MySpace's Impact on Society

MySpace makes you create a version of yourself to share with others. It forces you to think about how you want to appear to other people. On one hand, you do not have to depict yourself the way you really are, as our in-class activity showed. You can be whoever you want to be on MySpace. On the other hand, if you really want to be yourself you are free to do so. However, you are faced with several questions. How much of your true self are you willing to share? If you do not share everything is it really you? If you leave significant pieces of information out, are you truly being you? Or are you hiding who you are? MySpace allows you to create whatever kind of identity you want.

The real world results of people using MySpace range from extremely positive to extremely negative. On the positive side, some musicians were discovered on MySpace. One person who was discovered after MySpace popularity was Cassie. 

Ryan Leslie, a producer, encouraged Cassie to make a MySpace page to promote her music. Fans discovered her MySpace page and it began to gain instant popularity. Because of her popularity, different music labels wanted to sign her. Diddy, the founder and CEO of Bad Boy Entertainment, saw the popularity her page was gaining and he teamed with Leslie to release her album, according to TMZ. Leslie produced the album and Diddy signed on as the executive producer, which can be seen here.
The negative results of MySpace are often seen in the news. People, particularly teens, have been bullied and have committed suicide as a result of MySpace.

I even read a story about someone who posted their suicide note on MySpace before they killed themselves. After doing so, his friends began posting things about him and saying that his death could have been prevented. These are the types of things that make me wonder is MySpace and social networking sites are good for society. Our lives are at stake here. People are going to jail, losing jobs, and killing themselves because of this site. It is not worth it. No website is worth losing everything that matters. I do not even understand how people can live with themselves after harassing someone else online, especially if it causes that person to take their own life. They must not have a conscience or any feelings. People need to realize that their actions online have real, serious consequences. Maybe then people will see how real this virtual reality can be.

After reading, “Social Networking Websites: Are MySpace and Facebook the Fingerprints of the Twenty-first Century?” by Edward M. Marsico Jr., I have learned that people do very stupid things online. I cannot even comprehend why someone would post pictures of themselves online holding guns and displaying gun paraphernalia. I am, and have always been, dumbfounded by this. The picture is obviously incriminating and tells the police that you are in a gang. If you are in a gang, more than likely you are talking about some gang related activities on your page, which just provides more evidence for the police to use against you. If you create your online identity as a gang member and you really are a gang member and you are networking with other gang members, the police are probably going to figure that out. It is almost like criminals are getting dumber. They are not even trying to cover their tracks anymore. I guess they think because it is an online social networking site is it not real. They are most definitely wrong.

After reading “MySpace and Facebook: Identifying Dimensions of Uses and Gratifications for Friend Networking Sites” by Jennifer Bonds-Raacke & John Raacke, I learned that people really want to understand why social networking sites are so popular. I find it interesting that when something becomes popular people cannot just be content with the fact that it is popular they want to know WHY. Reading this text confirms what I already know and what we have already talked about in class about the fact that people want to feel connected and they spend a lot of time on social networking sites. In order to have these sites, people have to created some sort of identity. Even if that identity does not include your picture and each thing you did throughout the day. Someone’s identity includes the pages they like and the activities they have listed. Each part of Facebook and MySpace no matter how big or small, contribute to your identity. One day, people might totally understand social networking, but I think sometimes people should just be content and not question everything that is popular. I know this is never going to happen though. We crave explanations for everything we do.