With the advent of the internet (1961), there has been a proliferation of social media networking sites cropping up from the left side of the world wide web to the right. Like the chapter indicates, humans are becoming connected in ways unavailable through face-to-face contact. While this may infringe upon people's rights to privacy (too many people know what othrs are up to, their boss may have learned they weren't sick the previous work day when they were absent from work, and their five year old recently learned how to upload pictures taken of their parent during a very-wet new years eve party), I believe that digitally connecting people together is utopian more than it is not, and has a funny way of brightening up the spirits of people who may very well feel “down in the dumps”.
It is currently possible to spend one or two hours on Facebook, "creeping" everyone who is on a profile list, and learning what each of the one million friends are currently "up to". While providing the ability to broadcast to the world how humanity is spending their “time off” from life may seem a little infringing personal boundaries, these types of services allow people to compare themselves with others, both in the immediate past, and the foreseeable future, and I believe this, more than anything, is what makes the Internet a utopian rather than a distopian medium.
Within the digital space, everyone is someone, even when they spend the entire weekend under their Star Wars sheets watching reruns of The Gilmore Girls. Though spending 48 hours drowning sorrows in Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream doesn't seem as glamourous as frolicking somewhere scandalous in the city, at least people are not alone: Many people are now putting pictures up on “their walls” of their dogs chasing a ball, their cats eating catnip, and generally anything that qualifies as "an event". Why not? Not everyone has the time, nor the inclination to spend a Friday night at some loud club or smelly bar. Since it is perfectly normal to compare ones "weekend adventures" with those of other digital “neighbours”, it is comforting to be able to receive a News Feed message that reads "(Your Friend) just spent $10 dollars saving a digital turtle in Farmville-you can too!" Not everyone has the benefit to live a sassy and glamourous life, and it is heartening to know that someone else is just as boring as you, and very nearly as boring as everyone else.
When people begin to feel like their current weekends could be better spent practising those "paint by number" activities, the Internet, and more specifically Social Group Websites, allows people to compare their own lives with someone who has one that is even less exciting. In the past, one could only dream or envision what those nasty high school brats they spent four or five years with are currently doing with their lives. Again, personal privacy is tantamount of feeling secure and protected from the crazy real-world that is adulthood. However, through the wonderful portal that are social group networks, it is very much possible to find out that those “cool” students that spent the better part of their adolescent lives being, well, creepy and conniving, are now spending the rest of their lives either stuck in some dead-end job, soon to become a parent of their 25th child, or, behind bars.
Though the Internet, and social network websites can be a cesspool for threat, infringement on personal space, and a general waste of a good couple of hours, a few clicks here and there can really brighten up your day, especially when you feel like you haven't accomplished as much as someone who didn't choose to spend the next 2-6 years of their life in graduate school. The next time life gets you down, “creep” some of your old high school friends: you'll be pleasantly reminded why you decided to continue to spend another long run of your livfe within the protective walls of academia.
LukasL

Shirley, I loved this video….great choice!  Finally something catchy and positive that girls can sing over and over again until it sinks in their minds. I love the idea of discouraging the image of being fake, clueless and eating deprived. This teen-friendly video really aims at making children aware that the Barbie is an negative image in our society instead of pouring attention over it. This video demonstrates that looks are not that important. I think it would have be great to see Barbie in a video eating a Big Mac, a fry and a sundae…and looking more like a normal person.
 
In 1997Aqua released the song titled Barbie Girl. Click and you will see and hear the lyrics for the Barbie video.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v35fWf1CWFQ
 
 
If you click below you will find the Aqua video and Barbie video of the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68qVIB-x4p8
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEzh10_xoqw
 
In 1997, this song was very popular for young children and teens. On youtube, you can find a variety of videos of children and young teens lip-singing and acting out the song.  I hope that these children will grow up, and realize how their video portrays them as being dumb and clueless. Is this what they really what the world to think of them? I really hope not!
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgcK1FTt2OY&feature=rec-HM-fresh+div
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIM3cgGKPkY&feature=PlayList&p=71649181A8A1615C&index=5
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSMhbARPGOw&feature=related
 
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9kY4m9_aBY
 
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-GRHZ_WOTs&videos=hyL8_pkeIAM&playnext_from=TL&playnext=1
 
 
 
As I continued to surf the youtube, I also found a tutorial on how to look like Barbie. It teaches children that no mater what you look like, they can apply enough junk on their face,to look like a Barbie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4-GRH2nDvw&feature=fvsr
 
If we can not stop the young girls from wanting to be like Barbie, Shirley you are right we need to at least educate them so they can determine if they want to be portrayed as smart and real or fake and clueless.  

 
         It is quite unfortunate that females feel like they need to be skinny. I honestly can understand and relate to the different feelings young girls have. As a teenager I always felt like I needed to be absolutely thin and fit the profile of a thin and skinny looking individual. I was never thin but I often hated the way I looked because I wasn’t as thin as was society claimed was thin enough to be pretty and beautiful. As a teenager I associated thinness with happiness and believed that the thinner you were the more probable you would be at finding true love and happiness. Part of the reason why females feel like they need to be thin is because of the different pressures imposed by society through the media. Unfortunately the norm is that being thin is fundamental and that being fat isn’t attractive. I honestly feel that even if we teach our children to look beyond the negative messages imposed by society through the media it is very difficult to look beyond it and become more accepting of who you are.  Media has the power to control our lives and ideologies and unless there is a huge shift in the media people continue to attend to the different meanings that prevail.

I am always amazed at how obsessed we are with celebrities. News (many of us don’t even consider this to fall into the definition) about how they look, what they wear, when they wear it, what they eat, where they eat, and so on, continue to be of the utmost importance. They appear to set out fashion standards, they are the fashionistas, and we must comply. If Beyonce is wearing some kind of designer bag, then we must have the same bag, or at least a knock-off if we can’t afford the real one. And by ‘we’ I mean the majority of teenagers and young people. As for myself, I grew up in a culture where no one was allowed to stand out (with the communist regime and all it implied), we all had to be the same, I wore a uniform to school until I was 18, we weren’t allowed to wear make-up or even have long nails (I remember I was in grade 8 when a male teacher came to class and started inspecting our hands, instead of teaching his lesson, and you won’t believe it, he even cut some girls’ nails because he found them to be too long). We had more or less the same personal belongings, so being a teenager wasn’t such a bad experience; maybe that’s why I was never crazy about clothes. Yes, I do like nice clothes and accessories, but Versace or Aldo are the same for me if it’s the right model. The model, however, is of no consequence for the young generation if it’s the right label, the expensive one. Some teenagers will even cut on their lunch allowances so they can buy some designer clothes. So I’m just wondering, is it so difficult for young girls and boys to find their own style? Is it so difficult not to let yourself influenced and try to imitate what celebrities wear?