VSL recently pointed me to this article about class divisions and MyFace (or MySpace and Facebook for those unfamiliar with my *witty* vernacular), and seeing as I'm someone who recently jumped on the "well, if the cool kids are doing it..." train, I thought it was pretty interesting.
The author's crux (since I'm a bit of a pessimist and sort of doubt you'll ever click on that link and read the article in its entirety) is that Facebook, after recently opening its Interwebby arms to high school students when it was previously limited to college kids, has become the social interfacing tool of choice for the "goodie two shoes, jocks, athletes, or other 'good' kids...(who) tend to come from families who emphasize education and going to college...They are primarily white, but not exclusively. They are in honors classes, looking forward to the prom, and live in a world dictated by after school activities," whereas MySpace has become the preferential choice for a more disenfranchised sort - "Latino/Hispanic teens, immigrant teens, 'burnouts,' 'alternative kids,' 'art fags,' punks, emos, goths, gangstas, queer kids, and other kids who didn't play into the dominant high school popularity paradigm....MySpace has most of the kids who are socially ostracized at school because they are geeks, freaks, or queers."
And although I'm not sure any of this has any real impact in my little world, I do find it interesting to wonder whether or not I would have chosen Facebook over MySpace if I were still in high school when these sort of neat little distinctions actually mattered to me.
The author's crux (since I'm a bit of a pessimist and sort of doubt you'll ever click on that link and read the article in its entirety) is that Facebook, after recently opening its Interwebby arms to high school students when it was previously limited to college kids, has become the social interfacing tool of choice for the "goodie two shoes, jocks, athletes, or other 'good' kids...(who) tend to come from families who emphasize education and going to college...They are primarily white, but not exclusively. They are in honors classes, looking forward to the prom, and live in a world dictated by after school activities," whereas MySpace has become the preferential choice for a more disenfranchised sort - "Latino/Hispanic teens, immigrant teens, 'burnouts,' 'alternative kids,' 'art fags,' punks, emos, goths, gangstas, queer kids, and other kids who didn't play into the dominant high school popularity paradigm....MySpace has most of the kids who are socially ostracized at school because they are geeks, freaks, or queers."
And although I'm not sure any of this has any real impact in my little world, I do find it interesting to wonder whether or not I would have chosen Facebook over MySpace if I were still in high school when these sort of neat little distinctions actually mattered to me.
* * *
Since I realize that there are a fair number of you who have little to no interest in MyFace (nor in my actual face, for that matter), here's a picture of a turtle attempting to eat a mountain of mashed potatoes that you might enjoy. But perhaps not. One can never be sure about these things.* * *
Finally, and for absolutely no good reason at all, here's the joke that I was obsessed with when I was four:
Okay, that's it. Happy Wednesday, people.
Question: How do you make a hotdog stand?(Don't feel bad. My 5th hour didn't think it was funny either, and their tastes aren't exactly discriminating...)*wait for it...*
Answer: Take away its chair!
Okay, that's it. Happy Wednesday, people.
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Since it's National Talk Like A Pirate Day today, I decided to tell my students a topical joke:
Q: Know what my favorite national holiday is?
A: ARRRRRRRbor Day
I'm hoping my paycheck still clears on Friday.
A horse walks into a bar. The bartender says, "Hey man, why the long face?"
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