6. Megan's Story
32m
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Main Accounts: The Story of MySpace
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The moral panic over online predators on MySpace was largely overblown, but there was some truth to these concerns. These stories ended up on the nightly news and further stoked people’s fears about who was actually behind MySpace profiles. And one story — the biggest scandal MySpace had faced yet — showed how the use of a fake account could result in circumstances confusing and surreal, and tragic beyond belief.
And it set in motion events that would lead to MySpace’s eventual collapse.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The episode 6. Megan's Story from the podcast Main Accounts: The Story of MySpace has a duration of
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More episodes from Main Accounts: The Story of MySpace
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In April 2023, Joanne did something she hadn't tried in well over a decade — she logged into her MySpace account. For our season finale, she set out to find the people who still use MySpace to this day. She reviews the factors that contributed to MySpace’s demise, and looks at what we lost when the MySpace era ended.
Thanks for your support of Main Accounts! What tech company should Joanne dig into in the future? Let us know on Twitter @jomc.
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7. MySecurity
"If you open a hole on the internet," UCLA professor Sarah T. Roberts tells us, "it gets filled with sh*t."
The tragic death of Megan Meier was a turning point for MySpace. As the first social media company to operate on a massive scale, MySpace and its users were forced to grapple with the consequences of that scale.
In this episode, Joanne is joined by Thomas Kadri of the University of Georgia School of Law to discuss how our legal system was ill-equipped to deal with the social media era. UCLA professor and author Sarah T. Roberts chronicles the early days of content moderation. And Bridget Todd and Scott Zakarin are back to talk about bullying in the MySpace era.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Bonus: Tina Meier (Full Interview)
Our last episode featured the tragic death of Megan Meier, which became the biggest scandal MySpace would ever face. In this bonus episode, Joanne wanted to share our full interview with Megan's mother, Tina. Tina told us more about Megan's life, the trial, and the work of the Megan Meier Foundation. Since 2007, the MMF has worked to end bullying, cyberbullying, and suicide.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6. Megan's Story
The moral panic over online predators on MySpace was largely overblown, but there was some truth to these concerns. These stories ended up on the nightly news and further stoked people’s fears about who was actually behind MySpace profiles. And one story — the biggest scandal MySpace had faced yet — showed how the use of a fake account could result in circumstances confusing and surreal, and tragic beyond belief.
And it set in motion events that would lead to MySpace’s eventual collapse.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Bonus: The Jason Scott MySpace Story
We first reached out to digital archivist Jason Scott in episode five about the MySpace data loss. It turns out Jason had a lot more to say about his place in MySpace history that didn't make it into that episode.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.