Recently with a partner, I had to read an article called To Catch a Predator – the Myspace Moral Panic. It discussed how myspace had become an issue for young teenagers. Privacy is now no longer an issue for young teens. They are posting private information such as their home addresses, where they work, and even their phone numbers. This moral panic even brought about a TV show called To Catch a Predator, which became popular. Furthermore, the internet had become dangerous for young children and teenagers. There are issues of “cyberporn” and pornography that are in easy reach of children.
I had gotten my first myspace when I was in 7th grade. I had many friends in 8th grade who all had a myspace so it made me very curious as to what this site was. When my parents found out, they were absolutely furious. They demanded me to quickly delete it and to never make another one again. They then went on to explain to me how dangerous having a myspace is because there are a lot of creeps who search around myspace. However, I was a rebellious child and ignored my parents. I ended up creating another myspace and kept it until I conformed to facebook in high school.
The article explains how there are 50,000 online predators. This was deemed to be false because there was no evidence found on this fact. It is known as a “goldilocks figure.” Also, it was stated that one out of five kids are approached online by a predator. This too was thrown aside. It has decreased significantly to only 3% of kids. Thus, this “myspace moral panic” is not an actual moral panic at all.
For entertainment, I recommend the movie Trust, directed by David Schwimmer. It is about a young teenage girl called Annie, who receives a computer on her birthday. Over the months she develops a relationship with a boy called Charlie. He sends her false information about himself but she remains naive and ignorant. This movie is a good example of how strangers should not be trusted on the internet and should be completely ignored. You do not want what happened to Annie to happen to you, or your future children.
sofiakarin 