The New Generation and the Digital Camera.

[Snoutport]

Things have changed, ladies and gentlemen, things have changed. Anthony Weiner and Chris Lee are only the tip of a gigantic iceberg.

Now, I know many DUers are moms and dads, married or partnered up and probably think it would be insane for anyone to take risque pictures of themselves, let alone share them. But, the fact is, dating has changed drastically with the advent of the internet and the digital camera. To compete in today's online dating world you need more than your high school graduation picture to show off the goods.

I've been happily partnered for the last couple of years but before that I spent a decade as a single guy. Online dating sites can be really great places. They offer amazing tools that don't exist in the real world. You can search for a partner by interests and wants, by hobbies and ethics and, on some of the looser sites, by sexual preferences. Oh, and by pictures. Lots and lots of pictures.

If you went by pictures posted on dating sites you would think that half of American women live in bikini tops and that many American men don't have a shirt.

One thing that I noticed in my last few single years was the younger generation had very low boundaries when it came to letting people see their more risque photographs. It was quite shocking to see what some people were willing to share online and as the years passed, the trend seemed for the pictures to go from face shots to sexy shots to risque to nudes and even more.

Five years ago I did a national TV show that got a lot of press in my hometown. For a few weeks my picture seemed to be popping up everywhere and suddenly I was barraged with tons of emails. It was the strangest thing but I was getting sexy pictures from people 2000 miles away. One guy went so far as to make a movie of himself watching me on TV and...um....pleasing himself.

It became very obvious to me that the rules of social engagement have changed dramatically. Even if you don't post pictures like that of yourself, people would ask for them. After the TV show I got hit on by quite a few people in their early 20s and they seemed to think nothing of sharing pictures that left nothing to the imagination. I remember lecturing some of them about how those pictures were now out there for everyone to see...forever. They just didn't seem to care.

For an elected official to do this sort of thing is crazy to me. Why put something out there that will destroy your career? But, I think, the future will hold many more examples of this behavior. Simply because the 20 somethings of five years ago are now 30 and some of them will be running for office eventually. There is a generation of politicians and voters coming up that have grown up with digital cameras. The sheer number of celebrities that have had photos and sex tapes leaked to the public shows us that there is a lot of picture taking going on out there and I have no doubt that politicians aren't that different from the rest of the human race.

So, I'm just going to do what you're supposed to do. Judge the person by their photograph. Weiner's chest beats Chris Lee's handsdown. Victory to the democrat. Bring on the next naked politician.

[mike_c]

1. good point-- I have refused all suggestions that I stand in local elections...

...because it's very clear from my online history that "I inhaled," LOL, frequently and with gusto. Still do, every day. That confession alone-- oh, and see my sig line-- make it utterly impossible for me to stand for election in the U.S. I couldn't run for dog catcher.

[Snoutport]

3. Perhaps, if they legalize marijuana in your state you could

get a job as "Official Pot Inspector". I do believe, from the sound of it, that you might be highly qualified for that position.:D

[mike_c]

9. still an atheist though....

I'd rather be a "Dogma Inspector!" :rofl:

[cali]

2. I have a 24 year old son who's on facebook but he thinks all this social

networking is laughable. Yes, he has pictures of himself on his page, but most of them are him skiing and ice climbing. His one shirtless photo is of him swinging on the rope at the lake. We just talked about Weiner and he had nothing but scorn for him. As he said, he'd never post a picture of himself in his underwear to anyone; it's just stupid, and for a prominent pol to do it..... And this kid is no prude that's for sure, and he's a very good looking guy, but stupid he ain't.

[KittyWampus]

5. Did you ask him about what if his girlfriend was in Europe for 6 months?

I haven't sexted etc. It's just not my generation, IYKWIM.

It seems that younger kids are way more open about sharing stuff now.

And I don't know. IF I do meet someone and we were apart for a long stretch.... I don't know.

[Snoutport]

10. i was really really really hoping

Anthony Weiner was going to say, "It's me in the picture, I took the picture to tease my wife with while we were apart and someone hacked the picture". I would have been TOTALLY OK with that. In fact, I'd probably respect it!!

I just have never had respect for cheaters... I've consoled too many friends who have been cheated on and it does terrible damage.

[Snoutport]

7. But what if the cutest sweetest young lady caught his eye

and he was smitten and she sent him a picture in her underwear...he might be tempted to reciprocate.

Men's minds turn off when they are flirting with a pretty girl.

OR...y'all just raised him right.

(though, I think, overall, people are too hung up on how they look so if someone is brave/sure of themselves to share a naked picture, power to them. But I grew up on the West Coast and we're a little more comfy with nudity out here.)

[cali]

15. not Tom. he's got my slight paranoid streak.

I always said I never got a tattoo because if I ever went on the run, I didn't want any identifying marks. Sure I said it jokingly and I've never done much on the illegal front beyond not returning a library book and driving over the legal limit a few times, but that's my little paranoid streak. And sure, I like to think I raised him right too. But I also think it has to do with watching his father make a fool out of himself (multiple times) - and almost losing his job because of impulsively posting shit on line.

[rucky]

4. Was it self-sabotage or pure arrogance?

I've done some stupid shit that would probably kill my reputation (FWIW), but I've never had nearly as much at stake as AW.

[Drale]

6. The problem is

My generation is very uninhibbited while we have an older generation that should be more uninhibbited due to the 60's but somehow because more conservitive. I've walked into people's apartments and they have porn on the TV like its nothing with both guys and girls watching. We grew up with technology and look at it in a very different way then any other generation.

[Snoutport]

8. Bravo! Good points!

The free love generation got bitch-slapped down by AIDS though. I think it did make a real split in the psyche of people my age. I became sexually active in 1982--and it was pretty wild in those days and then BAM, the next year you were scared to have sex and the year after that some of your friends were dead. It really did mess us up.

The 90s were messed up over it too. But your generation seems to have your head in the right spot--looser but with the knowledge to stay safe that my generation didn't get.

The internet sure the hell makes finding people to date easier, that's for sure!

[seabeyond]

14. good point. the problem i see with this argument

is i always hear how harmless the porn is.

like how you describe.

every personal situation i have seen with porn, has been brought to me with huge problems.

husbands friend using it cause he is pissed at his wife and wants to put her and me in our place adn tries to bring husband into his tiff

brother putting calendar of womans legs spread with company in house and an 8 yr old daughter and 5 and 3 yr old son running around in house saying it is art and appreciation of womens body when used to control, humiliate, degrade his wife

nieces husband so obsessed with porn she is divorcing him (your generation)

an insecure girl with a BF for years doing things she doesnt want cause she thinks that is all she can get. (your generation)

those are just the personal experiences i have had with it. i never hear about the problems, only that it is a good time for all. when reality shows me, that is not a truth....

[Drale]

16. Many things can be used to hurt people and

pretty much anything can become addicting. I know someone who had to drop out of college because he was addicted to World of War craft, yet millions play WOW every day without any ill effects. Alcohol is another one that some people become addicted to yet many other people drink and have no problems.

[seabeyond]

19. of course. i didnt state otherwise. but this is the same argument we hear

whenever we want to dismiss argument. many things.... whatever.

ya. i know

and porn too

not all rosy

[Snoutport]

18. Actually, I think you are in agreement to him

in some ways,at least. That porn is just there in the house for all to see.

I shudder to of what kids stumble across on the internet. Just google image searches for innocuous things end up having a couple of porn shots in the mix.

But, I don't think they see a big deal about nudity. How can they when they see it everywhere?!

[seabeyond]

11. and then you have a lot of kids that get the potential harm... and more kids

are learning sooner, seeing the repercussions.

there will always be the willing, and the stupid and there will be a lot more that wont be a part of the "in" group.

[Snoutport]

12. some people just don't care about that stuff...but their future partner might

or employer, or community. I mean, personally, I really wouldn't care about pictures...but I know there can be repercussions from sharing something like that. Paths you can't choose because you can't risk someone showing up with a ten year old photo.

[seabeyond]

13. well, exactly. it is about the repercussion.

i am seeing more girls feeling empowered to just say no. they have seen enough times where an innocent naked picture to a BF ends up net wide and thruout schools embarassing the hell out of them. what they thought would just be shared by one was abused and shared by many.

i am glad hearing about the girls wising up.

i teach my boys, lucky enough to get a naked picture of GF be damn responsible with it and keep it private.

all of it is a learning scale for the kids and parents have a job to not be prudes, but be real and teach the kids.

go into being a teacher and it wont be well received. huge duh....

hey

arent you a teacher, lol

[Snoutport]

17. Gosh dangit! I keep losing my recs...and the same thing happened on my hunger post

I do believe that I have gotten on the lurker's sh*t list. My post this weekend on hunger had that happen too--

Oh well...bring it on lurkers!

[CreekDog]

20. National TV Show?

it's not easy to get your dog to do those tricks in front of a big audience.

:D