Grammar kids & Bebo
This week I felt like I should add my 10cents worth on the "image" that people create using sites like Bebo and Myspace. In particular I would like to discuss the profile of murdered teenager Augustine Borrell. Earlier in the blog someone claimed, after looking at Augustine's Bebo page, that he may not be the kind of person the media portrayed him as. I have been following the news coverage closely as my little brother goes to grammar and was fairly close to August having been in his rugby team for the past two years.
My brother, like most of the Grammar 6th and 7th form has a Bebo page. Recently he has shown me some of his freinds pages. To be honest I found most of them laughable. I am used to his freinds sitting around playing playstation and giggling like schoolgirls. However if you were to believe their Bebo pages then you may be lead to believe that their full time occupations are acting staunch and "sinking shitloads of piss" (direct quote from one kids page). I can assure you this is not the case. These are 16-17 year old high school students people! These pages are an attempt to project a false online identity, as discussed in earlier lectures. They are simply trying to be cool.
August's page is a prime example of this. His page portrayed him as "gangster" probably because that is what he thought this was cool image. Image being the key word. Although he may have tried to achieve this particular look using bebo and the clothes he wore I have been assured by my brother and his mates that he was most definately not a "Hoodrat". According to them he was quite the opposite- a nice guy, fairly quiet who stayed out of trouble.
My short experience sifting around Bebo has lead me to believe that most of these kids try to establish fantasy images of themselves using these sites. However most of the time their profiles are not a true reflection of their chacacter. It is unfortunate in rare cases like Augustine's when these online identities are misconstrued as being real and have a damaging effect on ones reputation and memory.
My brother, like most of the Grammar 6th and 7th form has a Bebo page. Recently he has shown me some of his freinds pages. To be honest I found most of them laughable. I am used to his freinds sitting around playing playstation and giggling like schoolgirls. However if you were to believe their Bebo pages then you may be lead to believe that their full time occupations are acting staunch and "sinking shitloads of piss" (direct quote from one kids page). I can assure you this is not the case. These are 16-17 year old high school students people! These pages are an attempt to project a false online identity, as discussed in earlier lectures. They are simply trying to be cool.
August's page is a prime example of this. His page portrayed him as "gangster" probably because that is what he thought this was cool image. Image being the key word. Although he may have tried to achieve this particular look using bebo and the clothes he wore I have been assured by my brother and his mates that he was most definately not a "Hoodrat". According to them he was quite the opposite- a nice guy, fairly quiet who stayed out of trouble.
My short experience sifting around Bebo has lead me to believe that most of these kids try to establish fantasy images of themselves using these sites. However most of the time their profiles are not a true reflection of their chacacter. It is unfortunate in rare cases like Augustine's when these online identities are misconstrued as being real and have a damaging effect on ones reputation and memory.
posted by Alan at 11:59 AM
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