Are malls and arcades really “hangouts of the past” being replaced by MySpace and Facebook?
I was surprised with what the Daily Camera printed on Sunday’s front page: a full article on MySpace, Tess Damm and Bryan Grove,who are being held on murder-related charges for the slaying of Linda Damm, Tess’ mother. Yes, the Lafayette murder has been all the rage for the past two weeks, but have they already run out of ideas with such a juicy story?
What makes the murder of Lafayette resident Linda Damm so newsworthy is that the boyfriend of her 15-year-old daughter, Grove, was the one who stabbed her to death. You would think there would be an abundance of interesting story topics right there, but the Daily Camera zeroed in on one issue: MySpace.
MySpace is the place where a “troubled teen” wrote about her problems with her mom.
“Everyone knows the story of me and my mom.and everyone knows how much I’ve tried to fix it my whole life. And everyone knows how it never works,” Damm said.
But one thing is being overlooked. If Damm had major problems at home, why is the finger being pointed at MySpace instead of Damm’s teachers, friends and family? MySpace is an outlet for teenagers to express their feelings, but the people around her in everyday life should have picked up on some kind of hint that Tess Damm hated her mother enough to commit murder.
MySpace and Facebook are meant to be places for people to talk to friends, share photos and meet new people. People, especially teens, are finding these sites as resources to share their feelings, likes, dislikes or whatever is on their mind. But how is anybody going to feel comfortable sharing their true feelings if they’re constantly worried about who’s actually reading their profile?
My major issue with MySpace and Facebook isn’t what people are writing on their personal pages, it’s who is looking at it. I think it’s ridiculous that students are worried about applying for jobs because of what’s on their Facebook profile. These Web sites should be a place for people to express themselves for who they are. They shouldn’t have to worry about the repercussions of being in the “420 on Farrand Field” Facebook group, or having a photo of them drinking a beer displayed on their page.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but there has been a working class of people for quite a while now. I don’t think employers were looking up potential employees’ Facebook accounts ten years ago, and the professional world was still able to thrive. What makes a company feel so insecure about its interviewing skills and processes that it has to look up a person on Facebook to see what he or she is really like? The employers should have enough trust to know they can hire a capable person without snooping into the private lives of their prospective employees.
Five years ago, when I was 16, I signed up for my first MySpace account. I left comments for friends and got invited to parties; then I would go out and be social. MySpace isn’t the new place for teens to hang out with their friends. It’s just a good place for teens to talk to each other at 2 a.m. when they’re sitting at home. These Web sites aren’t making hanging out with friends obsolete. People still need human contact-MySpace and Facebook are just places to organize what time that contact will take place and where: perhaps the mall or the arcade?
Contact Campus Press staff writer Jenny Bergen at jennifer.bergen@thecampuspress.com.
