I was thinking about the difference between the two popular sites with high schoolers and college undergrads, myspace and facebook. This led me to think about a reading recently of the Broken Window theory. This is the theory that helped change the crime in New York City in the early 90's. The theory basically states taht there are a few small things that when not controlled actually give those with criminal inclinations that final little push over the edge to actually commit the criminal acts. In New York City, there were four small things that the police force decided to focus on in order to eliminate that extra push; broken windows, graffiti, windshield washers, and farebeaters.

• Broken Windows: Broken windows in the a neighborhood are an indication of just how much the actual residents care about what is going on around them. In a place with proactive citizens, broken windows would never be tolerated and would be fixed immediately. If a criminal comes into a neighborhood and sees broken windows, the immediate impression, maybe even subconscious impression, is that this is an area where someone can commit a criminal act and not have to worry about the residents calling the police or the police acting quickly. The residents almost expect crime to occur in this neighborhood.
  
• Graffiti: Graffiti on the subway system was another form of broken windows, but on the part of officials. If officials did not care about small things like graffiti, then that means there are bigger things for them to be worrying about than small petty crime on the subways. This gives permission to increase the small petty crime from simple tagging all the way to muggings, which were occurring often.
  
• Windowshield washers: New York was long depicted in movies with homeless men approaching cars stopped at traffic signals, cleaning the windshields and then asking for some money in return. The city felt that this was a constant reminder to those just passing by that there was a whole world of crime and corruption just underneath their noses which could get them at any moment.
  
• Farebeaters: Those using the New York subway had to pay fare before entering the suway by placing a coin in the slot and then walking through the turnstiles. People could jump over the turnstiles or find ways around. Sometimes, youth would even jam the turnstiles and then open a gate and collect the subway users fare as they would allow them through the gate. This, of course, gave the immediate impression that there was no order on the subways. But this had often been overlooked because it just didn't seem worth it to spend time on someone that had skipped out of paying a dollar while there were far more serious crimes to follow.

What does any of this have to do with myspace.com and facebook.com? Myspace is known amongst youth as being a site where you can get away with posting anything. Pornographic images are often found publicly displayed along with crude comments. We have even had individuals in the goal setting program set the goal of not visiting myspace.com as if it were a porn site. Facebook on the other hand has the reputation of being clean and respectable. Many use it as a safe alternative to myspace, especially if all they want to do is stay in touch with friends. Why is there such a difference in the culture of myspace versus that of facebook? Why do youth approach one site with the general feeling that anything goes while knowing that their profiles on the other site need to be respectable and well-maintained? It isn't that facebook has the world's largest enforcement team or that myspace can't afford an enforcement team. It's the culture of the site, the general feeling that one has when visiting. I believe that three of the four areas on which the New York City Transit Authority and Police Department decided to focus are the exact same things that Facebook is implementing while Myspace is not.

• Graffiti: Both myspace and facebook allow you to create a profile for yourself. Every profile has the option of an area in which your friends can write comments about you that anyone visiting your profile will be able to view. Facebook even calls the comments section your "wall" and has in the past referred to someone writing on your wall as "tagging." While facebook allows you to type text in the comments section, myspace allows you to also post pictures and videos. This is the graffiti. You will notice that facebook is free of inappropriate "graffiti" while myspace is covered with it. This sends an immediate message to any individual even just browsing that you can get away with posting whatever you want.
  
• Windshield washers: Windshield washers are solicitors, those constantly reminding the everyday person that there is a world of scum just underneath their noses. These solicitors post things on others' profiles, send inappropriate messages, create inappropriate groups, etc.
  
• Farebeaters: Farebeaters are those trying to beat the system and enter into areas that they are not permitted. One example of farebeaters would be underage users. The average age of myspace users is always reported differently, even by top management, ranging from 15 to 24. There is without doubt a large underage group of users. If you Google "lie about age," you will find over 600,000 hits just on myspace alone.

What about broken windows? Broken windows represent how WE react to the fact that millions of youth are being bombarded with inappropriate content and the feeling of no rules in that setting. While most youth using myspace are probably not posting pornographic images, they are nonetheless being exposed to them or at least incredibly crude writings. Lack of parental response in this area would be the same as leaving a broken window hanging in the house. It sends a message, bold and clear, just enough to maybe give that little push from inclination and curiosity to action.