Is 'My Space' being Napstered?

[Stinky The Clown]

Just a question. I know little about My Space. I know it is a sort of personal blog space where young people post stiff. Some of what's posted is supposedly used by various flavors of predator.

But can My Space be as bad as the media is playing it or is this but one more distraction from the real issues of the day?

[jrw14125]

1. it's owned by rupert murdoch - need to know anything more?

[Warpy]

2. I know kids who post there

and it's mostly kids talking to each other, posting art and their own music, doing the things kids normally do.

Yes, predators have discovered it.

I would hate to see it restricted. It's too useful for lonely kids, and most kids are lonely at least part of the time. I'd rather just educate the kids about predators, something my friends' kids have been.

[SteppingRazor]

3. Of course not. The recent rash of Myspace stories in the news are absurd..

The Dateline one this weekend was particularly idiotic, making everything on Myspace seem all foreign and strange, with phrases like "Then they added users to something called a 'friendlist.'"

If you're going to try to talk to children and teens about how dangerous Myspace might be, talking about it like you're a completely ignorant dope doesn't help your case. These Myspace stories are, obviously, just the latest "YOUR CHILDREN ARE A DANGER TO THEMSELVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!" story to come down the pipe.

P.S. As for it being owned by Rupert Murdoch, who cares? I watch the Simpsons and Family Guy, and they're on Fox. Is that wrong?

[vi5]

5. The Murdoch piece of it doesn't bother me...

Mostly for the reasons you specified re: Simpsons, Family Guy, etc.

However it does leave a bad taste in my mouth how big labels and corporations can give the impression of a grass roots effort at marketing a band, movie, show, product etc. and give itself false indie credibility when in actuality it's tentacles extend far beyond what other bands on myspace can use it for.

[SteppingRazor]

10. But in this case, it's a little different...

Murdoch did not start Myspace. He bought it once it got big. Myspace did, in fact, start from a grassroots, ground-up base. Then it got huge, and they sold out for millions. It's the American Dream, isn't it?

[vi5]

4. Napster was bad for industry, Myspace is bad for kids...

If you spend any amount of time over there (which I don't, or at least haven't outside of curiosity) you'll find that while it is a good networking site, it's also used as a social thing and is very open to predators. You know how there have always been people who prey on kids and teens online through instant messaging, or chats or messageboards or any of that? Well imagine this as all those things rolled up into one easy site/application, but with pictures added as well.

This doesn't mean I think it should be censored or regulated, just that it is like many things only what people make of it. As with everything it should be up to parents to monitor what their kids do and if my daughter or son was a teenager right now I would be monitoring her usage of this site VERY heavily if not allowing her to use it at all.

[ChoralScholar]

6. That's probably so.

But the problem isn't MySpace. If kids are falling prey to predators online, it's because they're not being safe. The kids have to learn safe Internet practices.

As far as predators seeing kids' real names and cities? Big deal. The phone book is full of them.

We teach kids not to get in cars with strangers. We don't ban automobiles.

[vi5]

12. That's why I said...

"This doesn't mean I think it should be censored or regulated, just that it is like many things only what people make of it. As with everything it should be up to parents to monitor what their kids do and if my daughter or son was a teenager right now I would be monitoring her usage of this site VERY heavily if not allowing her to use it at all."

Like I said I would monitor my kid's usage just as I would monitor where I allow them to go physically. I wouldn't allow my son or daughter to go to a place where adults hung out dressed provocatively, so I'm not sure I'd allow them to go to an internet community and post pictures of themselves dressed provocatively.

Like anything else if my kids prove they are smart enough to handle the situation then I would allow them to. If my judgement as a parent is that despite my best efforts that they have not proven themselves capable of handling certain activities with which come certain responsibilities, then they would not be allowed.

[The Backlash Cometh]

7. It has the potential to be misused.

I've had many a spat with my daughter on this issue. It was a losing battle. What can go wrong? They post the city and state in which they live in, minors inflate their age in order to be allowed to set up a webpage. I don't even know if there is an age limit anymore. I stopped fighting because I realized I couldn't monitor every computer within a ten mile radius of my home.

The safeguards are these: Only people they allow in as "friends" can view their webpage. They can eliminate anyone that makes them uncomfortable. Have there been errors of judgment? Sure. My daughter claimed that she wanted to accompany a friend to a movie and her friend was a little nervous because she was going on her first date with a guy and his friend. I drove them to the theater and when I explained that they picked a theater that had a bad reputation at one time because of the loitering that went on outside, I noticed that they got even more nervous. I didn't bother to explain to them that there were police walking the area at all times because of the old reputation and that it had cleaned up since then, because my mom senses told me that it was a good idea to leave them at the theater in high alert.

I picked them up at the scheduled time and there were two country type boys tagging behind them. They would have hopped in the car if I hadn't told one of the girls to shut the door. They seemed like nice country boys, but, a little too eager.

Anyway, weeks later my daughter admitted to me that her friend had met one of the boys on My Space and that that was their first real meet. She was allured because he claimed to have a waterplane, boat, dirtbike...you know, the essentials for country living. In her case, the boy didn't lie and it was all true, but they decided not to meet again because they didn't like the way his nose profiled. sigh.

[Zookeeper]

21. My daughter has a Zanga and a MySpace account...

Mr. Z. and I monitor them, which she protested at first. I explained that her posts are PUBLIC, therefore we have a right and obligation to check in every once in a while. We made her take her full name and city off of her Zanga profile, and I do sometimes point out things her friends are posting that are risky and suggest that she talk to them about it.

She told me that there was a strange guy, who claimed to be 17, who started sweet talking her on her Zanga. She answered him with, "F**k off, perv!" And he disappeared. :woohoo:

She is currently using her MySpace to chat with her uncle and cousin who live 1,500 miles away.

We, as parents, have an obligation to keep tabs on this, not to invade privacy but to try to keep our kids safe.

[Rob H.]

8. I have a page there

and I'm nowhere near being a kid. I use it mainly to keep in touch with friends--I have a really good friend who's getting his Ed.D. and he lives seven hours away on the other side of the state so I don't get to see him all that often. MySpace has been a good way to keep up with what he's up to (he blogs pretty regularly).

I saw a Dateline report on Sunday, and while I think kids do need to be educated about online predators, I also think Dateline might be doing more to instill paranoia than it's doing to educate. Another thing that struck me was how a lot of the parents they talked to had no idea what kind of stuff their kids were posting.

[SteppingRazor]

11. I agree about the fearmongering nature of that Dateline piece...

I even wrote a blog entry on all this, here:

http://blogs.southflorida.com/citylink_dansweeney/2006/04/run_myspace_is_coming_to_rape.html#more

[Rob H.]

18. Excellent blog entry

They really did make it seem as if Myspace is packed to the rafters with sweaty perverts while simultaneously coming off as only marginally computer-literate.

I also have to admit that your headline, "RUN!!! MYSPACE IS COMING TO RAPE YOUR CHILDREN!!!!!!" cracked me up, not only because it's funny on its own, it sums up the tone of the Dateline piece perfectly.

I salute you, sir! :patriot:

[SteppingRazor]

19. Thanks!

All comments are appreciated! :)

[madrchsod]

9. my two favorite bands from sweden are using "my space"

to "chat" with their "friends" across the world. it`s up to the parents to watch what their kids are doing...but that takes "personal responsibility" not the "nanny state". wow i used " " 5 times

[vi5]

13. What I don't understand about Band's using myspace...

Why not just use a website with a messageboard or blog on it? Why Myspace? After a while it all becomes so generic. The beauty of the internet is it is as creative or as useful as people make it. If I see a band whose main page is myspace it just screams laziness to me. I realize I'm a purist on this, but it's the way I feel.

[SteppingRazor]

14. Couple reasons why bands use myspace:

1) The site was originally started FOR bands. It only later became a hangout for tweens.

2) starting your own site may be more original, but it doesn't guarantee the sort of traffic that a Myspace site can bring. And in the end, the most important thing for musicians is to get the music heard, not have a nice site.

3) A lot of musicians do both, having a Myspace site and a regular site.

[vi5]

15. Hey, whatever works for them...

I'm admittedly a purist about this stuff. Whatever the main intent or what have you, I just really dislike Myspace on a number of levels, most of which overlap with why I dislike major labels. Bands are already too lazy and too conditioned to expect some sort of easy success without having to work for it and earn respect and fans through...you know, actually being good and writing decent songs and touring their asses off and stuff....I just have an aversion to anything that feeds into that mentality among artists. In short, it's an excellent business tool and as a businessperson I can see why it's useful for selling "product". As an artist and musician I think it's yet another nail in the coffin of musical and artistic creativity.

I'm in the minority I know, but what can I tell you. It's how I feel.

[enigmatic]

16. I use it for my station website

And it's a Godsend for both ourselves to find bands to play and the bands themselves to promote and network w/ stations to get themselves played.

For both us and them, it's a perfect marriage, especially for unsigned acts that don't have a snowball's chance to get played on any type of radio because of the fact they are unsigned. I wish it had been around when I was still playing in bands; it would have been a natural for me.

[vi5]

17. But don't you think eventually...

It's either going to go the way of mp3.com (which was the last unsigned music godsend that bands talked of) which is that it becomes impossible to weed out the dreck from the quality because every single yahoo with a microphone and recording software is going to post their stuff and promote their site, etc.?

Or it will go the way that other supposed playing field levelers have which big bands with huge major label budgets and resources will use it just as much and end up overshadowing the smaller bands. Myspace sites and requests, etc. are already reaching the point of spam in terms of being impossible to weed through it all.

[enigmatic]

20. no

I don't care who sends stuff to me to play or how it's recorded; if I like it, I'll play it. A great many DUers have gotten played on my station that would never be played anywhere else because they aren't as slick as the "signed" acts; the whole reason we started the station 3 years ago was to get away from corporate/label playlists and play what we want to play regardless of if they are signed or not, or whether they make music in a studio or in their bedrooms.

And as for the big bands using it; again, it's not an issue to me; I get unsigned as well as signed band sending me music to play all the time and the only rule that I have is that if I (or the other DJ's) like it, we'll play it.

I can't tell you how many artists we've come across over the years that we've played and loved that we would have never come across if not for websites like myspace.com and others (and the internet as a whole); it's helped those artists get their music out to the entire world in ways Labels and CD's would never, ever be able to do, and that's a great thing IMO..