In Class: Listen Up!

I found all of these videos to be inspiring in some way, even the poorly filmed ones. They each had a voice. A personal story was portrayed, or some deeper message that maybe only someone of the 'teenage' generation may understand. There were many refrences to drugs, alcohol, depression, sex and violence. These are all sensitive topics individuals are exposed to during their teenage years. I have often found that these topics are disregarded or rarely talked about.

One of my favorite videos, was about a gay couple. A man's boyfriend contracted a disease and the hospital was not allowing him to spend the last few hours with his love.

Everyone should hear this story, listen here

The social networking site, Last.fm, allows teens to express how they feel about music. Each artist and song has a profile page and individuals are free to discuss what they feel about the song/artist. Also, I feel that Youtube is a website that allows teenagers to talk back. Just the fact that they can comment about videos. Aside from that, everyone is free to upload any kind of video, you can search whatever floats your boat.

I also came across another video I found inspiring...
Here is the story of a boy and how he came out to the world

Southpark

I am a huge fan of Southpark. I just caught the latest episode, although may sound a bit ridiculous, but I found had a lot of good points. If any of you would like to watch, here is a direct link. It's about the new feminist movement :)

Watch here!

Henry Jenkins Interview/ Testing Horace Mann

I understand the motive behind social networking sites. This motive does not include creating stalkers nor does it include minor exposing themselves. I understand that it is not the websites responcibility. What one individual choses to expose on their site, and which material they chose to make public is up to them. Myspace and Facebook are just trying to make it easier for people to keep in touch. I find Facebook incredibly handy, although I do have a Myspace as well. I feel that Myspace is 11-16 oriented where as most of my professors have a Facebook. I also feel Facebook is more respected because it does not allow for the exposure of as much as Myspace does.

A few years ago, I'm not sure if Myspace still has this feature, but it allowed the reporting of underage users. At the time my sister was an 'under age user' posting inappropriate pictures, so I took the liberaty of reporting her. Her account was deleted no more than 3 days after. The thing with this feature is that, it is so easy for anyone to create an account and go under false identity. No more than a day later she would create another, and the process would repeat. I eventually gave in. I believe it is the users responcibility.

"By giving youth access to a public of their peers, MySpace provides a fertile ground for identity development and cultural integration. As youth transition from childhood, they seek out public environments to make sense of culture, social status and how they fit into the world. Interacting with strangers helps them understand who they are and communities of interest allow them to explore ideas and values."

I do still check my Myspace account regularly, but Facebook gets my vote.