An interesting article was brought to my attention via Twitter this afternoon. Melanie McBride tweeted an article written last December that presents the complex issue of self celebration on the web through a particularly unsettling case of a Facebook group named 30 Reasons Girls Should Call It A Night where thousands of posted pictures depict (mostly) girls drinking, partying, and in many cases engaging in all out debauchery. The group is a relatively large online community within Facebook ostensibly centered around the nightlife ritual of binge drinking. Thousands of pictures, videos, and a robust discussion thread are found on the group’s page where members discuss everything from the best alcoholic drinks to mix to the weirdest thoughts they’ve had while vomiting.
Now I’m not writing this to pass judgment. Lord knows I’ve engaged in such debauchery many-a-time (many of us have, c’mon admit it), and that’s precisely my point. The increased transparency allowed by many web applications (social networks being the most popularly debated and criticized) is creating situations where we are forced to confront the strange space where our private and public behaviors interface. As the more conservative of us decry the increased awareness of less-than-socially-acceptable behavior as evidence of the corruption of our youth and claim anymore “nothing is sacred,” others of us see the possible enlightening truth behind it all – this behavior, to varying degrees, has always been practiced. What’s different is the changing technological landscape that pushes helps push our private selves to the fore for all to see (though, this is not to say cultural norms and values are static). What we are seeing is not the despicable behaviors of others and ourselves, but rather our common humanity. Now before some of you protest that lying in the fetal position next to a toilet in a puddle of your own vomit is not the warm and fuzzy essence of humanity that we all share, think about it for a minute. No one would claim they are perfect, obviously. We all make mistakes, we all go wild, we all experience fear, embarrassment. Why should these essential experiences of the human condition take a backstage to happiness, love, and joy?
I’d like to think my own nightlife behavior is a bit more controlled than many of the people depicted in 30 Reasons Why, but maybe not. I certainly recognize that any representation of me, be it a photograph or video, can be misinterpreted and possibly damage my future, so I passively avoid putting myself in such situations. There is a high premium on our front stage face, one that is separate from the face we keep back stage, and online identity management is important, I won’t deny that, but maybe this is changing. I also think that a healthy restraint on the content you publish online about yourself is a good thing. That’s just me. It’s different for others. In addition to the discussions about the craziest things they’ve done while drinking, the members of 30 Reasons Why are also discussing topics with names like “Your Internet Life” and “Private versus Public” where as a community they are grappling with the issues mentioned in this post.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this, since, obviously, its tremendously complex and I’ve only begun to scratch the surface here.
Tagged: anthropology, facebook, identity, privacy, self, web
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4 Comments
Thanks for drawing attention to this. I’m addressing a very specific issue here: not youth in general, but young women who engage in risk behaviour online. What it’s about and who is to blame.
Binge drinking is becoming very popular among young women. In fact, it’s become an epidemic in the UK. My concern is, like yours, coming from a place of concern – not judgment. Like you and everybody else I’ve had my share of great times.
We’re all entitled to have some fun in life. Especially when we’re young. But there’s a difference between having fun and self destructive behaviour. Young women are more likely to engage in attention seeking behaviours that are sexualised – as a direct result of living in a culture that tells them they’re more valued for their bodies than their ideas. And the current microfame trend isn’t helping. For many, the quickest route to online celebrity is exhibitionism and risk behaviour. And they’ll soon find themselves with an audience.
http://nymag.com/news/media/47958/
Just go into YLive or Seesmic and you’ll find young women posting flirty, intoxicated content for large numbers of, almost entirely, male subscribers. Audiences I regard as entirely and questionably complicit in their self harm. To be an audience to someone else’s pathology and self destruction is to enable it.
I don’t blame the internet or technology for this. I blame a corporate culture that has indoctrinated young people with a socialisation of insecurity, fear, materialism, narcissism and aggressively competitive behaviour. With little sense of their value beyond their physical appearance, their *stuff* or their popularity.
I intend to write a longer post about this in my own blog.
Here’s my question for you: As a guy do you think men have a role to play here in terms of how you respond to this kind of content? As potential allies v. enablers? As long as young women think there is an audience – and source of attention – for this behaviour, it will persist.
I certainly agree with you. It would be difficult to disagree with the fact that an incredible number of young women practice online exhibitionism on various video sharing sites. In my experience, I’ve never heard of nor seen the same behavior practiced by a man. I suppose the equivalent would be “mook” behavior celebrated by the cult of Jackass.
I’m glad you’re focusing on young women, since they bear the brunt of most relentless advertising campaigns that, like you said, emphasize their physical appearance, their stuff, and/or their popularity. As a brief aside, it’s interesting how this translates into Second Life. I don’t know if this is entirely true, but in my experience there seems to be exponentially more choices to accessorize a female avatar. Don’t know if there’s really a connection there, but it’s interesting nonetheless.
To answer your question, as best as I can, I definitely think men have a responsibility to not serve as an audience for such behavior. But to avoid patronizing young women and likening them to misbehaving children, I think an approach much like what you are taking with teaching and discussing responsible online-behavior is absolutely necessary, at least at this point in time, in fleshing out this new terrain. Men and women alike need to familiarize themselves with these and related problems.
There is a group formed by a former College President to fight this problem. It is an interesting approach that deserves some discussion. The organization is called Choose Responsibility.
Thank you