Posts by kmont
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
Should read
Teenagers are doing the social networking thing
bah
-
This big chunk is from here again.
What characterizes these online communities in which an increasing number of us are spending our time? Social networking sites have a peculiar psychogeography. As researchers at the Pew project have noted, the proto-social networking sites of a decade ago used metaphors of place to organize their members: people were linked through virtual cities, communities, and homepages. In 1997, GeoCities boasted thirty virtual “neighborhoods” in which “homesteaders” or “GeoCitizens” could gather—“Heartland” for family and parenting tips, “SouthBeach” for socializing, “Vienna” for classical music aficionados, “Broadway” for theater buffs, and so on. By contrast, today’s social networking sites organize themselves around metaphors of the person, with individual profiles that list hobbies and interests. As a result, one’s entrée into this world generally isn’t through a virtual neighborhood or community but through the revelation of personal information. And unlike a neighborhood, where one usually has a general knowledge of others who live in the area, social networking sites are gatherings of deracinated individuals, none of whose personal boastings and musings are necessarily trustworthy. Here, the old arbiters of community—geographic location, family, role, or occupation—have little effect on relationships.
I hope this giant quote is enough to follow the argument. Teenagers and doing the social networking thing which involves a lot of revealing or showing. In contrast to where we are (PA System) which is more of a community of interest.
-
Yes Joanna that is kind of what I was thinking. With regards to teenagers, I think they need to be explictly taught about private/public/semi-public spaces. The dinner table is a good example (look at me being little Miss Manners) because there are dinner tables at home, in a crowded restaurant, you can request a quiet romantic table for two in the corner, private picnic in a public park........you get the picture. Difference being of course that the internet keeps a record of all your utterances for posterity.
This may be a bit controversial but I think trawling through teenage bebo pages is a bit like lurking around a little too close to a table of teenagers in a cafe. With a dictaphone. Then claiming they were yelling whatever offensive crap they were spouting amongst themselves from a soapbox on the street. Now obviously teenagers need to be aware that the internet is pretty much a sophisticated dictaphone but I still think it is creepy to trawl through social networking sites for dirt. -
In mentioning the privacy settings I am not implying that making bigoted comments privately makes it alright. I am just going off on my own tangent.
-
This is something I found on Arts and Letters Daily. The title is Virtual Friendship and the New Narcissism. Slightly tangential to the discussion but hey.......I recommend it.
Maybe we could shift the conversation a bit. I actually feel dirty about talking about people talking about Bill English's son. A bit of an overstatement but still I think this kind of thing needs to be guarded against.
The paragraphs under "Won't you be my digital neighbor?" were particularly interesting.
I think the general population needs to have a better grip on the nature of these spaces (bebo, facebook, myspace) before they start "reporting" on Bebo. I think that in time people will become more adept at using the privacy settings (if they have the good sense they were born with!) -
I'd die in a ditch before I would publicly condemn my 14 child no matter what he/she said. Thats what family means, FFS.
Exactly.
-
I would definitely vote for Craig.
-
Kate Bush wrote a song about a spell for invisibility, which basically involved being female and middle aged.
Oooh what is it called?
-
Segueways.
That is genius Joanna, a vision of nightmarish proportions that makes me wonder what else goes on inside that head of yours... -
If people want to stalk they should show some commitment ; )