"MySpace and Facebook Predators and Scandals"

MySpace and Facebook Predators and Scandals" by Henry Jenkins and Gabriel Sherman

"MySpace provides a fertile ground for identity development and cultural integration. As youth transition from childhood, they seek out public enviornments to make sense of culture, social status, and how they fit into the world. Interacting with strangers helps them understand who they are and communities of interest allow them to explore ideas and values. Allow most youth are able to socialize privately with one another in the homes of friends, most are not allowed to spend time hanging out in public, unaccompanied by parents or adults. They view MySpace as a place where they can be who they are, joke around with friends and make certain to stay in the loop about everything that is going on around them" page 3 of Henry Jenkins interview). While teens do have facebook, I think more college students have facebook than MySpace. Youths need to realize that the internet can be a very scary and dangerous place and most of them don't. Anything posted or put on a public page can be accessed and seen by anyone.


I think it's crazy how teens in New York at the Private Horace Mann School made all these groups and pages about teachers and posted them publicly on the internet and didn't expect anyone to see them or report them. A good question raised is should youths be limited to the amount of internet use in schools? While some sites like MySpace may be dangerous, teachers are finding that having assignments that require students to use the internet are actually making them do better in school (like blogging, youtube, and podcasts).

Both this interview and the article about Horace Mann students can be linked to the Digital Natives article and The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager. It's a great think that teachers are finally seeing that kids are learning differently today then they used to. Teachers are finally starting to see kids using technology for homework and learning as a good thing. This is related mostly to what Marc Prensky talks about in his Digital Natives piece. The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager fits into this interview and article because everyone always assumes the worst of teenagers. Just because there are predators on MySpace and maybe offensive pages and sites being posted, doesn't mean every teen is involved.