PBS Special

Social networking, as a whole, creates a divide between most millennials and their progenitors. Halfway through the aughts, most parents were rather technologically illiterate, but their children had already become savvy enough to learn how to interact with the web and several computer programs. As a result, millennials have found, in the web and social networking, a haven where they can express themselves in a vehicle that is mediated not by adults, but by their own peers.

It is not without its own set of borders that are closely related to the same social borders that are in place in reality, however there seems to be more room for class mobility online. Ex: 3 girls talking about who could get the most friends--a direct microcosm of high school social politics.

Conflicts of personality, in this example, seem to have moved onto the web. Many altercations took place over Myspace, but in once instance these actions came to a head manifesting as a fight in the school cafeteria. A 21st century fight finds itself with 21st century repercussions. Kids immediately captured video on their phones, the media found its way to YouTube.

Of course, the traffic of intimate pictures are mentioned twice in the documentation, that implicitly call into question the age all question of "art or porn?" In the subject of Sara, the girl with the eating disorder--and might I mention this example neither falls in the subject of either "art" or "porn"--she remarks on sending a scantily clad image of herself, no big deal. In a modern world, however, that sort of reasoning elides the idea of a faux pas with the advent of "revenge" sites and other image boards where intimate content may be shared publicly. 
As for the other instance of intimate pictures, Jennifer posted pictures that were probably more along the lines of what Sara had in mind when she took hers. In one case, the pictures were intimate, but with Jennifer, these were intimate pictures being shared publicly. So what are they? Whatever the answer, the internet makes it highly easy to share content (but thankfully impossible to share other things, if you catch my drift), so much so that one might not consider the possible objections of such a reality.

It seems one of the parts to the whole store that must be reckoned with is the idea that websites of social media make it easier for children to become who they wish to become. A picture lasts for ever, so in that moment, they are able to communicate a certain edginess, bravado, or perhaps more realistically, a banality to it all. These pictures, these words, these bits of media shared, that is who these people believe they are, and want others to think so as well. The internet makes the quite easy, which may not be a bad thing. Like in the case of Jennifer, the internet made her. Okay, well, she is the self, but she was able to support and validate this self through the internet, through the idea of peer review.

Part of the reality, albeit a small part, of being on these websites is the “online-predator.” While this is a very real concept, one that may be exploited by parents and the media, children are not as coy nor doting as they might seem. The students interviewed in the Frontline special all readily know how to handle the idea of a predator. That being said, the difference is not unlike the difference between these same children’s physical and online persona. What they might broadcast in the real world, where they seem to wear something of a shell, when that armour comes off with the pretense of a watchful eye and expectation, the odds are perhaps more likely for them to be a little more trustworthy. Also, sexual relations can only happen offline, so…

Ryan Halligan became the subject of a “cyber-bullying campaign” which resulted in his killing himself. Cyber bullying is also a direct link to all of this because it is for the same reason as many of the aforementioned subjects: the internet is an unmediated playground. Bullies were able to have their way with Ryan for an unmediated amount of time; gone are the days where bullying stops at the playground. Today's reality is that school comes home with you. While that can be a blessing for some kids, for others, it can break a situation. 

The PBS special was quite informative. It was made with enough distance in order to have a handle on the world we have come to live in, and were living in, during those times. I will admit, however, that it is by now a little dated; I was able to see certain phrases coming and was aware of where the entire special was headed throughout. I am only two years younger than the featured graduating class, so I was there with them, more or less. It is my reality, and hardly anything seem skewed by some sort of higher agenda. I believe PBS told it like it should have been and also captured the right view points. Many a parent was like that of Evan Skinner. There were many an internet model sensation like that of Jennifer, who also utilized the alternative image in order to find a niche follower of appreciators, or perhaps, fetishists. If time travel were possible, I would definitely recommend this special to those living at the time of its publication.