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Did Whites Flee the 'Digital Ghetto' of MySpace?
MIT's Technology Review ^ | 14 July | Christopher Mims

Posted on 07/16/2010 6:59:50 AM PDT by flowerplough

(Danah) Boyd's current work argues that MySpace took on many of the aspects of a "digital ghetto" in the minds of teens who used the site, leading to "white [and asian] flight" from the site, analogous to the white flight from the city to the suburbs that took place in the U.S. beginning in the 1960's. Boyd continues:

Consider the parallels. In some senses, the first teens to move to the "suburbs" were those who bought into a Teen Dream of collegiate maturity, namely those who were expressly headed towards dorm-­based universities and colleges. They were the elite who were given land in the new suburbs before plots were broadly available. The suburbs of Facebook signaled more mature living, complete with digital fences to keep out strangers. The narrative that these digital suburbs were safer than the city enhanced its desirability, particularly for those who had no interest in interacting with people who were different.

Boyd argues that MySpace's inability to deal with spammers added to the feeling of urban blight that overtook the site, leaving derelict profiles "covered in spam, a form of digital graffiti... As MySpace failed to address these issues, spammers took over like street gangs."

Subsequent media coverage of the "death of MySpace" was a direct result of this flight, says Boyd. For example, she cites a 2009 New York Times article that was entitled "Do You Know Anyone Still on MySpace?" despite the fact that at the time Facebook and MySpace has roughly equal numbers of users.

(Excerpt) Read more at technologyreview.com ...


TOPICS: Computers/Internet; Society
KEYWORDS: academia; cantgetarealjob; danahboyd; dementalillness; facebook; harvard; leftuniverse; lunaticleft; myspace; pomocrap; racistleft; socialmedia
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Facebook - "with digital fences to keep out strangers," versus " MySpace's inability to deal with spammers".

You make the call.

White [and Asian] flight, or common sense?

1 posted on 07/16/2010 6:59:51 AM PDT by flowerplough
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To: flowerplough

It logically follows then that we should expect Al Sharpton to take over as spokesman for MySpace?


2 posted on 07/16/2010 7:02:32 AM PDT by PGR88
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To: flowerplough

Pure racist tripe.


3 posted on 07/16/2010 7:02:58 AM PDT by Paladin2
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To: PGR88

Well Obama is turning America into Detroit ...


4 posted on 07/16/2010 7:05:26 AM PDT by Tarpon (Obama-Speak ... the fusion of sophistry and Newspeak. It's not a gift, it's just lies.)
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To: PGR88

Well Obama is turning America into Detroit ...


5 posted on 07/16/2010 7:05:45 AM PDT by Tarpon (Obama-Speak ... the fusion of sophistry and Newspeak. It's not a gift, it's just lies.)
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To: flowerplough

Myspace was originally created for bands and that’s what I use it for..to search out music of the genre I enjoy. That’s it. I just never got into social websites. They are just glorified dating sites for guys to try and hunt down a piece of ass and for girls to gossip.


6 posted on 07/16/2010 7:06:13 AM PDT by MAD-AS-HELL (Hope and Change. Rhetoric embraced by the Insane - Obama, The Chump in Charge)
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To: Paladin2

I agree, this is not a race issue, myspace started to suck and alternatives were found.


7 posted on 07/16/2010 7:06:55 AM PDT by edcoil (OK, so what's the speed of dark?)
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To: flowerplough

Ironic yet funny how everything these days is so race oriented, huh? “Whites” ...lulz. =.=


8 posted on 07/16/2010 7:10:38 AM PDT by cranked
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To: flowerplough

I think Facebook just happened to catch on big.


9 posted on 07/16/2010 7:10:59 AM PDT by Jack Wilson
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To: edcoil

i dunno much about myspace, but why is facebook better than myspace.


10 posted on 07/16/2010 7:15:59 AM PDT by 4rcane
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To: flowerplough

Given that non-white, non-asian Myspace users have the same access to FB as whites and asians, I’m finding it hard to lend the theory any credence without a white hood on my head.


11 posted on 07/16/2010 7:18:27 AM PDT by Mr. Bird
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To: flowerplough

Sort of like that race-baiting “news” article in Newsweek written by some kid named Graham that was mentioned on The Factor last night. The kid narrowed the New Black Panther intimidation case into one about whites whining. Megyn Kelly put her legal and journalism backgrounds against the kid’s and can we say, “No contest!”

Maybe, just maybe, a lot of the new Facebook folks were simply tired of spam.


12 posted on 07/16/2010 7:18:58 AM PDT by 12Gauge687 (Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice)
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To: flowerplough

The obvious solution is to force every white person in America to create a MySpace login AND use it at least once a day. Failure to do so will result in prosecution by Eric Holder’s “Justice” Department, as soon as the Arizona lawsuit is finished, and the paperwork for dismissing the cases against the New Black Panthers and the sanctuary cities is pushed through.


13 posted on 07/16/2010 7:20:00 AM PDT by Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus (The success of Darwinism was accompanied by a decline in scientific integrity. - Dr. Wm R. Thompson)
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To: 4rcane

Long list but also, not flavor of the month.


14 posted on 07/16/2010 7:20:42 AM PDT by edcoil (OK, so what's the speed of dark?)
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To: flowerplough
My coffee's too hot.

Racist coffee.

15 posted on 07/16/2010 7:21:33 AM PDT by dead (I've got my eye out for Mullah Omar.)
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To: cranked
Really! Can't we move forward on race instead of just drudging up the past forever?

The narrative that these digital suburbs were safer than the city enhanced its desirability, particularly for those who had no interest in interacting with people who were different.

Plu-ease! Narrative? What narrative? Everybody has the right to interact with who they want to. Sometimes it's reciprocated, sometimes not. That's life.

16 posted on 07/16/2010 7:21:35 AM PDT by Clock King (Ellisworth Toohey was right: My head's gonna explode.)
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To: Clock King

I called a bunch of whining black women “cows” and someone accused me of being racist. I said all the cows around my farm are white. And they are.


17 posted on 07/16/2010 7:26:46 AM PDT by RobRoy (The US Today: Revelation 18:4)
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To: MAD-AS-HELL
I just never got into social websites. They are just glorified dating sites for guys to try and hunt down a piece of ass and for girls to gossip.

I disagree. Facebook is great for staying in touch with friends and family, events, pictures, etc.. One just needs to make sure they bolt down the security settings and don't get overly personal.
18 posted on 07/16/2010 7:29:55 AM PDT by TSgt (We will always be prepared, so we may always be free. - Ronald Reagan)
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To: flowerplough

Kinda reminds me of what happened to the CB radio craze of the 70’s


19 posted on 07/16/2010 7:30:10 AM PDT by al baby (Hi Mom sarc ;))
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To: al baby

10-4


20 posted on 07/16/2010 7:35:53 AM PDT by dasboot (Down: up. Up: down.)
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