleyman at 11:09 AM on July 17, 2006
posted by Smedleyman at 11:09 AM on July 17, 2006
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posted by subaruwrx at 12:05 PM on July 16, 2006