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4:44:00 PM EDT
Hearing Fight Test -- The Flaming Lips
Won't Somebody Think of the Parents?
As a naive and networked culture, we're slowly learning that the Internet never forgets. Post photos of a party in your panties today, hear about it in a job interview four years from now. That's the thinking among people that bother to think about it at all.
Some attention-starved folks don't even worry about it. They're either too young, fearless or contemptibly good-looking to mind posting party pics or dishy drug-laced dirt, banking on a major cultural shift to protect them from their online antics before having to get a real job.
This is a major cultural phenomenon, and it's potentially harmful and hard to keep up with. And I'm sure, somewhere in the overwrought heart of America, some concerned parents' group is wringing its collective hands to the refrain of, "Please, won't somebody think of the CHILDREN?"
An article in today's Washington Post examines the online behavior of young adult children and its effects on high-profile parents. Forget the kids -- are they thinking of their parents? Here's an excerpt:
Of the 12 million bloggers on the Internet, 54 percent are younger than 30, according to a July study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. That number may not include the dozens of other sites that allow for self-disclosure and picture-posting without necessarily following a blog format, like AIM Pages, Facebook and MySpace, which has 100 million member profiles.
California Republican Rep. Brian Bilbray's younger-than-21 daughter Briana posted a series of pictures of herself on MySpace, including one where she poses with a cooler full of Miller High Life. Last fall, NBC star Tim Russert's son, Luke, posted a photo on Facebook of himself clutching a cup and posing with four bikini-clad women in a hot tub.
Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call discovered Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's son, Jonathan, declaring membership in the "Jonathan Frist appreciation for 'Waking up White People' Group" on his Facebook page. The Vanderbilt University student also claimed membership in a group where there were "No Jews Allowed. Just Kidding. No seriously."
All were replaced or taken down after gaining Internet notoriety.
I am not a parent myself, but I am very definitely somebody's kid. My father had a small business as a home inspector in a small city in southern Virginia. Neighborhood gossip got the word out on anyone's kid who was screwing up faster than prayer, forget the Internet. It was drummed into me and my sister from a young age that our actions represented our entire family, and could affect the business that bought our groceries.
Today it's no different -- our actions still impact the people that love us. We're all the children of somebody, and we represent that somebody every time we enter public space. It's just that now, more people are looking. As my co-worker Nancie said this afternoon,
My high school gym teacher was from some pretty mean streets, and he used to bark a similar sentiment during brutal detention sessions:Human behavior hasn't changed at all. The only thing that's changed is technology. Before the Internet, there was home video. Before that, there were Polaroids, and before cameras, there was gossip. When you post something about yourself and your private life online, you're not at the mercy of technology. Technology doesn't care. It's not just about who's using technology, it's about who's interpreting the results.
I don't care if you did it or not, son! If you don't want to get framed, stay out the picture!
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painful to hear, but true. very true. Parents are finally becoming aware of this blog problem. teens and kids are just dying to get on these ridiculous websites. lying about age, and half the time braging about things that never happened. and those pictures you spoke of, some look pretty provocitive. all a person has to do is look where the child works, or goes to school. its creepy.
9/7/06 5:39 PM