MySpace - A Place for Friends, or a Place for Drama?
Read more articles on Social Networking Sites.March 22, 2007
Posted by Tiffany Aller
March 22, 2007
Posted by Tiffany Aller
845 Views
MySpace, in a period of a few short years, has become somewhat of a pop culture icon. Begun by a few friends interested in networking with other friends, it has grown to a site with millions of users, and many consider it an integral part of their daily lives.
Friend or foe: MySpace in the Middle
This author, well older than the average age of MySpace users, religiously checks several times a day to see what’s new in the lives of others and what comments and surveys have been put out into cyberspace to consider.
But an important question to consider is whether MySpace is truly a place for friends, or if its very nature makes drama an inherent part of its landscape. This article will examine the varying causes of tension when maintaining a MySpace presence, as well as what you can do to combat the drama that seems to flare up quite frequently.
First cause of drama: hormones! A majority of MySpace enthusiasts are in either high school or college. (Ahem. College as in “went right to college from high school and stayed/intending to stay a reasonable amount of time. This does not apply to Norm, the 9th year sophomore that no longer signs up for classes, but instead just wanders into random rooms at will in search of hot 18-year old girls. Get a life, Norm.) This is the age where hormones are raging and sometimes cloud out any and all reasons a person (read: teen) might normally possess.
First cure of drama: maturity! When you start to see drama-filled situations develop, infusing the situation with a bit of maturity can halt bad circumstances before they start gathering steam. Be the bigger person – back down and go on with life. If that doesn’t seem cool, consider that a vast majority of drama on MySpace doesn’t occur between mature adults, but between hormone-laden younger adults.
Second cause of drama: the contest of friends. Some individuals set out on MySpace to collect as many friends as possible, to prove their ultimate coolness to everyone else. This can lead to drama, when you don’t “really” know most of the people on your list, as they can drag you right into their problems.
Second cure of drama: ending the contest. Face it: you probably have a good deal of real life friends – or would make some if you ever got off the computer! Why do you need 40 random internet friends, with whom your only conversation is a “thanks for the add” comment and the occasional “Happy Holidays”? Unless you really intent to get to know the random person you just added, why put them on your list?
Third cause of drama: WHAT did you say? One of the biggest causes of drama in any electronic form of communication is miscommunication. When people speak to each other in person or over the phone, tone, inflection and pace can give great clues as to the speaker’s mood. That becomes a bit harder online, where innocent comments can be blown into all-out arguments because of a simple misunderstanding.
Third cure of drama: Watch what you say. Don’t put something on MySpace unless you have no problem with anyone else reading it. People are nosy by nature, and if you post it, someone will view it. If you don’t mind ruffling feathers, you may be ok, but if you’re worried about minimizing drama, you may want to very carefully monitor what you say online.
MySpace doesn’t have to be a place for drama. By pinpointing and analyzing causes of drama on MySpace, you can help facilitate a change for the better, instead of more confrontations in the future.
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