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You cannot:

            -Drink until you are 21

            -Vote until you are 18

            -Drive until you are 16

            -Exercise your Constitutional rights until you are 18

Wait...WHAT?

Oh yes, in the Land Of Lincoln, there is new legislation on the rise.  Illinois is trying to pass a bill called the "Social Networking Website Access Restriction Act" that prohibits anyone under 18 from having privacy on social networks.  All minors would be stripped of their current internet freedom and be reliant on their parent for a written consent form to gain any kind of access to social networks.  Not only do they have to "get permission," but once they create an account, their guardians have complete access to the minor's profile, account etc.  Ridiculous? Yes.  I think honest Abe would say that this bill honestly stinks!                         

                                 VS.                                  

Though the intentions behind passing the bill are admirable, they become somewhat of a mute point when you look at today's communities.  Illinois intends for the bill to be a deterrent for predators online and protection for younger kids who may not be smart about who they befriend online.  I understand that maybe a 10 or 12 year old may not be as aware of the possible dangers in providing extensive personal information online, but this bill is an insult to those high school kids who can legally drive but have no privacy from their parents on the internet.  Though I think the idea of a predator registering on a social network under a false identity is unnerving, it does, indeed, fall under our Constitutional rights to hold these accounts without government restriction.

Some networks are more private than others.  For example, Facebook requires that you have an account to view other pages where MySpace does not.  However, personal privacy varies from account to account depending on the privacy settings chosen by the user.  The measures taken to create a more secure online environment should serve as enough if users are smart in the way they utilize them.  Implementing laws that require all kinds of age and identification information for databases infringes on the rights of people and does nothing for the fact that some creepy man in a van can snatch someone anytime, anywhere.

What are you thinking Illinois?! 

Well apparently so, because ABC has been able to get people to participate in a reality TV dating show called the Bachelor for 13 seasons.  So many hearts to break, so little time.

More often than not, the couple breaks up after the airing of the show, but Season 13's Bachelor, Jason Mesnick gave the show a whole new spin.  Monday, March 2, 2009, Bachelor fans tuned in to see who Jason would pick.  After the final episode, however, the show took an interesting turn when Jason declared his love for another woman.  "You're such a bastard," Melissa Rycroft responded, as Jason told her he still had feelings for Molly, the girl he let go of in the final episode.  Who can blame the girl? What kind of man purposes and then breaks up with you on TV?  The decision making and breaking bachelor is now considered the most hated man in America and someone to be laughed at for his tearful outbursts through the last few episodes.  Comedian Chelsea Handler took the reigns in poking fun at the Bachelor's inability to keep it together after letting go of Molly on the show.  "How would this man among men deal with the pressure?" she chides as she starts a video montage of Jason crying, called "Bawling Bachelor."

Wouldn't you think a man about to propose to one girl would be able to handle letting the other one go?

Jason proposing to Melissa on the final episode of the Bachelor.

Now, to make amends with America, The Bachelor has gone on to make a talk show tour, apologizing to all who were upset by his actions, "taking it one day at a time, trying to get America to stop hating them one talk show at time before they move to Seattle to fulfill their prophecy of marriage and the occasional tabloid cover."  The new couple started on the Ellen DeGeneres show, to explain their thoughts regarding Jason's last minute switch.

Good news, Melissa fans.  If you were saddened by Melissa's decision to "move on from my reality television days, and get some sense of normalcy back to my life," then get ready to smile.  The broken-hearted beauty is rumored to be a contestant of the upcoming season of "Dancing with the Stars."  

        Looks like everyone is moving on with their lives; Will the die hard supporters of Melissa find it in their hearts to forgive Jason and gear up for a new season of the Bachelor? Who knows... these days the fine line between reality and reality TV is almost invisible for some. All I can say is good luck Molly...you're gonna need it!

Most people are aware of the strong presence social networks and new media have in our lives.  As we become more online savvy, they grow.  Now, we can get news, movies, music and gossip as soon as we get online.  Sites like YouTube and HULU offer pretty much any content we could possibly want.  With the growth of these sites has come the linking of them to popular social networks such as Facebook and My Space, so that people can share their favorite clips.  This linking has created a role for these social networks in driving viewers to the media sites.  Facebook and My Space are now driving almost half the amount of traffic as Google, the owner of YouTube, to the site.  Significant? I think so.  These networks are taking over the role of the video search engines.

 

              Share window on YouTube

            Problems with these new media, however, include the increase in online piracy.  Even though a lot of people have been pirating information for a long time, this new free posting has created another outlet for it.  The amount of pirated material on YouTube is double Fox's online material, and blows NBC's number out of the water.  Clearly, people are lacking when it comes to being our own gatekeepers.

            On the flip side, YouTube has become an outlet for political advocacy.  Since the rise of these kinds of online media has occurred in the past few years, we didn't see this in the last election, but President Obama certainly got some free publicity from a YouTube posting admirer.  Although they are obviously spoofs, the popular "Obama Girl" videos have found a way to advocate Barack Obama in the recent election.  Who knew politics and entertainment went together?

            Unless you have been under a rock, the growing popularity of these new media is impossible to miss.  Like everything else, with it comes a whole new set of problems and positives.  However, with the linking of these popular online applications, it doesn't look like this media train plans on slowing down anytime soon.