Why youth heart myspace

Found this talk on social interactions among youth and myspace given by Danah Boyd to be quite interesting and a needed corrective to the myspace backlash that's been making its way through the newscycles lately (interestingly, coming on the heels of Rupert Murdoch's acquitision of the site...I'm a firm believer that memes like backlashes are completely manufactured and timed to particular shifts).

Boyd's argument is basically that parents need to stop getting all flustered--myspace isn't a den of sexual predators but a necessary online community for kids with a need to network and organize. It's surpassed other online sites like Friendster and Facebook because of unique attributes (instant messaging, css design, 'spamming' friends with comments and images) that to me anyway give an inkling of how communication trends will be shifting in four or six years (or less).

For example, Boyd notes that email (the dominant form of communication for me when I was in college a few years ago and now the preferred method of workplace communication) has given way among youth in favor of instant messaging (both online IM and text messaging). Makes me wonder if the trend will eventually carry through into the workplace as today's tweeny myspacers enter the workforce.

man claims he is addicted to boys' urine | pretty fucking gay for an anti-gay site | question swap | what it would be like to really live with garfield the cat | ummm...not the best women's magazine design | extensive gallery of animals in casts