Christy Lorio (photo by Leslie Almeida)
Remember when winning the science fair was a big deal? Remember when being a state spelling bee champ garnered your name in the newspaper? I grew up pre-Internet, back when MTV still stood for Music Television and it was where I’d sneak watching the latest videos from Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins when I was really supposed to be doing homework.
It was also a time when I wrote really, really bad poetry. I thought my little scraps of scribbled-on loose leaf were as precious as a piece that Pablo Naruda penned himself, but reading the stuff now is pretty cringe inducing. I’m really grateful that my angst-driven writing is safely stored away where no one can read it, or at least the few masterpieces that spared the wrath of my paper shredder. Now think about how kids these days grow up with the Internet and reality TV as the norm. Scary, right? Who wants their most awkward moments immortalized for anyone with a computer to find it?
Of course the “beauty” of the Internet is that anyone can become a publisher of their own content. Want to direct a music video? A few clicks and you’ve got your own YouTube channel. Want the world to listen to your political rants? Start a blog and you’re in business. Awesome, right? Let your voice be heard, share your opinions with the world, woo-hoo, power of the internet! Not so fast, y’all. This free-wheeling self publishing brings its own repercussions.
With all of these opportunities to gain dot-com notoriety, publicly humiliating yourself is just as easy with one click. For example, take Courtney Stodden, a 17-year-old on the fast track for overexposure with a penchant for amazingly horrific tweets, awful music videos, and a 51-year-old husband. That got your attention, right? Their past times include getting kicked out of public places for lewd behavior and weirdly dressing alike as a Halloween costume gone wrong. Whatever happened to just scratching out your boyfriend’s name off the back of your yearbook? Now the entire world can keep up with your silly antics courtesy of celebrity gossip sites. Oh and I’m sure they are somehow getting paid for this three-ring media circus they’ve created for themselves. It makes me sad, really, that turning into a reality show starlet is a real goal for some girls. I’d hate to have every misstep that I’ve ever made documented and available on Netflix until the end of time.
Of course not all teenagers are out there disgracing the family name. On the opposite end of the spectrum there’s wunderkind Tavi Gevinson, who started her fashion blog, Style Rookie, at the tender age of 11 and has since gone on to sit front row at Paris Fashion Week and be the inspiration for fashion design duo the Rodarte sisters. She’s now the editor or her own online magazine written by teens, for teens. Not bad for a 15-year-old right? That’s some powerful stuff. Trust me, I wasn’t that cool when I was her age. My main goal was how to get away with wearing black nail polish to school or throwing combat boots on with my winter formal dress. I’m sure the pictures are sitting in the attic somewhere, too — right where they belong.
Christy Lorio, a native New Orleanian, writes on fashion at slowsouthernstyle.com and is also a freelance writer whose work has been featured online and in print magazines both locally and nationally.
This is a source of much contemplation for me now that I have two preschool aged kids. How do you teach them what an appropriate amount of sharing is before it’s too late? Do we even know what privacy is anymore? Definitely not an easy answer for this one.