Why I quit Myspace.com

The other day, prompted by two friends who had recently made this decision, I quit Myspace.com.

Sure, it was, umm…"fun" while it lasted. It was great signing on every day to find that a new thirteen-year girl had randomly found me on the site's database. It was also fun checking (at least 5 times a day) to see if anyone new had commented on my wall of comments, as if somehow validating my puny existence through "I <3 yr new pix LOL!"

After making the impulsive decision to stop, I was shocked to find that it took approximately ten to fifteen minutes to cancel my "subscription." First you must find the "cancel account" button, no small task. Second after finding it and clicking the cancel button, you are prompted to click another cancel button. Then, just to make sure that you really, really want to cancel your account to such a marvelous service, they prompt you one more time to press a cancel button. This third time is even more ridiculous. They ask the subscriber to write a short, brief message to a MySpace administrator to explain why he/she has been somehow unsatisfied with their "experience" on the glorious web community.

Of course, I realized at this point how serious this whole issue had become; I had to explain myself for canceling a subscription to such a vital web community. For about one second I reconsidered my decision. And then after thinking for another second, I realized how strange it was that I had to explain myself. MySpace even told me that I would have a few days to really think about my decision. It's laughable that this trivial website would be so shocked at ONE user leaving. So I decided to write a letter to the MySpace admin that would supposedly be checking the reason that I was canceling my account.

Dear MySpace Person, who will never read this!

I think that your website promotes self-glorification. Secondly, I would like to state, that it is websites like myspace.com that are single handedly destroying adolescent relationships (in any sense of the word relationship). I appreciate you really caring about the people who are on your site by putting lewd advertisements on everyone's homepage that glorify the objectification of women. You also promote online stalking in a very "subtle" way. Thank you, Rupert, for helping to destroy the validity of American media and all forms of free information! Seeya later, buddy! Tom, you're a giant, tool! BYE <3's (that's the heart that kids make on the internet!)

LOVE! but, not really, though!

-Patrick

Frankly, after thinking about it, MySpace is a site that encourages people to expose themselves. I suppose that this is the huge draw of the site. It feels safe to be able to go online and post pictures of yourself and say things about yourself and never have to own up to your opinions. People can simply just press the "x" button on their window if they don't want to be around you anymore. Scantily clad thirteen-year old girls can put pictures of themselves on their homepage, while disgusting legal-aged men can drool over these facades of female friendship that happen within online mediums. This blatant vouyeurism is intriguing to all people (look at reality television), but for some reason these online mediums involving real people tend to scare me just a little bit more.

Even I have fooled myself into thinking that I know someone because of this MySpace medium. "Hey look, that person likes Modest Mouse, I bet he/she is really cool. I should message them." Then, two days after receiving a friendly reply, "Oh man! I am so happy. I feel like I <3 Myspace. It makes me new friends…"

Just think about that for a second. Friend? Maybe our social definition of the term "friend" has just been scraped away to mean nothing more than a person that has said "hello" once or twice. Think about that for just a second. Hell, I've been part of these websites since I've been in high school, but lately, after really thinking about what they are, I decided it's time to start phasing them out of my life.

For starters, MySpace has the potential to destroy relationships that exist in real life, by people posting pictures and private information. Also, these sites have the potential to get the user in trouble with law [harassment and flaming, pictures of underage drinking, etc…].

Also, Rupert Murdoch, the founder and owner of Fox Networks, currently owns MySpace. You might know him as the infamous mastermind behind Fox News. Not that this really matters, but just keep in mind that this is a player in the major media, not someone I'd want to have access to anything in my life. These people also force marketing and advertising down our throats. Why do I want to voluntarily be part of a community that is propagating horrible trends of everything from cell phones to Victoria's Secret, which might be called female objectification? And then I find myself asking why so many females on these sites feel the need to expose themselves.

The majority of the people on the site feel the need to mask who they really are to make themselves feel acceptable to people they don't even know. I think this is perhaps the most embarrassing part about the site. Click to any random user page, and I guarantee you that you will see a picture of an angled face with or without bangs over the eyes, or a picture taken in a strange context that has been photoshopped in order to appear cool. I ask the question, "Hi Myspacee, I am just curious… How much further can you bend your arm above your head while still managing to aim the lens at the top of your head?"

I am done. I know for a fact that this article means nothing in the general scheme of things, but I just can't stop thinking about these communication trends that are happening in America. Maybe they are just a natural evolution in regular communication. Maybe in the close future more people will find their significant other by using online mediums then by going out and socializing in real life arenas, but this seems scarier than the march of progress should. I should probably just get used to it, but for some reason I can't force myself to fully accept this change. I feel like my grandfather. What does MySpace even care? I mean there are always going to be more thirteen-year-olds signing up. But I can't be a complete technophobe. If you ever want a new Facebook friend, just find me at Wilkes. My name is Patrick Austin.