Exploitation Through Myspace.Com

Janet Sznura

Info-Lit

English 3

Period 4

Exploitation through Myspace.com

The internet has opened a vast number of possibilities for the people of today's generation. Information that once people had to spend hours hovering over textbooks can now be accessed in the click of a mouse button. It has also made a huge influence opening the doors of communication though online dating and friendship sites. Now finding old classmates and friends is just as simple as finding research. Myspace is a internet blogging site that has made a huge impact on today's society. It is the home of over 77 million registered users and is still growing strong everyday. Myspace allows people to exploit themselves to the rest of the online world through openly sharing personal information and pictures.

Most of today's teenagers have a Myspace account and regularly check it for comments and new friend requests. It is a internet blogging site that allows a person to put up pictures of themselves along with information that they want to share such as the schools they go to and the music the are into. "The majority of participants are what would be labeled youth - ages 14-24. MySpace has more page views per day than any site on the web except Yahoo! (yes, more than Google or MSN)."

What many of the kids using Myspace don't realize is that millions of people have access to the pictures and personal information they post. Police say in some cases sexual predators are using that information to find kids. "One Internet safety expert said for a pedophile, it can be like a one stop shopping catalogue."

If you take the time to search through MySpace, what you will find is members list their names, addresses, even their after school schedules. Everything a pedophile would need to find them. You would also find pictures of binge drinking, apparent drug use, teens simulating sex and in some cases even having it.

As a generation were parents are tech challenged and kids know more about the web then they do, Myspace was a big wake up call. Teenagers are so exposed to all this modern technology today and they have made the internet such a big part of their lives, but often those using it are too young to know the dangers it holds.

Every day, people dress themselves in a set of clothes that expresses something about their identity, either what we do for a living, were they fit in the social class, what their

interests are, etc. This is identity production. Around the age of 12 teens begin to actively engage in identity production as they take a turn away from their parents and look to their peers as their primary influences. The youth looks up to older teens and the media to get cues about what they should be wearing, how to act, and what's cool. "Most teens are concerned with resolving how they perceive themselves with how they are perceived. To learn this requires trying out different performances, receiving feedback from peers and figuring out how to modify fashion, body posture and language to better give off the intended impression. These practices are critical to socialization, particularly for youth beginning to engage with the broader social world."

The teenage years are a short period in-between childhood and adulthood and the teens are often trying to balance between the two identities. They misbehave like kids