Technologically Challenged

Living in the world of Myspace…An ethnological standpoint.

Well here we are at the end of the semester and it has been some ride.  I have enjoyed reading and commenting on posts that I have read during the course of the semester.  What I have enjoyed most of all is having been introduced to the world of SNS.  I have learned quite a lot while “hanging out” and socializing.  In this my final “exam”, so to speak, here is what I have learned.

The first thing I did was go to the site and read the “fine print”.  I read the terms and conditions and FAQs.  Since I knew absolutely nothing about the site I figured this would be the first place to start.  According to what I read; one must be at least 14 years old to use the Myspace site.  I am not quite sure how this is regulated, maybe by the age police (LOL), but that is the standard.  Most of the rules governing Myspace are the same as most public “places”.  No profanity and that sort of thing.  The creator and manager of Myspace has the right to delete your profile if you break the rules.  Basically, it seems, that the same rules of conduct apply to this SNS as would apply to other most other social settings.

I proceeded to ask my daughter, son, and friends questions about their experiences using Myspace.  I wanted to find out what types of conversations they engage in and what kinds of social activities they participate in while using the SNS.  My 23-year-old daughter has been using the site for a couple years now.  Her husband is in the military and this is one of the ways she stays connected to him.  He is often away from the use of a phone; but has frequent access to his laptop computer.  They are able to share photos with one another as well as send messages back and forth.  They are also able to communicate to friends they have in common as well as various family members.  She also uses it to “visit” with friends from college and her old high school friends.  Of course, she has also made new friends that she talks to on Myspace.  She enjoys uploading her favorite photos onto the site and she puts her favorite songs on there.  I have found it very neat to go on and look at the various homepages of my “friends”.  Each one is unique to that person.

My teenage son uses the site daily to keep up with his friends and to make new friends by adding “friends of a friend” and so on.  He also has some cousins that he talks to on his site.  When I visited his site I found it to be very “redneck”.  I know my son is a good ole country boy; but didn’t know he was that redneck.  I listened to some of his songs and looked at some of his jokes and quizzes and photos.  It was interesting to see my son from that perspective.  I was also able to look at comments that his pals had made and this gave me an insight into the kinds of people he associates with on a daily basis.

I also questioned an old friend of mine who has been using the site for about six months now.  She became interested in it while her husband was gone on a business trip.  This was a way she said to reconnect with old friends without having to leave the safety and comfort of her home.  After she began experimenting with it she began to upload photos to share and add her favorite tunes to the site.  I asked her about the rules governing the usage and she said that she never read the rules but just assumed it followed the same social rules as any other type of social situation.  Which after reading the “rules” myself, found that she is right.

 Myspace, from my experience, just seems to be a “place” for people of all ages (although young people probably use it more) to “hang out” and socialize.  It is a place to share what is going on in our “worlds”.  As I had posted at an earlier time; I compare the personalization of the Myspace page to that of my bedroom that I had as a teenager.  We can decorate it to suit our own personal tastes.  It is our place to express ourselves.  On our own Myspace pages we can set up our profiles that show the world all about us.  There is even a spot to put our sexual orientation.  Now how personal is that?  We can put our picture up for others to see; we can post comments on a daily basis including our mood and what we are doing at the time.   We can put all of our favorite music on there and we can put our personal photos on there.  When others go in to look at the photos that can leave comments for you.  I noticed that some of the comments are hilarious.  Probably the best part is that we can invite people to be our friends and if we don’t want them in our circle; we can exclude them.  This too, is just like most social situations.  Basically, we can socialize at our own convenience and right from the comfort of our home.  Short of being able to actually reach out and physically touch someone; we are able to communicate through the computer and internet just like we would if we were actually face to face with someone.

I have honestly enjoyed this class because I have learned so many new things about technology.  I plan to keep my Myspace up and going so that I can keep in touch with friends and family.  I hope also to keep in touch with classmates that I have met this semester.  I am also planning to keep my Google Reader account so that I can keep up with the latest news.  Dr. Lowell, that includes your blog. 

Myspace…everyone’s space

The first time I heard about Myspace was on a news broadcast in which some police officers had gotten into trouble for racial remarks that they had made on Myspace.  At least it was something to this effect; forgive me if I have forgotten the details.  It has been a while back.  I thought of it recently while I have been reconnecting with old friends and “spying” on my kids, LOL (that’s “laugh out loud” for some who may not know the terminology).  When I first saw the story on t.v. I didn’t even know what Myspace was, just that it was some website or something on the internet.  Obviously, it had to be something very bad because police officers had gotten into trouble using it.  When my teenage son first mentioned that he had a myspace account, I went crazy.  I didn’t want him using it because I thought it was dangerous.  I felt a little at ease when my 23 year old daughter told me that she could watch his page and see all the comments that were made on there.  I knew she would keep him in line.  Now that I have been using myspace on my own; I see that it is like most any other social situation…you have to be careful.  You can get into trouble on myspace the same as you could get into trouble at a bar, at school, at work…anywhere there are other people involved.  Myspace is out there for everyone to see…at least everyone in your circle of friends.  So you have to be careful.  I guess it has been good in some ways for him to use it.  It may have helped him to learn what is and is not socially acceptable in some ways.

Oh My

If you want to know what your kids are into…check out their myspace page.  My 23-year old daughter is quite the social butterfly.  You see, on Myspace you can post pictures.  You can arrange them into albums and so on.  Then people can look at your pictures and make comments about them.  I even saw some pics of me that I didn’t know she had.  Needless to say, there were some that I wasn’t crazy about having broadcast all over the internet.  Nothing bad, just not looking my best.  I think kids sometimes like embarrassing their parents though.  Anyway, I posted some pics of my own (and I got revenge with some of her pics) and have enjoyed reading the comments that people have written about them.  It is a lot of fun.  Even for olders like me.

Visit Me

I just wanted to throw out the URL for my MySpace page.  I currently have 8 friends on there and would like to have more.  I am beginning to get on Myspace more and more and would love to have more friends.  Here it is:   URL: var uUrl = “myspace.com/bearsgal1988″; var uHref = “http://www.myspace.com/bearsgal1988″; document.write(”"); if(uUrl.length>24){ document.write(”“); document.write(uUrl.substring(0,24) + “…”); document.write(”“); document.write(”” + uUrl + ““); }else{ document.write(”“); document.write(uUrl); document.write(”“); } document.write(”"); myspace.com/bearsgal1988

A world of our own.

I have been doing some exploring of sorts on Myspace and Twitter.  I have discovered how to upload photos and customize the myspace page to suit me.  It kinda reminds me of my bedroom when I was a teenager.  My bedroom was “my space”.  It said all there was to say about me from the kind of music I liked to the movie stars I had crushes on.  I also had a phone in my room; so this is how I communicated with my friends.

Communication is done mostly by keyboard now, it seems.  Members of social groups follow much the same “rules” as we did when I talked on the phone as a teenager.  For example, teenage girls often like to gossip…the difference between doing so on the phone and with the keyboard….on myspace it is there in plain sight.  It is not as secretive as one person speaking to the other over the phone.  I have been paying close attention to my childrens’ and their friends’ Myspace pages this week (I have set up an account on Twitter; but no one seems to want to talk to me there).  My daughter posted some pictures that were a surprise to me.  I guess if you want to get to know your kids…go to their myspace space.  It is the same for my teenage son.  He has some stuff on there that shocked me.  There are a few mild profanities, pics of half naked women (well they are clothed, but there sure is a lot of skin showing) along with comments from some of his friends.  Friends I didn’t even know existed, I might add. 

It is almost like they are in their own little world there.  Much like I was when I was up in my room with the stereo blasting out the 80s tunes and my telephone receiver hot to the touch.  My room was a microcosm of sorts just as the myspace environment is.

I am really trying to get with the times and make sense of all this technology stuff.  I am doing better really.  I am looking forward to getting on myspace at home tonight to see if there is anything new from any of my “friends”.  How exciting to be young again.

Myspace can hurt

You know, I am amazed at the impact Myspace has among social groups.  I once doubted the infiltration of technology in culture as having any great impact.  I thought that myspace (from the very little that I knew of it) was just a passing fad.  Little did I know that Facebook and twitter also existed.  Just this week; I experienced the power of the SNS first hand. 

My daughter uses Myspace on a daily basis (as I have now begun to do).  She “talks” with old friends from college, high school and childhood as well as her husband who is in IRaq.  Wow, who would’ve thought we would be able to talk with soldiers in a war zone?  Anyway, she is very involved with the SNS culture.  Today she calls me crying because there is a rumor going on about her that began as a comment on myspace.  I won’t get into the details; but she is nearly devastated.  Her husband way across the world has been exposed to the gossip going on.  So, even though he is thousands of miles away in a war-ridden country; he knows what is going on here at home.  It just amazes me.

 Now I think my daughter will be okay; she is tuff like her mom.  I guess my point is; SNS is not just for chatting and having non-chalant conversations.  SNS is a culture in and of itself.  It has infiltrated mainstream America and the world and is powerful in that it can link loved ones (good stuff) or relay rumors and gossip (bad stuff).  Just like people do in person.  It just blows me away sometimes.  

Blogs in the classroom

This is an interesting article about the problems with using blogs in the classroom.  I thought it was worth sharing.

A Problem with Blogs

Scary as H***

This video scares me.  Just wondering what some of you have to say about it.  Please watch and let me know your feelings.

Link: Humanity Lobotomy
This is an interesting video about the idea of Net Neutrality.

Spread the word by copy this code and paste to a blog, bulletin, your profile or comment.

Check out this video

SNS tidbit

I have found out something about my MySpace page; it is a place that I can customize to fit my personality.  On MySpace I can have my favorite music, pictures, personal information, etc.  If you want to find out about someone, just visit their MySpace page.  In a sense I think visiting a person’s Myspace page is like visiting them at home.  You see the things the person is interested in, you can chat, you just learn so much on a very personal level.