Whirled News #4
Horror author and social commentator Mark McLaughlin attacks today’s most burning issues, and occasionally some future issues, whenever his psychic powers kick in and/or he’s had a couple gin-and-tonics. Mr. McLaughlin and the officials at Delirium Books do not accept responsibility for any negative outcomes that might arise (such as bankruptcy, dismemberment or death) when and if you use the information in this column to make decisions in your own life. But, if you use this information to make an ass-load of money, you’d better share the wealth, or else winged iguanas will tear off your genitals in the night.
Hanging Out with Celebrities in CyberSpace:
Or, Why I Love MySpace.Com
by Mark McLaughlin
This month, I’m shifting my column into a more serious gear. Headlines in recent years have warned parents nationwide of the potential terrors of MySpace.com, a free online community that allows its participants to communicate with each other. Some minors with webpages on MySpace have come to harm because of Internet sexual predators, and that is truly tragic. MySpace.com, like any big community, has its bad eggs.
But I’m happy to report, many of its cyber-birds of a feather who flock together are pretty nice folks. I’ve had a MySpace.com site for more than half a year now, and I haven’t been approached sexually by any unsavory strangers. But then, I’m probably too old to attract their attention.
I founded my MySpace webpage—http://www.myspace.com/monsterbook—to promote a novel I’d written with co-author and fellow horror writer Michael McCarty called “Monster Behind The Wheel.” Previously, I’d been told by various other author-friends that they had established MySpace sites to promote their works, so I figured, I might as well give it a try, since it’s free. Anybody who knows me well also knows that FREE is my favorite word.
Since setting up that webpage, I’ve had nothing but positive experiences with the MySpace phenomenon. That’s probably because I’m very particular about who I select as my MySpace ‘Friends.’ A person can pick who they interact with through this web community, and I only pick people I know, or whose MySpace webpages I’ve studied enough to decide that I’d get along with them.
Shane Ryan Staley, our benevolent host, is one of my MySpace Friends, and for the record, he hasn’t tried to molest me yet. What’s up with that, dude? Is it my breath? (Okay, I think I’ve shifted out of my serious gear.) I do get requests to add questionable Friends from time to time, and I’ve turned those folks down. I’m a very open-minded person, but there have been folks whose MySpace webpages reflected topics and values that I wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole strapped to the end of a twenty-foot pole. And that’s okay! They have a right to their opinions, and I have a right not to get involved with their opinions.
On the plus side, I’ve met dozens of cool, interesting people through MySpace, and lots of celebrities have been quite happy to become my MySpace Friends. True, I’ve never actually talked to the vast majority of them, but it’s still cool that they’ve exchanged links with me. My online Friends include singers Britney Spears and Beyonce, movie stars Elvira, John Lovitz and Bill Murrary, stand-up comedian Lord Carrett (who was already a real-world friend of mine), and directors Wes Craven, Dario Argento, and even legendary director/writer/producer Herschell Gordon Lewis, who made a lot of wild, gory, drive-in horror movies back in the ’60s.
Through MySpace, I contacted Mr. Lewis, and Michael McCarty and I recently interviewed him for a magazine. He turned out to be a brilliant, friendly gentleman who really appreciated our interest in his career. It was a great interview, and I’m proud that he has turned from just another MySpace Friend into a fine real-world friend.
I’ve also met a lot of other great people with musical and literary tastes similar to my own. Basically, I’m enlarging my social circle and having a fun time doing so.
I would encourage you to give MySpace.com a look. If you buy Delirium Books (and I bet you do—you’re here, aren’t you?), then you’re probably pretty open-minded, like me, and won’t be offended by the vast majority of the wacky folks you’ll find online there.
You’ll find crossdressers, vampire wannabes, every sort of avant-garde performer imaginable, and the intriguing Insectavora, a gal with the wildest tattoos you’ve ever seen. There are lots of horror writers, too, like Brian Keene, Michael Laimo, John Everson, and plenty more. And of course, you’ll find thousands of normal, everyday folks there, too.
Now, if you have a child who’s interested in starting a MySpace webpage, I’d suggest you keep tabs on their online activities and Friends, if you decide to let them join the community. Take an interest in what they’re doing and who they’re doing it with. Encourage them to ask your opinion about the folks they meet online. If your child already has a MySpace webpage, I hope you’ll get one, too, if you don’t have one already. Be your child’s best friend, in cyberspace AND in the real world.
Oh, I almost forgot: one of my MySpace Friends is Azathoth. Wow, talk about celebrities! Azathoth, the bubbling monster-god that seethes in a nightmarish abyss beyond time and space! I guess everybody’s online these days.
Comment by Tree705 on 6 April 2007:
I searched all 10 pages of friends and didn’t find Shane anywhere. Added you to friends anyway
Comment by Tree705 on 6 April 2007:
Whoops, found him and he was already in my friends list. Guess he snuck in when my back was turned.