Saturday, May 08, 2010

NYT: Teenage Insults, Scrawled on Web, Not on Walls (Formspring.me)



I had never heard of this before today, but it's something I'll keep my eyes on. I'm not a big fan of getting worked up over the latest technology or social networking site, as though the world was safe for teenagers before [insert new fad here] existed, but now it is not. However, I am a big fan of keeping a pulse on how teenagers communicate and particular trends that influence their lives. I'm not really excited about Formspring.me at first glance.

Formspring.me, a relatively new social networking site, has become a magnet for comments, many of them nasty and sexual, among the Facebook generation.

While Formspring is still under the radar of many parents and guidance counselors, over the last two months it has become an obsession for thousands of teenagers nationwide, a place to trade comments and questions like: Are you still friends with julia? Why wasn’t sam invited to lauren’s party? You’re not as hot as u think u are. Do you wear a d cup? You talk too much. You look stupid when you laugh.

By setting up a free Formspring account and linking it to their Tumblr or Twitter or Facebook accounts, young people invite their hundreds of online friends to ask questions or post comments, without having to identify themselves.

In part, Formspring is just the latest place to hang out and exchange gossip, as teenagers have always done. But because of the anonymity, the banter is unvarnished.


Hat Tip: Kendall Harmon

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