blogger gives dark secrets the first-class treatment...2007/02/04 · become an award-winning...

Collegiate

Case

Study

THE NATION’S NEWSPAPER

Artists take paintings to massesBy Maria Puente

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Technology leaves teensspeechlessBy Olivia Barker

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Teens hang out at MySpaceBy Janet Kornblum

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Seeking teens, marketers takerisks by emulating MySpaceBy Theresa Howard

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Critical inquiry, futureimplications and additional resourcesBackground, discussion and scenarios

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www.usatodaycollege.com

© Copyright 2007 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co., Inc. All rights reserved.

2.5%

USA TODAY Snapshots®

Youth movement on the WebPercentage of people who keep a personal blog, displayphotos on the Web, or maintain their own website:

By Cindy Clark and Marcy E. Mullins, USA TODAY

Source:“Surveying theDigitalFuture”, Cen-ter for the Dig-ital Future,USC Annen-berg School,annual sur-vey of 2,061people, mar-gin of error±2.75 per-centagepoints.

2003

2005

Under 18

2.1%

13.6%

6.2%

3.6%

7.9%

2.2%3.7%

18-34 35-54 Over 55

Advances in technology have changed the way people communicate on a varietyof levels, with blogs becoming an increasingly popular outlet among young people.According to statistics, there are some 51 million blogs, including both businessand personal ones. Text messaging has also begun to change the way people inter-act, and is an increasingly common way for teens to communicate. Moreover, evi-dence suggests that teens hang out more with online groups than in-person ones.This case study explores how changing technology is shaping the patterns of socialinteraction and examines resulting trends, market forces and other effects.

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Blogger gives dark secretsthe first-class treatment

By Maria PuenteUSA TODAY

GERMANTOWN, Md. — Frank Warrenis knee-deep in secrets: They'reoverflowing boxes, piled on tables,leaning against walls — closing in on30,000 at last estimate, and hundreds ofnew ones are arriving every week.

Warren is unperturbed; secrets havebecome his life. Not his secrets, mind you— America's secrets. And they'rebeginning to make him famous. He hasbecome an award-winning blogger, afirst-time author, an artist with a travelingexhibit, a possible documentary subject,the inspiration for a music video and theall-around media "it" boy of the moment.

It couldn't happen to a more unlikelyguy. In a culture that rewards hip-and-

mocking, Warren, 41, has to be the mostunsnarky man in America. Lanky, soft-spoken and earnest, he is the antithesisof the Jon Stewart crowd, but he'sbecoming a cultural force almost aspopular as Mr. Snarky himself. Warren is,as his publisher puts it in his book'sforeword, "the most trusted stranger inAmerica."

"I've been surprised every step of theway," Warren says. "I'm just a typicalsuburban husband. I'm an accidentalartist. It's been quite a journey, quite anadventure."

postsecret.blogspot.com

Postcards sent from theoutposts of the humanheart become canvases atPostSecrets.com

II''vvee nneevveerr ttoolldd aannyyoonnee tthhiiss,, bbuutt …… Each week,blogger Frank Warren receives hundreds of post-cards in which strangers confess their secrets.

AS SEEN IN USA TODAY’S NEWS SECTION, MARCH 15, 2006

Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

And all because of his blog, PostSecret .com. It started out asWarren's temporary community art project. Now it's wherethousands of Americans go to anonymously post their deepestsecrets, and where millions of Americans go to read them.Secret-tellers — call them "confessors" — send their secrets tohis home here in suburban Washington, D.C., on postcards theydecorate themselves. Warren reads every one and picks 10 to20 to post on his blog every Sunday.

They are mini works of art. Some are heartbreaking, some arehilarious, some are touching or thought-provoking or shockingor silly or repulsive. All of them are riveting, especially the onesabout the big stuff: sex and death.

For many readers, PostSecret is a deliciously addictive fusionof old tech (snail mail) and new tech (the Internet) thatproduces something never seen before.

"People are drawn to this because it's something powerfuland raw and real that speaks to them," Warren says. "I try tokeep it ideologically neutral and juxtapose the cards in a waythat's balanced and non-judgmental."

This week, PostSecret featured these: a card bearing animage of a baby wrapped in a pink blanket with a note reading,"Please take care of my baby." And these words pasted over it:"i have always wanted to find a baby on my doorstep. (andkeep it.)" Another showed a sand trap on a golf course with thewords "I have never played a round without cheating." Apicture of a colorfully wrapped present reads, "I hate opening agift in front of the person that gave it to me."

And that's it. There's no bloggy pontificating. There are noads. (Warren refuses them.) It's just the postcards plus a fewinstructions on how to submit, a legal notice, a picture of hishome mailbox and a link to a suicide hotline (hopeline.com) forwhich Warren has been a longtime volunteer.

Yet just a year after its launch, PostSecret is a smash hit. It'sthe third-most-popular blog in the blogosphere of nearly 30million blogs, based on the number of other blogs that link to it,according to Technorati, the leading blog-tracking service.Nielsen BuzzMetrics says PostSecret always is in the top 20 atblog-watching BlogPulse.com every Monday morning. It alsogets 2.3 million unique visitors a month and 3 million pageloads a month, according to another Web-measuring service,StatCounter.com.

This week it won a record five Bloggies in the sixth annualweblog awards, including the top prize, Weblog of the Year.Warren's book, PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions fromOrdinary Lives, a compilation of 400 postcards, is selling well

enough after three months that he's planning four more.

Publisher Judith Regan of ReganBooks, who plans a call-inPostSecret segment for her talk show on Sirius Satellite Radio,says she embraced PostSecret because it's about "the humanheart exposed."

"The reader and viewer can feel the conflict, pain and pathosof the authors," she says. "I thought that (readers) wouldrespond because the secrets are authentic and moving."

HHiiss bblloogg iiss tthhee wwoorrsstt--kkeepptt sseeccrreett

Meanwhile, an exhibit of 2,000 PostSecret postcards inWashington earlier in the year attracted thousands of viewers;some waited in line for hours, even on a Sunday when theRedskins were fighting to stay in the playoffs. The exhibit isscheduled to open in Philadelphia in June.

Several filmmakers are courting Warren for potential TVdocumentaries about PostSecret, and he says the NationalPostal Museum is talking to him about doing an exhibit.PostSecret postcards were even featured last year in the All-American Rejects' music video for their hit Dirty Little Secret.

Warren has been featured on the Today show, National PublicRadio and in dozens of print and online media stories. Timemagazine named the blog one of the world's 50 "coolest"websites. The New York Times called it "consistently engaging"and "original." It made the Chicago Tribune's list of top 50 bestwebsites.

There was talk of doing Letterman, although Warren nixedthat. "The last thing I want to do is go on national TV and laughat people's secrets," he says.

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"It went from obscurity to being in the top five for the last sixmonths," says Technorati spokesman Derek "DJ" Gordon. Blogswith "a unique voice or point of view almost always getrecognized," he says. "This one was absolutely fresh andengaging, and now it has a huge following."

Sue MacDonald, a marketing official at Nielsen BuzzMetricsand chief blogger at BlogPulse.com, says people love PostSecretfor different reasons. "Some love the art, some love the therapy,some love its voyeuristic nature," she says.

"Everyone enjoys the creativity of such a simple idea. ... Frankhas combined several different media — postcards, the mailbox,blogging, artwork, e-mail conversations — to create a

Sending in a secret won’t cancel the deed

AS SEEN IN USA TODAY’S NEWS SECTION, MARCH 15, 2006


breakthrough idea."

Now Warren is so busy that he barely has time for his smallbusiness supplying medical documents. His wife, Jan, and anassistant have taken over much of the work as PostSecret hastaken over Warren.

Jan Warren is feeling a little shell-shocked by all the attention,especially after the cover of the book featured their actualaddress. "We're talking about looking for a new house," shelaughs, a little grimly.

So far, nothing bad has come from PostSecret, although sheworries about its effect on their privacy and their daughterHailey, 11.

"It all happened so quickly. It just snowballed on us," she says."The biggest thing for me is the mess. I don't like clutter."

Too late for that. Thousands of postcards passing throughyour home — as with Dick Cheney, Warren has stashed them inan "undisclosed secure location" — can make for a lot of clutter.And some people at the local post office hate him, Warren sayssheepishly.

AA rreeppoossiittoorryy ffoorr sseeccrreettss uunnttoolldd

It all started a few years ago when Warren went through adifficult period in his life that he doesn't detail. He turned to artprojects, figuring that art isn't just for trained elites.

In his third project, he began handing out blank postcards tostrangers in Metro stations, inviting them to decorate the cardand share a long-hidden secret, something never shared before.

Soon hundreds of cards were pouring into his mailbox. Heput them up in his exhibit space at Artomatic, the annualWashington art show open to anyone who is willing to pay asmall fee. "In four weeks the show was over, and I thought itwould end, but the secrets kept coming and from all across thecountry."

So he created the blog. He long ago stopped handing outpostcards, but they keep coming in the mail anyway, and nowmany are coming via e-mail.

"It's the best source of free therapy I could ever ask for," saysNicole Clayton, 31, of Frederick, Md., whose postcard was onthe blog last year. It featured a photo of a beautiful couplefrolicking on a beach, the kind that's a place holder for a photoin an empty frame. The card read, "I wish my life was more likethis picture frame insert."

Making the card offered a "moment of self-clarification,"Clayton says. "It's hard to admit that sometimes you wish yourlife had taken a different path. It's hard to admit you're notwhere you expected you would be."

PostSecret seems to prove three (at least) things: Lots ofordinary Americans are artistic, lots of them are poetic, andlots of them have something to hide.

"Everybody has secrets; it's part of being a human being,"says Gail Saltz, a psychoanalyst in New York and author of theforthcoming Anatomy of a Secret Life, about how secrets areformed and how they can cross into dangerous territory. Shesays the worst secrets are the kind people keep fromthemselves, so PostSecret can be a boon to both confessors andreaders.

"He has provided a forum that enables people to feel likethey're sharing or getting a secret off their chests but withoutany risk. They have the catharsis without being exposed," Saltzsays.

People love to read this stuff, because "human beings arenormally voyeuristic and curious, and it allows you to reallyidentify with the posters," she says.

She worries that someone who is suicidal might feel worseby sharing a secret and getting no response, but she saysWarren can't do much about that except what he already hasdone with his link to the hotline. "He's done everything he cando to be responsible," she says.

But Evan Imber-Black, a family therapist and author of TheSecret Life of Families, says telling secrets has no meaningexcept in the context of family relationships.

"We live in a time where people have the mistaken idea thatyou tell a secret to the multitudes on TV — and move on," shesays. "But opening a secret is just the first step. (Posting onPostSecret) might offer some measure of relief, but I'm not surehow long it lasts. When a secret opens, it usually takes time andrelational work to get a new equilibrium."

Maybe so, but Warren is no therapist, and he's beginning towonder: Where does this all end? It already has reached thepoint that readers out there in blogland go into a panic — scoresof e-mails fill up his mailbox — when he's even a little lateposting new cards.

"My wife's big fear is that 40 years from now when we'veretired to Boca Raton, secrets will still track us down."

AS SEEN IN USA TODAY’S LIFE SECTION, AUGUST 23, 2006


Artists take paintings to masses

By Maria PuenteUSA TODAY

RICHMOND, Va. — In his swelteringstudio on one of the hottest days of theyear, artist Duane Keiser should besweating, but he's smiling. He sold apainting today. And yesterday and theday before yesterday and the days beforethat going back 18 months. What's more,he's virtually certain to sell a paintingtomorrow and all the tomorrows of theforeseeable future.

Keiser once was one of those artistslucky to sell a couple of paintings a year.Now he's something new: artist asblogger. Every day he makes a postcard-size oil painting of something he seesaround town or of a still life he arrangeshere in his studio in the warehousedistrict of his hometown. Then he postsan image of the painting on his daily blog,DuaneKeiser.blogspot.com, under APainting a Day.

You like it? Want it? Click on it.

Thousands have done so, on Keiser'sblog and the blogs of scores of othermostly non-famous artists who makesmall original paintings nearly every dayand sell them for as little as $100 each. Itdoesn't make them rich, but it allowsthem to make a living as an artist, and itcould make some of them famous.

In the process, artist/bloggers such asKeiser are democratizing the art world,using the Internet to change the makingand selling of art. Dealers and galleries,who command 50% commissions, nolonger have exclusive control in definingwho is emerging or successful.

Now artists can sell directly to

consumers, using blogs or auction sites atprices more affordable to would-becollectors. The result: More people aremaking a living as artists, more peopleare buying art, and more art is selling at awider spectrum of prices.

"This is a very exciting development,"says New York art collector andcorporate attorney Gregory Peterson,who already had a museum-quality artcollection when he discovered Keiser'sblog. Now he has a dozen of Keiser'spaintings. "The entire method ofcollecting has radically changed."

But it's more than that. This is aconfluence of trends:

u The blogosphere has doubled everysix months for the past two years to 51.9million blogs, according to blog trackerTechnorati.

u* Online art shopping has grown as acomplement to gallery hopping and art-fair shopping.

u Interest has increased in originalcontemporary art as an inspiration forinterior design.

u Acceptance has grown of original artfor gifting.

"The Internet has created a new formof art galleries, and it has allowed artiststo become independent entrepreneurs,"says Peter Togel, an artist and co-ownerof ArtByUs.com, a new art auction site."The consumers of the art are peoplewho have white walls and midsizedincomes, who could never pay for apainting in a gallery but don't want to goto Wal-Mart to buy a poster."

So far, art dealers and galleries aren'tpaying much attention, and they're notreally threatened.

"Traditional galleries are never going togo away. You'll always need them, butthe days of them being the gatekeepersare over," says Keiser, 40, whose workhas sold in New York galleries.

Keiser discovered the blogosphere in2004, and it's not certain how manyartists have joined him. But onBlogger.com, more than 1,500 blogsmention "painting-a-day," and 95mention that in their self-describing tagson Technorati.

The idea of putting your art —literature, poetry, music, video games,film, etc. — on the Web for all to see isn'tnew, but it's easier to sell a painting thana poem.

"And the new thing about (theconcept) is the serial aspect, that everyday there's a new image, and you don'tknow what it's going to be," Keiser says.

GGiirrll wwiitthh RReedd HHaatt:: Oil painting by Justin Clayton.

Blogs create new gallery forboth buyer and seller

AS SEEN IN USA TODAY’S LIFE SECTION, AUGUST 23, 2006


That's one reason collector Peterson,54, is a fan. "The Internet can providesomething that no other medium can —real-time drama, and that can beaddictive."

Because making, selling, packing andshipping the small paintings takes only afew hours a day, the artist gets a steadystream of income for not much effort. IfKeiser sells five paintings a week at anaverage of $250 each, for 48 weeks ayear, that's $60,000. Plus, he has plenty oftime to work on larger, more expensivepaintings.

The Internet helps the artist reachmillions more viewers than would comeinto galleries or, say, happen upon theartist painting on a street corner.

Another bonus: Artists and buyers canestablish a personal relationship. "What Ilike is having that direct connection withthe buyer, even if it's by e-mail," Keisersays.

The concept of Keiser's blog originatedin 2001 after he painted a batch of smalloils and wondered how to sell them.Galleries generally aren't interested insmall works because the profit margin isso low.

So he threw a party in his studio andinvited all his friends to "100 Paintingsfor $100." "They sold like gangbusters,"he says. "And everyone had a greattime."

He started posting small paintings onhis website, e-mailed his friends everytime he posted, and interest began togrow.

In December 2004, he launched hisdaily blog; soon, he was getting 50 e-mails a day, then 100. Top Web magBoing Boing mentioned his blog; so didYahoo.

"After that, it just exploded. I wouldpost a painting, and someone in Indiawould buy it within five minutes," hesays.

Originally he sold them for $100 each.As the daily competition grew, heswitched to auctions on eBay, which sentprices up to an average $250-$400 each,although a few have sold for double thator more.

These days, Keiser's blog gets hundredsof visitors a day. Nielsen BuzzMetrics,which tracks blogs based on their linksby other bloggers, says Keiser's sitemanages a respectable ranking of 2,714out of the top 10,000 blogs it profiles.

Meanwhile, scores of other artists,experienced or not, have started similarblogs. Some of them closely imitateKeiser's style, subjects and sellingstrategies.

Justin Clayton, 31, a former video gameartist in Los Angeles, says he was inspiredby Keiser to quit his day job last year tomake small oil paintings for his blog,JustinsPaintings.com, which started inJanuary. Like Keiser, he paints still lifes, afew portraits and some landscapes, suchas a row of the tops of California palmtrees. Nearly everything has sold,typically for $200-$300 on eBayauctions. He's thrilled — and surprised.

"The Internet makes it possible for meor anyone to be an artist. Just the sheernumbers out there, there's bound to besomeone in the world interested in yourart," he says. "But how do you get peopleto go to your site? I'm constantly lookingfor new ways."

One way is publicity. The Augustedition of home magazine Dominoshowcased seven artist/bloggers,including Keiser and Clayton, in a featureon how to decorate on a budget. Afterthat, "I was getting 550 visitors to the sitea day," compared with the usual 125 to200, Clayton says.

In February, when The New York Timesran a small story about a website calledPostcard from Provence, British artistJulian Merrow-Smith had 40 small oils ofthe countryside around his Provencalfarmhouse that hadn't sold since hestarted his painting-a-day blog,shiftinglight.com.

The day of the article, "we soldeverything in about f ive minutes,"Merrow-Smith says. "I have a database of3,000 people, and it's growing by 30 or40 people a day."

Merrow-Smith, also inspired by Keiser,sells his still lifes and landscapes from hisblog for $120 each, and now dealers havecome sniffing. "It's a little embarrassing,"he says. "I don't need them."

Still, for most dealers, gallery ownersand museum curators, artist/bloggers arejust not worth their interest.

"Most don't look like anything special,"says Howard Rehs, co-owner of RehsGalleries in New York. Dealers work withbuyers "who are looking to buildcollections that have some relevance,importance or meaning." The bloggersare just "a little blip in the art world,something that will fill a niche for thosepeople who want to buy something realand not just a poster."

Maybe, but it's a niche that is growing.People such as Togel of ArtByUs.com seethe artists' roles almost as educators forart-buying neophytes. Buyers "can maketheir mistakes; they can grow, learn whatis good, what isn't, what they like, don'tlike," he says. "After you bring art to themasses, eventually some of them aregoing to go to galleries to buy."

SSttrraawwbbeerrrriieess:: Oil on gessoed card by JulianMerrow-Smith.

AS SEEN IN USA TODAY’S LIFE SECTION, MAY 30, 2006


Technology leaves teens speechless

By Olivia BarkerUSA TODAY

To be sure, the monthly bills — as highas $300 — were a problem.

But there were other, audibleconsequences of the fact thatAlexandra Smith would poundout more than 1,000 textmessages from her Razrcellphone a month: She waschatting — constantly,exhaustively — but shewasn't talking. It got so thatSmith's parents werebegging her to put the phoneto her lips instead of herfingertips.

So these days Smith, 18, ispracticing something that came oh-so-naturally to tides of teens beforeher: the art of vocal gab. Instead of holingup at home and punching out digital dialogue,Smith is making an effort to actually meet up withher three best friends and flex her larynx muscles.

"I figured I should probably go over and learn how to talk tosomebody," says the Eugene, Ore., high school senior. "I didn'twant to be the dork at college who texts all the time."

She needn't worry. College suitemates, even roommates, pickup their phones to ping each other. Otherwise, they'recommunicating via instant messaging or the social networkingsites MySpace and Facebook.

With their mouths largely shut but their laptops and flipphones open, teenagers' bedrooms are beginning to sound likethe library.

So is the dinner table. On her show May 10, Ellen DeGeneresribbed guest Lindsay Lohan: "Every time I've seen you, you'reout with eight or nine girls, having dinner. You're all sittingaround the table on your BlackBerries." Lohan matter-of-factlyexplained that she had "like 1,000" messages to answer.

Not long ago, prattling away on the phone was as much ateenage rite as hanging out at the mall. Flopped on the bed, youyakked into your pink or football-shaped receiver until yourparents hollered at you to get off .

Now, Sidekicks and iBooks are as prized as Mom'sPrincess phone, and conversations, the oral

kind, are as uncomfortable as braces.Which makes employers and

communications experts anxious:This generation may be

technologically savvier thantheir bosses, but will they be

able to have a professionaldiscussion?

"We are losing verynatural, human,instinctive skills that weused to be really goodat," says Sonya Hamlin,author of How to Talk So

People Listen: Connectingin Today's Workplace.

A couple of years ago, Hamlinwas asked to teach a class of

"very bright" California high schoolseniors about the college admissions

interview. Their mock answers were"extremely short and not informational.

Nothing came out, really, because it's such an unused skill."

Part of the reason, Hamlin says, is because "they're notlistening. With IM, you can reread six times before decidinghow to answer." There's no improvisation, she says, none of thespontaneity of phone banter or a face-to-face chat. "Talk is aeuphemism. We do it now in quotes," Hamlin says.

And when face-to-face chats do occur, there are other verbalkinks. Stefani Beser, a freshman at Villa Julie College nearBaltimore, texts so much — 20-40 times a day "if there's a lotgoing on" — that the shorthand creeps into her liveconversation. "You'll be talking and all of sudden you'll say, 'Oh,LOL,'" text-speak for "laughing out loud."

Back home, Beser would e-mail her mom a stairwell away toask when dinner was ready. Her boyfriend courted her throughFacebook and then IM. With roommates, "we could literallylean our computer chairs back and talk to each other, but we IMand text."

Text-messaging is wipingout the art of conversation

By Sam Ward, USA TODAY

For more educational resources, visit http://education.usatoday.com Page 7Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

AS SEEN IN USA TODAY’S LIFE SECTION, MAY 30, 2006

A 2005 report for Achieve, a non-profitorganization that helps states raiseacademic standards, found that 34% ofemployers were dissatisfied with the oralcommunication skills of high schoolgraduates; 45% of college students and46% of high school graduates whoentered the workforce instead of collegesaid they struggled with their publicspeaking abilities.

Among teens who go online daily andown a cellphone, 53% most oftencommunicate with friends via writtenmessages, according to a 2005 report bythe Pew Internet & American LifeProject, and 61% of the time they'rechatting via IM. Texting wasn't prevalentenough when the study was conductedto figure prominently in the data, but itlikely would now, says project researchspecialist Mary Madden.

In 2004, 22% of North Americancellphone subscribers were activetexters, according to Nokia's BillPlummer. Last year, it was 36%. In 2005,more than 500 billion text messageswere sent and received worldwide, asreported by Verizon Wireless. By 2010, itis projected to be more than 2.3 trillion.

In the meanwhile, phone companiesare tapping into teens' tappingtendencies. Virgin Mobile is unveilingSwitch_Back, a kind of junior BlackBerrywith a qwerty keyboard and AOL IMbuilt in. "We really think that text is thenew talk," the company's HowardHandler says. A quarter of Virgin Mobile'steen customers use their phones fortexting more than talking. "We are livingin a 160-character nation," themaximum text message length, Handlerdeclares.

Erica Beal's slide into text-based talkreads like the plunge any addict takes:From age 12, her ear was attached to hercellphone. "I'd call my friends, who I hadjust seen, all day, and talk to them allnight." At 15, she got hooked on texting.At 17, it was MySpace. Now, the 18-year-old Manhattan high school senior texts10 to 15 times a day "at least" and checksFacebook as soon as she gets home.

Four years ago, Carol Weston did "thenice-mom thing" of getting her olderdaughter, Lizzi, then 14, her ownlandline. It lasted two years. "I realizedwe were paying for nothing, really," saysWeston, author of Girltalk: All the Stuffyour Sister Never Told You. (IM hadbecome Lizzi's medium of choice.)

Nowadays, the family phone doesn'tring very much, either. "On the one handit's nice and peaceful at home," saysWeston, who lives in Manhattan. "On theother hand, it's hard to figure out whichboys are calling." Hence anotherconsequence of a text-centric household:"Mom and Dad just can't eavesdrop asmuch as they used to."

So some of them are adjusting. WhenBrett Dicker's son spent his junior year inLondon, "we probably spoke to him lessthan half a dozen times the whole year,yet we were literally daily IMing." Nowthat Matt, 22, is back at the University ofSouthern California, he and his mom text"all the time," says the fiftysomethingDicker, who works in marketing and livesin Woodland Hills, Calif.

The primacy of the keyboard has been,well, a lifeline to the kind of guys who, ageneration ago, grasped the family roomreceiver with a sweaty palm and apounding heart. IM "makes life easier,

absolutely," says Nick Kacher, 17, a juniorfrom Waltham, Mass. "I'm not a big sit-around-and-chat-on-the-phone kind ofperson." Friends, and girlfriends, wouldneedle him about his phone phobia.Now, with IM, "I definitely do chat."

But even for a texting and IM fiend likeHeather Hogan, who's known to slide herSidekick under the table and punch awayat family events, there are limits. Lastmonth she met a guy while out with herfriends. They swapped numbers, but henever called. He texted Hogan, 18, four orfive times a day. It got "kind of annoying,"she says. Without any verbal cues,gauging his interest level became tough.So Hogan stopped texting him.

In the past three years alone, thestandards have become "so different,"says Hogan, a Nassau Community Collegefreshman from Bellmore, N.Y. "No onetalks, really, unless you're with people."

But experts aren't necessarily worriedabout what this signals for the future ofinterpersonal relationships. "Girls get thenourishment that comes with femalebonding," Weston says, whether"electronically, telephonically or inperson." Guys, on the other hand, "ifthey're lucky, learn to have tête-à-têtes,or real talk in real time, but they don'tcome by it as naturally."

Smith does call one person regularly:an ex-boyfriend who lives three hoursaway. At first, it was only for five minutesa chat. Now she has reached a marathon40-45 minutes. "It was hard for me totalk on the phone. It was a big change."

Contributing: Mary Pilon

LLeetttteerrss —— ‘‘SSkkiipp tteexxtt mmeessssaaggeess’’

The article "Technology leaves teensspeechless" left me speechless (Coverstory, Life).

My God, $300 for texts? My son nearlyfell out of his chair. Anything he wanted,

he bought with his money. I wonderhow many messages would be sent ifthe teens had to pay for them. But Iguess we have enough molly-coddlingparents to keep the business going.Hereis a thought: Instead of wasting $300each month for absolutely nothing, buy$300 worth of phone cards for some GIs

in Iraq. Oh, and then maybe have theteen write a few letters to the GIs in Iraq.Possibly saying "thank you." That wouldbe worthwhile communication.

James RumageWarner Robins, Ga.


AS SEEN IN USA TODAY’S LIFE SECTION, JANUARY 9, 2006

Teens hang out at MySpaceBy Janet KornblumUSA TODAY

Shanda Edstrom can't stop herself.

Every day — pretty much no matter where she is — she's justgotta go to MySpace.

Her friends are there. Her former high school classmates hangout there. Heck, these days it seems like every teen andtwentysomething in the USA is there.

"I'm on it every day for like two hours at a minimum," saysEdstrom, 18, of Clackamas, Ore., who works at a Kinko's inPortland. "It's just crazy."

Forget the mall. Forget the movies. Forget school. Forget evenAOL. If you're a teen in America today, the place to be is the socialnetworking site MySpace, which has virtually exploded in the pastfew months.

Google just named it the top gainer for 2005, and, in only twoyears, MySpace has shot from zero to 47.3 million members, sayfounders Chris DeWolfe, 39, and Tom Anderson, 29. They launchedMySpace in January 2004. In July Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.bought MySpace for $580 million, but DeWolfe and Anderson stillare CEO and president.

"This site caught us by surprise," says Pete Blackshaw of marketresearcher Intelliseek. "I honestly was flabbergasted by thenumbers."

For those who didn't grow up with the Internet, it might seemstrange to think of a website as an actual place. But for people likeEdstrom and Michael Edwards, a high school senior from SanDiego who can't remember when there was no Internet,cyberspace is a real place, even if the entry gates come in the formof a PC.

And at least these days, a teen's MySpace page is not just a homein that place, it's actually who he is online.

"Your page is like your personality," Edwards, 17, says.

Judging from his, Edwards is a hip guy who is as much into musicas he is into his family. (Two of his 10 pictures are family shots.) Helikes open-minded and cool people but not nerds and liars. And he

really likes Hilary Duff: He plays a song Ode to Hilary Duff on hispage.

What do people do on MySpace?

They redecorate their pages, adding new pictures (often sexy).They spruce up their surroundings with new colors, backgroundsand images. Serious MySpace users brag about knowing a thing ortwo about HTML coding. They write poetry and put up their ownart. They write about themselves.

They play music for friends and post music videos. Some arefrom well-known artists. Many are from virtual unknowns.

MySpace is fast becoming an avenue for musicians to reach outdirectly to fans and become stars.

Wired magazine recently featured the band Hawthorne Heights,which became a success after signing up with MySpace. AndMySpace recently started its own record label with HollywoodUndead, a rap band that launched on MySpace in June and nowhas developed a MySpace following of 111,000 "friends" -- peoplewho have joined their network.

Edwards is so into MySpace that he and fellow high school seniorJoyce Pace, 18, recorded an ode to MySpace -- rewritten lyrics tothe Black Eyed Peas' song My Humps -- and posted it on the site.

"Whatchu gonna do with all them friends, all them friends that'son your page," the song begins. "I'm m-m-m-m-make themcomment, make them comment on MySpace, MySpace … OMG(Oh My God) it's MySpace."

Then there's the purely social part of it: Instead of the antiquatedteen ritual of talking on the phone for hours, MySpace members

Web is now a real place to socialize

TTeeeenn ssppaaccee:: San Diego high school seniors Michael Edwards and Joyce Pacerecorded an ode to MySpace to the tune of the Black Eyed Peas' My Humps.

By Bob Riha Jr., USA TODAY


AS SEEN IN USA TODAY’S LIFE SECTION, JANUARY 9, 2006

spend hour upon hour sending each other instant messages andshort messages called bulletins.

But mostly what they do is cruise, big time, wandering from pageto page in a tangled network that allows people to create links toone another's pages by naming each other a "friend."

The process of finding new friends — often complete strangers —is called "friending." And for many teens, it's the glue that makesthem stick with MySpace.

"Teens are narcissistic and exhibitionist," says AnastasiaGoodstein, who publishes online news and commentary siteYpulse, about Generation Y. "For teens, especially, who are goingthrough this stage where they're constantly looking for thataffirmation and validation and response for everything they are, it'sjust addictive."

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MySpace users are often measured by the status of their friends,in the same way high school students are judged by whom theyhang out with in the halls.

MySpace, says James Katz, a professor of communications atRutgers University, "is the kind of place that in earlier generations,kids dreamed about — where they could go and be with theirfriends, meet new people with similar tastes and find out what'scool, what's hot and what's not."

Of course, MySpace isn't the only place for teens to hang outonline. Other sites, such as the social site Facebook, aimed atcollege students, and blogging sites LiveJournal and Xanga, also arepopular.

But thanks to its easy-to-use tools, and being at the right place atthe right time, MySpace is by far the most popular, says PeterKlaus, a marketing strategist with Fleishman-Hillard.

Web measurement company comScore Media Metrix rankedMySpace the 18th-most-visited site on the Web for November.When measured by the number of pages viewed, MySpace camein fourth, ahead of eBay and Google.

Supported through ads, MySpace is free to users, who are mostlyages 14 to 34. Membership is growing by 5 million a month,according to MySpace's numbers.

In addition to the record label, MySpace is expanding offline withlocal event planning — including large-scale concerts and festivals— and plans to bring MySpace to mobile devices and satellite radio.

Numbers aside, for hard evidence of MySpace's popularity, walkin on any teen using a PC with unrestricted Internet access andyou're likely to see the chaotic world of MySpace splashed acrossthe screen. Or turn on a popular radio station and hear the discjockeys talk about MySpace.

It's now replacing the ritual of giving out phone numbers or evene-mail addresses.

"MySpace has gotten to the point where instead of 'What is yourphone number?' it's like 'What is your MySpace profile?'" Edwardssays. "Like every single person has one. It's like 'Oh, what's yourMySpace page?'"

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Pace, Edwards' song partner, says she remembers when only thehippest were on MySpace.

"Now that it's gone all mainstream, it's kind of weird," she says."A lot of people get profiles because they feel obligated to haveone. Like 'Everybody in my class has a MySpace, so I should getone, too.'" But having a MySpace profile is still OK, even if it hascaught on, she says.

"It's cool in a sense, because it does help you stay connectedwith people who you don't really talk to, especially if they live faraway."

Edstrom, who also models on the side and posts provocativepictures of herself, says MySpace has totally changed her social life.

"I go to parties and a lot of people recognize me from MySpace,"she says. "Which is weird. 'Hey, you're MySpace girl.' I've gotten alot more friends from it.

"I wasn't the popular girl in high school. And now it's like when Isee those people, they know me because they know me from myMySpace. They're more inclined to talk to me then than theywould be just seeing me on the street."

How online hangouts stack upIn the past year, the number of visitors to MySpace (from homes, workplacesand colleges) has skyrocketed, making it the Web’s top social networking site:

By Marcy E. Mullins, USA TODAY

Source: comScore Media Metrix, a division of comScore Networks, Inc.

Nov. 2004 Nov. 2005

354,188N/A83,000

26.7 million

123,000

62,000515,000

966,0001.5 million

1.5 millionN/A

5.8 million7.9 million

11.1 millionN/A

4.9 million

TribeNetworks Inc.

MySpace.com

Facebook.com

Xanga.com

Bebo.com

Friendster.com

Linkedin.com

Orkut.com

AS SEEN IN USA TODAY’S MONEY SECTION MAY 2, 2006


Seeking teens, marketers takerisks by emulating MyspaceBy Theresa HowardUSA TODAY

NEW YORK — The huge growth ofMyspace.com has spurred top marketers totry to create their own versions of the teen-oriented social network site that has morethan 66 million registered users.

Marketers are creating Web destinationswhere people can leave postings aboutthemselves and the brands — and leave e-mail addresses companies can use forcommunications.

"Social-networking places aremegatrends that are cutting across onlineeverywhere," says Dawn Winchester,executive vice president of client servicesfor New York digital ad agency R/GA. "Theyare at the heart of where people cometogether around their passions. It makessense for the right type of brands to beengaged in that type of communication."

Building such interactive relationshipswith consumers requires the marketer togive up some control, and that has risks.Marketers must monitor sites closely lestthey find their brands associated with lewdimages or profanity. It is even trickier,however, to try to limit what people sayabout a brand.

Chevrolet recently saw the dark sidewith its make-your-own ad site for its newTahoe SUV. A number of visitors createdads criticizing its fuel use and circulatedthem on the Internet. The company did nottry to censor such sentiments.

Winchester says that if you try to controlthe content, "You have to be verytransparent about it" or the brand'scredibility is hurt.

Coca-Cola is upfront about monitoring its3-year-old Mycoke.com, which hasbecome a Myspace-like social site. Controls

include filters for offensive words andphrases, live moderators and previews ofblogs before posting, says Doug Rollins,who oversees Coke's interactive branding.

The monitoring hasn't kept people away.More than 8 million people average fivehours per month on the site, where theycan write about their favorite bands, mixand share music, chat and upload shortvideos. They can post under "vegos" —pseudonyms, short for "virtual egos" — andrack up points to buy Coke products. "It'staken on a mind of its own," says Rollins.

Others hoping to build interactiverelationships with consumers:

*USA Network. The cable channel lastyear adopted the theme "CharactersWelcome" to highlight notable or quirkycharacters in its series such as Monk.

At its site, USA created a communitywhere people can chat and share videos,photos and profiles. A recent contest askedpeople to show what "characters" they are.

Through Friday, viewers could uploadvideos of their quirky talents, such assolving a Rubik's Cube blindfolded. Thewinner will get to make a USA Networkcommercial and star in an online series.

"We wanted to create a network ofcharacters on air and put a face on theviewer. ... No other network is allowingviewers to be a part of the brand," saysChris McCumber, senior vice president,marketing.

u NNiikkee.. Looking ahead to the World Cupin June and July, Nike has launched soccer-enthusiast site joga.com, where fansworldwide can chat, post photos andvideos and blog about favorite players orthemselves in 14 languages. Nike haspromoted the site, run in conjunction with

Google, with TV ads, including onAmerican Idol.

"It's the first social network for sportsenthusiasts," says Nike spokesman, NateTobeckson.

u KKoohhll''ss.. The retailer recently launchedtransformationnation.com, where peopleare invited to talk about something that'stransformed their lives. E-mail and sharingcapabilities are to come.

"The goal was to ... create a websitewhere consumers can find other peoplewho share their passions," says JulieGardner, senior vice president, marketing.

u KKooddaakk.. Building on its "Gallery" adsthat feature an exhibition of thousands ofphotos from Kodak's library, the companyrecently added to kodak.com a feature thatlets consumers upload five pictures thatthen appear in the commercial online. Itbills the four-step process as "just as easy"as creating your own album at KodakEasyShare Gallery. After making thecommercial, which can be e-mailed tofriends, people are offered 10 free prints tosign up for Kodak's online photo service.

u UUSSBBCC.. The banker lets people shareviews on news events and trends throughblogs and surveys at yourpointofview.com.The site was launched with an ad in theAcademy Awards and is being promotedwith print and TV ads.

"It's critical to get consumers involved inour business," says Kevin Johnson, head ofU.S. customer marketing. "We truly believethis is the way to engage consumers with adifferent way of marketing."

PPoolliicceedd:: Despite monitoring, millions of peoplevisit the 3-year-old Mycoke.com site monthly.

For more information, log on to www.usatodaycollege.com

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v PPoosstt SSeeccrreetthttp://postsecret.blogspot.com

v TTeecchhnnoorraattiihttp://www.technorati.com

v YYppuullsseehttp://www.ypulse.com

1. Why do individuals share personal information online? What purposes does online blogging serve for readers? Ingeneral, how popular are online networking sites and blogs among members of your generation? .

2. All commercial online efforts, including Myspace, strive to provide visitors with a sense of community. Discussthe pros and cons of the increasing interest and participation in online communities

3. How can participating in online communities enrich your own life? What are the drawbacks of these sites?

4. How do you prefer communicating with friends? Compare answers with a classmate’s. Do either of you fit theprofile described in the article, “Technology leaves teens speechless?” Explain.

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AADDDDIITTIIOONNAALL RREESSOOUURRCCEESS

1. How does the direct marketing of art via the blogos-phere represent a democratization of the art world?Do you think that art galleries and traditional distribu-tors will fade from the art scene within the next 20 years? Explain your reasoning.

2. Ask classmates for their views on how online forums will change the ways companies promote their products.How will online product sites compete with TV and other advertising outlets? Which advertising methods willbecome most popular? Why?

3. Do you agree that members of your generation are more likely to have stronger written communication skillsthan oral ones? Why or why not? How might such a trend affect the workplace in the next decade?

4. If virtual communities continue to displace natural or geographic ones, what are the consequences for neigh-borhoods and traditional peer groups? Spend one week keeping a journal that focuses on the scope and sub-stance of your online vs. face-to-face interactions. Discuss your observations with a classmate.

5. Do you think the Internet is liberating or limiting? Explain your view, citing specific facts, examples and anec-dotes to support your view. Finally, debate the topic in class.

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