Mood:
d'ohTopic: Poli-ticks
So apparently many of the users of the social-networking site MySpace are lying about their age. I know this is a big shock to you... and that's called sarcasm because if it is a shock to you then you obviously live in a hole.
You want to know why people are lying about their age? Because MySpace makes it so gosh darn hard for children to see each other's profiles. However, the bigger problem is that adults can easily create a profile that makes them look younger so they can do bad things. Then younger "rebels" can get in touch with these adults and get themselves in a load of trouble. That's not why people are lying about thier age and yet it kinda is.
I'm not gonna go into the realm of the mind of the typical teenager, because first off, there is no typical teenager, and second, I don't have the time to write a book for you. Let's just say that many kids wish they were older than they are for one reason or another, along with many adults who wish they were younger for one reason or another. These social-networking sites like MySpace are the perfect place for these two types to contact each other and connect.
This is what is bugging some officials. Many children can be tricked into thinking they have a relationship with these people and later get duped by thier "very good friend." So these officials are searching for a solution; to make sure people are as old as they say they are. How are they going to do this? By utilizing credit cards, public records, identity verification sites, subscriptions of sorts, and some other ideas such as my favorite, the "some technology to verify peoples ages" plan. They are apparently thinking of doing everything but requiring people to put in a social security number. They are even trying to check for driver's licenses (some how?).
MySpace claims to be on the ball, with algorithms, programs, and real people checking profiles daily. Yet I was able to find many profiles which featured a picture of a younger teenager than the profile said the age to be. Either those people are sleeping on the job, or MySpace needs a little help callin' these liers out.
Whatever happens, it doesn't really matter to me. If MySpace starts charging members for stuff then I'll just follow my friends to whatever site they move to next. As long as the site doesn't make me 100 years old or something, I'll be good.
