When i read the statistics presented by the article "New Kids on the Blog", i was not surprised that teenage females made up the majority of journal/diary type blogging out there on the world wide web. Women seem to have more of an inclination (although this is not true for ALL women)to write about their feelings and life. The article did make me wonder about the content of these blogs. I immediately thought of the movie "Mean Girls" where a group of girls kept a giant book, slandering those at their high school. I can't help but think that bashing one's classmates makes up a large majority of the content on these blogs--i'm thinking "Mean Girls 2.0". The internet, especially one relevant in high school circles can get rumors, speculations, and general gossip spread around far faster than any phone call or book. It acts as immediate access for all the world to see.
In some cases, where students have utilized the internet to spread rumors and harass their contemporaries the school has actually interceded and pulled transcripts off of the websites as proof and justification for the punishment of the offending party. Teasing and harassment is no longer limited to the halls; through e-mail, AIM, Myspace, Facebook, and blogs bullies now have a variety of ways to attack their prey. Speaking from experience, I had a friend post a picture of the girl her ex-boyfriend was currently dating on myspace, she called the girl a "gremlin" and a "hoe". To me and my group of friends, the posting was funny but i'm sure that to the girl it was humiliating.
This is just one example of how blogs can be abused (and commonly are), especially in the high school setting where teen's insecurities are at their highest.
1 comment:
You bring up a really important point. Written abuse and slandering is often more destructive from behind a screen, when one is, in a sense, anonymous. The "abuser" doesn't realize the repercussions of his or her actions. There was this article in my home newspaper over the summer about this isolated high school girl who thought she had made this special friendship with a cute boy on MySpace. She ultimately committed suicide when he seemingly rejected her. It turns out "he" was really a couple of the Mean Girls you talked about, playing a practical joke on her. :(
Post a Comment