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lunadelcorvoMySpace Deletes Largest Atheist Group in the World.
http://www.secularstudents.org/node/1933
While I know this is pretty old news, I am passing it on in case anyone might not have heard it.
Now, I have never liked MySpace. Anytime I have gone there, I have either seen something very generic, with little customization, on which I see nothing of the person, or else some eye-bleeding disaster of blinking text, horrid graphics, and miles of images with no rhyme or reason whatever. I even got a MySpace page myself, thinking I must be missing something, that perhaps when I was logged in, the structure of this thing would make more sense. Well, if I was missing something, I am sill missing it, because I still don't like MySpace. But that's just my (possibly elitist) opinion.
However, for a site that has (for whatever reason) such a broad appeal, to say nothing of such a huge user base, to pull something this blatant, this despotic; well, it's disturbing. MySpace is, I think it is fair to say, somewhat iconic of contemporary young adult culture. That is why this is as disturbing as it is.
Traditionally, late teen and early adult culture is the segment that is counted upon to rebel, to demand, to force society forward, will it or nil it. I think there has been tremendous hope too, that the internet, with all its potential to empower, would be a tool of such change. Is it possible that the internet serves instead to have a homogenizing, institutionalizing* effect? That by bringing youth and young adult users together in unprecedented numbers, what results is not limitless information and freedom, but an opportunity for indoctrination on a level never before dreamt of by the establishment?
Were that the case, it would perhaps be the irony of our age. If social networking sites such as MySpace (and LiveJournal, Facebook, and others) choose to take sides, to act in favor and enforcement of an establishment agenda, then the freedom of speech and information offered by the internet will have become a tools not for liberation, but for oppression. I think this is an idea that spurs much of the machination of conservative protest and activism in the online sphere. Its effectiveness is another question, and one of which I thankfully have serious doubts. Nevertheless, it bears keeping in mind.
Whether conscious of not, I think that is exactly why the actions of SixApart/L.J.Inc/SUP have incited so much resistance and resentment; especially where they have tended towards censorship and the shaping of individual expression in favor of or in adherence to cultural (in this case conservative) norms and expectations. Companies like this sit in an unusual position, perhaps one for which our laws and expectations are not adequate.
With a spread of influence nearly akin in some respects to that of government, or at the very least resembling a large corporate monopoly, (in terms on influence, regardless of the configuration of the company itself) these entities have the potential to act as powerful forces in shaping society.
However, it can be argued from an ethical standpoint, that their highest responsibility is to stand aside from such debates, to refuse to use the influence they may have to support any one agenda. However, as has been seen over and over, the larger the company and the more money is at stake, the less impartial the enterprise is likely to be. We have seen this in LiveJournal, and we are seeing it now with MySpace. I suspect, sadly, that we will see it more and more, long before we see it less.
* (Nowhere has that homogenizing effect been more apparent to my eyes than in the "LJ Explore" nonsense just introduced. The whole thing smacks of some pseudo-utopian totalitarian pacification, being fed what will keep us docile, being told all the while it is what we want. Eugh! Didn't I see that in a movie somewhere? Logan's Run, or The Island, perhaps? /aside)
http://www.secularstudents.org/node/1933
While I know this is pretty old news, I am passing it on in case anyone might not have heard it.
Now, I have never liked MySpace. Anytime I have gone there, I have either seen something very generic, with little customization, on which I see nothing of the person, or else some eye-bleeding disaster of blinking text, horrid graphics, and miles of images with no rhyme or reason whatever. I even got a MySpace page myself, thinking I must be missing something, that perhaps when I was logged in, the structure of this thing would make more sense. Well, if I was missing something, I am sill missing it, because I still don't like MySpace. But that's just my (possibly elitist) opinion.
However, for a site that has (for whatever reason) such a broad appeal, to say nothing of such a huge user base, to pull something this blatant, this despotic; well, it's disturbing. MySpace is, I think it is fair to say, somewhat iconic of contemporary young adult culture. That is why this is as disturbing as it is.
Traditionally, late teen and early adult culture is the segment that is counted upon to rebel, to demand, to force society forward, will it or nil it. I think there has been tremendous hope too, that the internet, with all its potential to empower, would be a tool of such change. Is it possible that the internet serves instead to have a homogenizing, institutionalizing* effect? That by bringing youth and young adult users together in unprecedented numbers, what results is not limitless information and freedom, but an opportunity for indoctrination on a level never before dreamt of by the establishment?
Were that the case, it would perhaps be the irony of our age. If social networking sites such as MySpace (and LiveJournal, Facebook, and others) choose to take sides, to act in favor and enforcement of an establishment agenda, then the freedom of speech and information offered by the internet will have become a tools not for liberation, but for oppression. I think this is an idea that spurs much of the machination of conservative protest and activism in the online sphere. Its effectiveness is another question, and one of which I thankfully have serious doubts. Nevertheless, it bears keeping in mind.
Whether conscious of not, I think that is exactly why the actions of SixApart/L.J.Inc/SUP have incited so much resistance and resentment; especially where they have tended towards censorship and the shaping of individual expression in favor of or in adherence to cultural (in this case conservative) norms and expectations. Companies like this sit in an unusual position, perhaps one for which our laws and expectations are not adequate.
With a spread of influence nearly akin in some respects to that of government, or at the very least resembling a large corporate monopoly, (in terms on influence, regardless of the configuration of the company itself) these entities have the potential to act as powerful forces in shaping society.
However, it can be argued from an ethical standpoint, that their highest responsibility is to stand aside from such debates, to refuse to use the influence they may have to support any one agenda. However, as has been seen over and over, the larger the company and the more money is at stake, the less impartial the enterprise is likely to be. We have seen this in LiveJournal, and we are seeing it now with MySpace. I suspect, sadly, that we will see it more and more, long before we see it less.
* (Nowhere has that homogenizing effect been more apparent to my eyes than in the "LJ Explore" nonsense just introduced. The whole thing smacks of some pseudo-utopian totalitarian pacification, being fed what will keep us docile, being told all the while it is what we want. Eugh! Didn't I see that in a movie somewhere? Logan's Run, or The Island, perhaps? /aside)
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no subject
Date: February 4th, 2008 04:15 am (UTC)I never had a MySpace or Facebook account and I'm certainly glad about that now.
This all depresses me immensely. I always figured that I could conquer and move beyond the prejudism and discrimination I faced as a poor kid growing up and as a female in this world dominated by man. But this. There is no end. And it seems to be getting worse. It makes you wish for the 60's when everyone was just too high to care and free love was the name of the game.
I think I can see Canada from here...
no subject
Date: February 4th, 2008 06:41 am (UTC)But have had many of the same concerns...