MySpace And Kids: Yet Another Pandora's Box?
Taking a look at a few posts on tech.memeorandum yesterday and today, there is quite a bit of hand-wringing over MySpace and children. (As usual Michael Parekh has a great look at the issues.) Apparently folks are shocked at the modes of expression that pop out of their children when they are given a forum. There’s even talk of establishing support groups for parents who have seen their kids fall victim to MySpace. Pandora’s Box or drinking from the well of the hypocrites?
I’m going on a ramble here, so I’ll save the rest for after the jump.
Folks are trying to catch a comet’s tail. Pandora’s Box has already been opened and this isn’t the latest one. It’s not just MySpace, and this is nothing new brought about by the Internet age. And while yes, there are predators and sick folk in the world who will prey on the unsuspecting and the naive, to a large extent they have always been a part of our various and evolving cultures. The Internet age has just created easier access, no differently than every other advance in technology and culture.
I chuckled quite a bit when I read some of these articles because they dance around the larger point without realizing that’s where the gravity is pulling from. Culturally as we like to innovate we create the new without examining the ramifications until after the fact. Then we have the predictably inevitable follow through wherein we wring our hands in outrage, disgust, remorse, for what we’ve created. Usually we call that progress, which is also accompanied by a wave of nostalgia for the good (read safer) old days. Our culture is tied not just to innovation but also to the riches building a better mouse-trap can provide. We also are are equally innovative with coming up with better mouse-traps to clean up after the messes our earlier innovations led to. Don’t you just love the smell of capitalism in the morning?
I can’t count the numbers of Pandora’s Boxes that have been opened in my lifetime they are so numerous. And now we are entering into an age when creative self-expression is not only easier, but easier to share with others. And don’t tell me you don’t feel the wind blowing your hair as we all rush to be a part of that one. So, as we stand in shock and awe at what our children create and share with others, I’m just wondering what we are really shocked about. Let’s face it, every aspect of our social, political, and cultural lives is filled with impression makers who do nothing but entertain us with their rise and fall (usually vastly more entertaining than their talents, but that’s another story.) While we are talking Greek today, it’s a wonder we aren’t all afraid to walk out of doors with all the Icarus’s (Icari?) falling out of the sky. These impression makers (leaders?) only capture our attention because we throw our money at them for the services they render. We feed them and feed them until they fall out of the sky, and then enjoy talking about the disgusting mess they created. It is great to pretend we are only the audience and being so is a passive role. And what’s funnier and funnier, almost bordering on the farcical, is that we still try to maintain this modicum of decency as some sort of boundary that shouldn’t be crossed, while at the same time we are rushing to get UMPCs and $100 computers into every kid’s hands so they can be connected everywhere anytime.
There’s also the fear now, that we are creating a permanent digital record that will follow us through life revealing our secrets to employers, loved ones, and anyone who cares. There will be no secrets. So? Let’s argue for transparency in a utopian business world full of Naked Conversations
Bottom line. Why are we shocked every time we build a Pandora’s Box that those we sell it to open it?
