My views on Frontline: Growing up Online

            Well last week, on a Tuesday, my instructor was showing use an online video from the Frontline program and she was showing us one of their documentaries: ‘Growing up Online’.  If you’ve seen this then you know it’s about how the internet has been assimilated into our way of life, especially for teenagers. 

 

These people have, what I term, a ‘The Batman complex’.  Where they lead a secret Identity online and portray themselves as they want to be seen rather than what they really are in life.  The term Batman is where we have Bruce Wayne, a billionaire playboy who leads a secret life of fighting crime and looking bad ass.  One in particular, who really caught my attention was a women (whom I shall kept anonymous for her sake) went by the online persona as Autumn Edows.  Autumn, as PBS described her, is a Gothic model and artist.  To me she was bloody gorgeous I love her work and her ‘gothic’ style.  I really think she had a wonderful time taking on the identity of Autumn Edows.  My hearts weep for her when I heard that she was forced too delete all of her work.  I won’t go into full detail about it, you will have to watch the video and see for yourself.  I felt bad for her as an artist myself, because I would rather be shot and hung than delete any of my work by either my parents or anyone else.  Unless I feel it should be thrown away it stays with me.

 

After watching the video I remember someone saying it was all very political in some points, where it seemed as though some information was intentionally kept out.  As look back at it I can agree that it seems a bit political, not on the internet itself, but on the people who use it. 

One great quote I can recall from a fellow student, and I can’t help but agree:

 

“Parents have always been putting the blame on other things when a child does something.  Either it’s the music on the radio, the violence on the TV and in movies, and now the Internet.  Maybe one of them should just stand up and say it: ‘You know maybe we just suck as a parents!”

 

Now I cannot remember word for word of what he said, but that is pretty much the general idea.

 

One big thing that entered my head was the thought: ‘What if this kind of news became an episode of South Park?’  I mean South Park is a show that makes fun of everything in the news, from living in World of Warcraft to the truth of Scientology.  So I really wonder what kind of shenanigans would be wrote if this became a South Park episode, if it hasn’t been done already.

 

Now I realize that I’m jumping around between my views on the Frontline documentary and my own personal thoughts, but please bear with me.  I can’t really comment too much on the documentary other than it tells me information I already know, it shows how naïve some people are (mainly some parents) to the online world and how you need to have common sense when you’re talking with someone through Instant Messenger. 

 

No before I wrap up everything, I really feel I have to say this about Instant Messenger (IM).  Don’t take to personal the message you’re getting from your online buddy.  Because, the internet including I.M.lacks THE biggest quality that is essential to communication and that is emotion.  No making a smiley face or like me the classic ‘X3’ does not count as emotion.  Unless you are physically there with your chat buddy, either sitting in a Starbuck drinking a latte or sitting on the sofa watching Cartoon Network you cannot have a true conversation without emotion.  I.M. is just Email with instant reply.

 

Okay I got that out of the way.  I’m sorry for ranting on for the duration of the post but thank you anyway for taking the time.