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May 2009 
MySpace: 100 Million, Zaadz: 15K; WOOT!
Posted on Aug 28th, 2006
by 
~C4Chaos
~C4Chaos
MySpace continues to dominate the social networking arena. Even Google is courting them already. And Rupert Murdoch is on his way to make a hefty profit from buying MySpace for $585 million. Nice.
Although there is some truth to this Huffington Post article, I think it's a little too harsh on MySpace. But partially true nonetheless. It can be said of the entertainment industry in general too (e.g. FOX, ESPN, MTV, HBO, Hollywood).
"The exploitation of kids on MySpace is, mostly, exploitation by MySpace. Back in the day --- warning: here comes the Old Fart Rant --- kids had real experiences and made real mistakes, played real games and got real injuries. MySpace takes kids who need fresh air and real friends and addicts them to their computer screens. Pump them up with snacks and soft drinks, and they're just like their parents --- only "interactive." Whatever that means."
But while MySpace has the greater SPAN, Zaadz has the greater DEPTH. Greater DEPTH rarely results in exploitation, IMHO.
Access: PublicTagged with: MySpace, Huffington Post, Zaadz, Social Networks, DEPTH, SPAN, Entertainment Industry, depth and span
But it's not really MySpace's fault, in any case, is it? I mean, they are just filling a niche. The problem of kids moving away from real experience is indeed a huge one, but if MySpace were to disappear nine more like it would just take its place….
I think the only way *through* the modern techno-age is to go fully into it and come out the other side. What other choice do we have?
“but if MySpace were to disappear nine more like it would just take its place….”
exactly. the bottomline is MySpace is not in the business of taking care of teenagers (or people for that matter). it's not a school but a hangout place, ”a place for friends.” it provides the portal but whatever happens in that portal are mainly due to the dynamics of the people inhabiting and passing through that portal.
if MySpace has a “fault” it's that its business model (or intentionality) is not anchored to give meaning and purpose to people who are passing through its portal. in that sense, MySpace is like an impartial Grand Central station. so even though it shouldn't be blamed for what happened in the portal, like a Grand Central Station, it has to have a certain amount of security in place to give people a sense of security, no matter how false that sense of security is. how can you guard 100 million people?
every parent knows that it's hard enough to deal with teenagers. multiply that a milion times then we can see the complexity of the situation. i think the issue lies within the demographics attracted by MySpace. with volume comes great power. with power comes great responsibility. let's see how MySpace takes care of its responsibilities.
another case in point: can we really blame MySpace for this?
MARTINSBURG — A Martinsburg man charged with felony child abuse Wednesday allegedly stapled his 16-year-old daughter’s ear and leg because she refused to give him her MySpace.com account password, according to court documents obtained by The Journal Thursday. [read more].
Geez.
Well, in part this gets back to the legal notion of a “common carrier.” Since they let everyone on, they are therefore, supposedly, in some weird legal sense, not completely resopnsible. But with numbers like that, they are really more like “Internet lite” than anything else. I don’t see any way of making it “safe” short of disbanding it or having parents take full responsibility for what their kids do online… which leads us right back to the stapling incident described above.
I’m afraid we’re all screwed.
LOL. well, that's only one angle of the story though. if this MySpace expose is correct, then MySpace and all its members are “screwed.” including me. because i have a MySpace account too. LOL some more.
Cool expose. Seems like no matter what we do on the Internet, it ends up getting memetically rewritten by the ineluctable rational technical grammar of late-stage capitalism.
“There’ll be the breaking of the ancient western code
Your private life will suddenly explode
There’ll be phantoms, there’ll be fires on the road
and the white man dancing”
– Leonard Cohen, “The Future”