(no subject)
ok... by popular demand... i am posting my shitty b+ paper that bashes myspace
Christian Trevino
Gary Ervin
English 1301
June 12, 2006
Social Interaction in a Box
Was there ever a time when we met people and it didn’t involve reading a bio or searching through the person’s pictures first? A time where we didn’t have to chat in the form of text through a computer? Was there a time where a first impression was achieved in person? The answer is yes. The direction that we have been moving toward in the sense of meeting people has gone strictly electronic. All social skills have been lost due to the recent sensation of online chatting and dating.
Several years ago, the idea of meeting your significant other via the internet was not an idea that many people looked strongly upon. People who formed relationships this way were criticized. It was rare for people to accept this form of networking, but with every situation you will have a conflict of interest. Some of these relationships can work out; however, many times they cannot due to the fact that a lot of information is covered up before the two people meet in person.
One of the most recent internet hot spots is a site called Myspace. Myspace is a website that falls under the category of “dating and personals”. The definition of dating and personals is a service that allows a person to meet another with the intent to start a relationship. Many people who use these types of sites feel they cannot network on their own , so they decide to find an easier alternative.
This website was started in 2001 and wasn’t very popular for the first couple of years. With due time, the creator Tom Hayes, began advertising it. He started sponsoring large concerts in hope that his site would boost in popularity. His advertising caused the number of users for his site to sky rocket. According to the website, in the year 2006 the number of people who had their own online account with the website was 84,196,801. (Hayes).
These totals show us that 84 million people are hooked on a website and use it as a tool to come in contact with people. Are our skills depleting? Is the original norm changing to an uncommon thing? With numbers like these, the answer to these questions may appear to be yes.
These kind of numbers show that the population; in due time, became hypocrites. The people who criticized the thought of dating somebody that they met off of the internet became the ones who are involved with this website. These people are the ones who laughed at the commercials that advertised finding a significant other over the telephone. The only difference between the telephone personals and the website Myspace, are that the website gives you pictures to show you who you are meeting.
Many people believe that eye contact is vital to be able to tell the sincerity in conversation.. It is often said that the eyeball is the window to the soul. Stephen Lucas says “They eyeball itself expresses no emotion. Yet by manipulating the eyeball and the areas of the face around it- especially the upper eyelids and the eyebrows- we are able to convey an intricate array of nonverbal messages”(Lucas 300). Without these facial expressions, you wouldn’t be able to tell who this person is and whether or not they tell the truth. Without the truth about this person, their credentials that they have written about themselves cannot be justified.
Time magazine states “consider the wild growth of myspace.com, a service that grants all who use it at least the hope of obtaining an audience for their biographies” (Sullivan 27). This clearly states that what someone cannot achieve in person has to be achieved through a personals service. Why has it come to this? Why do we need to go outside of what was once right and make something newer the right way? The answer may be that we don’t feel comfortable with ourselves. Several problems can occur when we make such transitions.
The use of this website can be a bad thing because the number of sex offenders in the United States. A lot of things can and will be omitted when a description of a person has been put up on their biography. It is a safety concern when it comes down to actually meeting a new person from the internet and then going on to meeting them in real life. What most people overlook is the fact that not everybody in this country is a trustworthy individual and that all of the individuals intentions may not be good intentions.
There has been plenty of abduction throughout the decade. It isn’t proven but the question is, “How many of these abductions were due to the encounter of a meeting scheduled from the internet?”. It may never be known because some of the abductions lead to murder and leaving this question unjustified.
There are many things that can be done to stop these sort of events from happening. The effort of public awareness has already been addressed on current event television shows such as 60 minutes and World News Tonight. Although it is barely becoming an issue; hopefully, in due time something can be done to stop the dependence of these websites by the common population.
Another alternative to ensure the safety of those who decide that they want to continue to use these services is to enforce a background check. What this background check can do is weed out those who have a criminal history that could jeopardize those who want to meet someone from these services. Although this cannot ensure one hundred percent safety, it can help out the cause and stop future abductions from occurring.
Many things should be done to ensure the safety of the individuals. This issue is fairly new and has not completely reached the publics eye. If you cannot stop it, you can at least try to do something about it. Attempts can bring our social skills back and have networking back to human interaction instead of through a box.
If we move back to the norm then we can surely make everything easier in terms of safety. If we learn how to use social and communicative skills we will be better off and free from what is called internet crime or internet abductions.
Christian Trevino
Gary Ervin
English 1301
June 12, 2006
Social Interaction in a Box
Was there ever a time when we met people and it didn’t involve reading a bio or searching through the person’s pictures first? A time where we didn’t have to chat in the form of text through a computer? Was there a time where a first impression was achieved in person? The answer is yes. The direction that we have been moving toward in the sense of meeting people has gone strictly electronic. All social skills have been lost due to the recent sensation of online chatting and dating.
Several years ago, the idea of meeting your significant other via the internet was not an idea that many people looked strongly upon. People who formed relationships this way were criticized. It was rare for people to accept this form of networking, but with every situation you will have a conflict of interest. Some of these relationships can work out; however, many times they cannot due to the fact that a lot of information is covered up before the two people meet in person.
One of the most recent internet hot spots is a site called Myspace. Myspace is a website that falls under the category of “dating and personals”. The definition of dating and personals is a service that allows a person to meet another with the intent to start a relationship. Many people who use these types of sites feel they cannot network on their own , so they decide to find an easier alternative.
This website was started in 2001 and wasn’t very popular for the first couple of years. With due time, the creator Tom Hayes, began advertising it. He started sponsoring large concerts in hope that his site would boost in popularity. His advertising caused the number of users for his site to sky rocket. According to the website, in the year 2006 the number of people who had their own online account with the website was 84,196,801. (Hayes).
These totals show us that 84 million people are hooked on a website and use it as a tool to come in contact with people. Are our skills depleting? Is the original norm changing to an uncommon thing? With numbers like these, the answer to these questions may appear to be yes.
These kind of numbers show that the population; in due time, became hypocrites. The people who criticized the thought of dating somebody that they met off of the internet became the ones who are involved with this website. These people are the ones who laughed at the commercials that advertised finding a significant other over the telephone. The only difference between the telephone personals and the website Myspace, are that the website gives you pictures to show you who you are meeting.
Many people believe that eye contact is vital to be able to tell the sincerity in conversation.. It is often said that the eyeball is the window to the soul. Stephen Lucas says “They eyeball itself expresses no emotion. Yet by manipulating the eyeball and the areas of the face around it- especially the upper eyelids and the eyebrows- we are able to convey an intricate array of nonverbal messages”(Lucas 300). Without these facial expressions, you wouldn’t be able to tell who this person is and whether or not they tell the truth. Without the truth about this person, their credentials that they have written about themselves cannot be justified.
Time magazine states “consider the wild growth of myspace.com, a service that grants all who use it at least the hope of obtaining an audience for their biographies” (Sullivan 27). This clearly states that what someone cannot achieve in person has to be achieved through a personals service. Why has it come to this? Why do we need to go outside of what was once right and make something newer the right way? The answer may be that we don’t feel comfortable with ourselves. Several problems can occur when we make such transitions.
The use of this website can be a bad thing because the number of sex offenders in the United States. A lot of things can and will be omitted when a description of a person has been put up on their biography. It is a safety concern when it comes down to actually meeting a new person from the internet and then going on to meeting them in real life. What most people overlook is the fact that not everybody in this country is a trustworthy individual and that all of the individuals intentions may not be good intentions.
There has been plenty of abduction throughout the decade. It isn’t proven but the question is, “How many of these abductions were due to the encounter of a meeting scheduled from the internet?”. It may never be known because some of the abductions lead to murder and leaving this question unjustified.
There are many things that can be done to stop these sort of events from happening. The effort of public awareness has already been addressed on current event television shows such as 60 minutes and World News Tonight. Although it is barely becoming an issue; hopefully, in due time something can be done to stop the dependence of these websites by the common population.
Another alternative to ensure the safety of those who decide that they want to continue to use these services is to enforce a background check. What this background check can do is weed out those who have a criminal history that could jeopardize those who want to meet someone from these services. Although this cannot ensure one hundred percent safety, it can help out the cause and stop future abductions from occurring.
Many things should be done to ensure the safety of the individuals. This issue is fairly new and has not completely reached the publics eye. If you cannot stop it, you can at least try to do something about it. Attempts can bring our social skills back and have networking back to human interaction instead of through a box.
If we move back to the norm then we can surely make everything easier in terms of safety. If we learn how to use social and communicative skills we will be better off and free from what is called internet crime or internet abductions.