Teens get way harsh on MySpace

[mawilson 2,133]

Breaking up might have been hard to do when Neil Sedaka sang about it, but thanks

to Sir Tim Berners Lee [the inventor of the World Wide Web - MW], it is now as easy

for teenagers to break up with each other as it is for them to microwave a junk food sausage.

Yes, the latest thing to do is to break up with your beau on his or her MySpace page.

It is a far cry from the heady days we can remember, when people would break up

with each other by text message. So cosy, so personal. So old hat.

Danah Boyd, a doctoral candidate in the School of Information at the University of

California at Berkeley, is studying online teen behaviour. She says teenagers are now

all too aware that any kind of recorded message can be manipulated to mean something

beyond its original intent. They also know that people can lie about private conversations,

and so choose to break up in public so everyone knows their side of the story.

Boyd writes: "By breaking up through MySpace comments, the heartbreaker is attempting

to assert their view for everyone else to see so that they cannot be accused of saying

something else in private."

The risk, of course, is that the ex will simply delete you from their list of friends, thus

condemning all your hard crafted, bile drenched words of parting to cyberspace oblivion.

Boyd ponders the very public nature of teenage relationships here in a blog entry about

her research. She concludes that although the lack of privacy bothers older people, for

teens, public displays make all the sense in the world:

"Although the mall and move theatre are still desired outings for teen couples, many have

far greater access to networked publics like MySpace than they do to unmediated publics.

Thus, it's natural that the primary plumage display takes place in these forums," she concludes.

Source

[Robor007 0]

MySpace =

[Niels Bohr 72]

Myspace = Problems

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Teens + myspace = hot

[notrepetiteashley 0]

I love myspace. I think I'll go there now and break up with myself.

[Ban Hammer 13,451]

I love myspace. I think I'll go there now and break up with myself.

be sure to act surprised

[Welshcookie 17]

Ha.....I can keep up with the state of my daughter's 'relationship' by regular visits to her myspace....she just thinks I am an extra intuitive mother

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Employers have gotten wise to the ####### people post online and have started adding google searches to background checks to see what comes up about applicants. The sad part of all this is finding even false gossip about you online can cost someone an opportunity. People need to be careful what they post online.

[eric&gen 0]

Myspace is crazy lol.

[Boiler 45,805]

I am just waiting for a US Corporation to use MySpace to announce their latest round of lay offs.

Can only be a question of time.

"Sorry about your lost job"

What?

"Do you not go to MySpace?"

[KarenCee 3]

No MySpace here.

[Welshcookie 17]

I actually like MySpace.....we have family scattered all over the world and it is a nice way to keep up with the every day goings on ..... and with various VJ folks

[Ladylethal 12]

I never had a MySpace or plan to have one.

[Nessa 23]

I never had a MySpace or plan to have one.

same here

[PlatyPius 5]

MySpace is for GnuBeez......