Schools, blogs, Xanga, MySpace...What's it all about, Alfie? Part I

Why are some schools preventing students from accessing weblogging sites and "social software" sites from school computers?  Why have some schools moved to ban students from having weblogs at all?  Should parents be concerned that their children, if they use these new forms of communication,  will be targeted by  Cyber-Predators?  Or is the more pressing problem communication between students, specifically "cyber bullying"?

Chat rooms, blogs, discussion groups, social software: A moment of clarification.  What you are reading is a blog (short for weblog), which is...kind of like a cross between a newsletter and a diary.  A blog can be anything, just like a newsletter or a public diary.  It is just a tool, a way of easily updating content on the Internet.  A blog is usually owned and operated by a defined set of people.  In the case of this blog, me and me alone.  Group blogs are also possible, but a primary owner allows others permission or access to post entries.  Most blogs enable comments, which are responses to posts.  The blog owner(s) have the right and the ability to edit or delete comments.  Once the comment is posted to the blog space or site, the commenter can't edit or change his or her comments.  Clear enough so far? But what are blogs?  Cory Doctorow wrote:

Blogs are rich tapestries of something-or-other, mind-boggling crazy quilts of opinion, fact, community, humor, bile, and lust.

There are some other sorts of Internet spaces that are like blogs, or even host blogs, but are used in a slightly different fashion.  The ones popular with teens are sites like Xanga,  Live Journal, and MySpace. Xanga:

Xanga is a community of online diaries and journals. You can easily start your own free journal, share thoughts with your friends and meet new friends, too!

Xanga is widely perceived to be dominated by teenaged girls

Well, to sum up the difference in a nutshell, Xanga is the place where teenage girls go to blog, and Blogger is where the serious bloggers go. Well the serious bloggers also go to Movable Type and Typepad. The teenage girls also go to Live Journal. But this is a comparison between Blogger and Xanga.

This study found demographic and behavioral differences between LiveJournal and Xanga users Live Journal has both adult and youth users

Jump inside LJ culture. People who use LJ talk about their LJs, not their blogs....LJ folks don't see LJ as a tool, but a community. Bloggers may see the ethereal blogosphere as their community, but for LJers, it's all about LJ... They post for their friends, comment excessively and constantly moderate who should have access to what.

In a 2003 study of blogging, Perseus found:

Blogging is many things, yet the typical blog is written by a teenage girl who uses it twice a month to update her friends and classmates on happenings in her life. It will be written very informally (often in "unicase": long stretches of lowercase with ALL CAPS used for emphasis) with slang spellings, yet will not be as informal as instant messaging conversations (which are riddled with typos and abbreviations). Underneath the iceberg, blogging is a social phenomenon: persistent messaging for young adults.

There's another sort of online presence at MySpace (and another, newer service called Facebook, which serves college students.  Facebook is a topic for another post.) MySpace is an online community, which you might conceptualize as a cross between a blog and a permanent instant-messaging record.  Xanga and LiveJournals are communities, but the fundamental aspect of the platform are "what I did today".  At MySpace, the fundamental aspect is "what we are saying to each other". Graham Toben, a  teen writing in the San Jose Mercury News explains,

Unlike popular blogging sites Xanga and Livejournal, Myspace is more about the person than the content. Users post pictures and comments or join communities -- users who share the same interests -- all to meet new people. ``For instance, I might meet a random person at a party and not really know them but see them on Myspace,'' said Tiffany Wang, a senior at Aragon High School in San Mateo.  But I can message them through Myspace and become better friends.'' Using Myspace is simple: Log onto the Web site and sign up. In less than two minutes, the new user can be customizing the Web page with colors, videos and pictures..... The site encourages interaction. Users post lists of fellow users on their friends section. The comments section lets users post opinions on anything from the layout of a user's Myspace page to how good it was to see him or her at last week's school dance.

All well and good, right?  Well, maybe.   Jay Berly, a high school sophomore writing in the Charleston, S.C.,  wrote

MySpace made scary headlines this fall after the killing of Taylor Behl, a Virginia college student who had a MySpace site. She reportedly communicated with a man, later a suspect in the case, via MySpace, and ultimately, police used photos on his own site to find her body. After Behl's death, her MySpace remained active, with friends leaving hundreds of memorial messages in her honor. One recent post displays a drawing of Taylor as an angel, marked with the words, "In loving memory of Taylor Marie Behl." The case made many people realize how the Web can be a truly lethal weapon, and people need to be cautious, not only with what they put on there, but who they talk to and what they disclose about themselves. In general, MySpace is a relatively clean site. There are not many vile things on there, such as nudity or anything inappropriate. The person who runs MySpace, who is known to users as Tom, will kick people off for that type of thing.

Do go read Berly's article.  It's well written and gives a balanced picture of the attractions of MySpace to teens.

Part I--Blogging, social networking sites, schools, and risk for teen users
Part II -- Schools Banning Access and Banning Students' Online Presence
Part III--An Overblown Fear: The Internet Predator
Part IV--The Real Risk: Other Students' Cruel, Rude, or Illegal Behavior (or the Poster's Own Cruel, Rude, or Illegal Behavior)
Part V--The Benefits of Blogging, Personal and Educational
Part V--What Should Parents and Schools Do?

 

Technorati: myspace

Comments

[Brittaney]

I really dont understand why schools should have a problem with bebo and xanga etc. because everyone in our school started going to bebo now they wanna block it......... man!!!!!

[Angel Renee']

In recent events in the news about blogs such as Xanga and Livejournal, and with personal sites such as MySpace, I became extremely interested in trying to find out "What's all the fuss about anyway?"

Currently, I reside in Michigan and I heard through a friend that or Governor, Jennifer Granholm, is an advocate for banning sites such as Myspace, even for personal use, throughout the state. In addition, all public schools (at least to my knowledge,) have banned all these sites from their computers and if you find ways around these blocks (which there are, I have used them...) there will be severe consequences.

Truly, I don’t understand how the government can take such extreme measures on a few websites. I understand that it may be a safety hazard due to the fact that there are Cyber-Predators out there and it does distract people from their tasks (in the case of school etc.) However, it’s the persons’ choice what they put on their site. I am NOT saying that if someone is attacked or even killed, it’s their fault in ANY way because of what they put on the site. I AM saying however, that SOME of these cases could be prevented through taking cautious measures when making these sites. I believe this is one of the reasons the state would like to ban these-types of sites, and perhaps taking measures against that in which hit the reasons right in the balls, they might reconsider.

In addition, I understand the state is concerned with cliques, trends, etc. that could be potentially harmful to the rest of the population. However, I believe there is a lack of expression in society today and the internet is one way to express yourself and keep in touch with people you wouldn’t be able to otherwise. Cutting these sites would be cutting a major communication link among the population today. What happens when people have nothing to do? THEY FIND SOMETHING TO DO…. Which COULD or COULD NOT be potentially MORE harmful than anything we have ever seen before.

Blogging and websites such as MySpace have more benefits than one can see. First of all, it is a way to express one’s self that cannot be done otherwise. In today’s society, teenagers are often overlooked or are categorized. By going on the internet and becoming members of these sites, perhaps they can see they are not alone and it would solve a lot of the problems that are within communities today (generally.) In addition, blogging is a way to vent about life and it’s obstacles (trust me, I have done it NUMEROUS times…) I know that perhaps this will be a controversial statement, but it is something that needs to be said: If the government is such an advocate for these sites to be banned and restricted, the government is also advocate for the effects it will have on the rest of the population. If these sites are used for venting etc. and their taken away, what do you think will happen? The population in which is susceptible to life’s obstacles and cannot release will find ways to release elseware, which could be potentially more harmful than anything we have ever seen.

Thank you for taking the time to see this from a different perspective,
~Angel

[Sharon]

please thank you

[adriana]

lalalall

[starcycle]

In this situation, the runner posts(shows) an impertinent physical condition, while the others sink into the effort. At the conclusion of the journey(running) this runner shows an exceptional state of coolness, as if he had crossed(gone through) only some kilometres.

[make root beer]

As you're growing up as a teenager, there are a number of things that you look forward to; getting your drivers license, graduating from high school, going to your senior prom, having your first date and having your first beer. The problem with this last one is that the drinking age and the thing you want make it something that you just can't have yet. And still, you want it and will go to any lengths to get it.

[Taylor the Teacher]

I read above: "Governor, Jennifer Granholm, is an advocate for banning sites such as Myspace, even for personal use, throughout the state."

This was a while ago, and I was wondering if anyone knew if anything had become of that. It is outrageous.

Tried to contact the girl that made the post, but don't have (or want) a Xanga account.

Taylor, the teacher

[tnomeralc web design toys]

You made me remember the good old days - "What's it all about Alfie?". Nice title for this post though.