As brilliant as my generation is, we fail to realize one thing: the internet is changing our lives as much as fire has changed the human race. I, myself, am a recovering instant messaging and Myspace addict. I forced myself to kick the habit when I realized how much it was taking over my life. For old time’s sake, I actually signed onto AOL Instant messenger the other day to see how my friends were doing. My friend’s girlfriend started flirting with me (which she would have never done in person,) thus angering my friend. I had been online not even 20 minutes, and trouble was already beginning to brew.
Perhaps the best example of the internet changing our lives is MySpace, a social networking website. It made its debut in several years ago, and is now the 3rd largest website in America with 106 million registered accounts. And, 230,000 new members join the site every single day. In my opinion, 230,000 naïve suckers.
So, who is this twisted conglomerate who has control over our lives? It is the News Corporation, a media monopoly run by Rupert Murdoch. However, I think it would be more appropriate to call it the News Corpse. This vile corporation owns the New York Post, DirecTV, Fox Network, TV Guide, National Geographic and FX channels, 20th Century Fox, and even a textbook publishing company, just to name a few of their properties.
I quote the News Corporation Annual Report for 2005:
“A stronger smarter internet presence will enable us to get the most out of our content, expand our reach, and exponentially increase consumer choice. Our aim is nothing less than to provide the best and stickiest internet experience available anywhere”
Murdoch’s media empire has made itself famous with its conservative, right-wing agenda. Not only does the network have a stable of self-identified conservatives, their supposedly unbiased reporters also tend to magnify misinformation that promotes a conservative social agenda. Is this who we want to be controlling our lives?
Aside from being owned by a man with many parallels to Darth Vader, MySpace can cause serious harm in other ways. Anyone who has ever used MySpace knows that it’s as addictive as crack, and like crack, it takes over your life, helps you lose your friends, and seriously limits your outside interests.
MySpace has some twisted anti-social elements as well. For example, the site allows and encourages the public ranking of your friends. Would you walk into school with a sign on your head ranking your best friends? That’s exactly what MySpace is accomplishing.
To make matters worse, it mines personal data for marketing purposes. You may not realize it, but these jerks are making money off your content. You are telling them what kids your age are interested in, and they’re delivering advertising accordingly. Myspace has 12% of all ads on the entire Web, and makes $100 million in banner ads per year. That’s $100 million off of YOUR content!
The thing that most teenagers have difficulty grasping is how unbelievably public the information is that they post online. Most people savvy to the internet know that MySpace is a breeding ground for pedophiles and sexual predators. I have encountered this myself. A few months ago a friend called me for help. She wanted me to block this guy who had constantly been sending her messages. Out of curiousity, I read them, and they were pretty sick. The guy was posing as his sister and was going on and on about how hot her brother was, going into some pretty graphic sexual description. Even after my friend said she was only 14, and that he had the worst girl impression she had ever seen, this creep continued to message her.
So, if creepy sexual predators aren’t enough to make you unplug, think about this: college admission officers are registering on MySpace and doing Google searches on applicants. Do you want schools knowing every single thing about you? I know I don’t. In addition to college admission officers, some police and campus security personnel have been known to use MySpace to search for evidence. The irony of it all is that most users see MySpace as their private space.
But aside from all these things, the thing I find the most damaging about MySpace, and just internet communication in general, is that too many teenagers use it as a substitute for normal social interaction. Gone are the days when guys ask girls out on dates. Now they just leave a comment on their MySpace page. Online interaction can bring up a lot of fights and disagreements because people aren’t themselves online. You can’t tell what somebody’s facial expression is, and people can be really easily misunderstood. I think online interaction is also harmful because it stunts development. Teenagers have to learn how to communicate and get along with people in real life.
So, after you’ve made things public to cops and college admission offices that you didn’t want them to know, been sexually harassed, lost your social skills, and been used as an advertising tool, ask yourself: is it really MySpace, or just another trick of the man to turn our generation into mindless drones staring at the computer? It’s not MySpace, it’s HisSpace.