Digital Culture Studies

So, Myspace is so kewl, you know, because you can totally set your profile to private and then only your real friends can read your comments. Or, you know, the rest of the internet.
http://editprofile.myspace.com/user/viewallcomments.cfm?friendid=XXXXXXXX&page=1

Replace the XX’s with a myspace userid. To scroll the pages, change the page= number.

Now, go check out celebrity MySpace pages, and remind yourself how lucky you are that your friends are not sycophants and drug addicts. Or, check out your young nieces and nephews pages to see who has a girlfriend! Secret’s out, d00d.
Nothing posted online is private. Lather, rinse, and repeat. It isn’t private behind a ‘friends only’ cut, it isn’t private if your site is password protected. It isn’t private if you don’t give the URL out to anyone. It isn’t private if you use a pseudonym. It isn’t private even if you remove your content. Everything is archived, all sites have admins, all ISPs have sys. admins, and at the end of the day, nothing posted online is private.

Which is why it is in your best interest to dissuade your friends from leaving references to your drug use in your MySpace comments.