Bitchin & Rantin About: Social Networking

I know that social networking sites most-definitely have their benefits - I am ashamed to admit that I regularly tweet general rubbish that nobody cares about (along with the rest of Twitter's 140million other users), and if it wasn't for Facebook events, I'd probably be a recluse. Yet, beneath all of their positives, there are some very worrying negatives that come from these ever-growing, ever-developing social-networking sites. Take my psychotic ex-boyfriend, who publicly humiliated me as he wrote nasty comments all over my Facebook page after the breakup. I'm sure you can imagine my shock and embarrassment when I logged on to the site and had received over 50 notifications. A couple of weeks later, I was at a party (which, ironically, I was invited to through a Facebook event) and people I had only met once or twice began to ask me about the Facebook disaster, which, apparently had made it onto the 'Top Stories' section on their newsfeeds. By this time, 'our' relationship had become a relationship which included another 862 of my Facebook friends, and I was very, very embarrassed that I had ever dated the weirdo.

It's not just me who has suffered from the downside of social networking sites. What about that time when Russell Brand posted a less-flattering, bare-faced photograph of his then wife, Katy Perry? It hardly must have done the couple any favours, as they divorced earlier this year. This is the biggest worry that comes from sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Myspace - the worry that too much will be revealed to too many people. I doubt Katy Perry wanted that photo to be seen by Brand's 5 million followers on Twitter, and I certainly didn't want my personal relationship to be broadcasted to the rest of my friends.

Not only do social networking sites pose threats to relationships, they can also be damaging to any future career prospects, as married US Democrat Anthony Weiner discovered when he accidentally sent a link to a picture of his crotch to the Twitfeed, as opposed to sending it privately to a 21 year old woman. Weiner resigned a week later. It's a shame that 30 years ago you'd probably be driven out of your job due to other reasons and online disasters like Weiner's were unheard of.

And there is, of course, the cliché of online bullying and paedophilia - thanks to sites like Habbo Hotel, there are way too many people claiming to be a lot younger than they really are. I wonder how many of Habbo's 230 million users are actually dirty, old men prying on the innocence of children? I am not sure I'd even like to know the answer of that.

XoX
The Online Bitch

Bitch at The Mail on Sunday

This week I have been doing work experience at The Mail on Sunday. Situated at Northcliffe House on Derry Street, High Street Kensington, it is a fantastic place to work. There are several newspapers also here such as The Guardian, The Daily Mail and The Independent. Although I only managed to get a week's experience (because, as you can imagine, it is extremely high demand), I am thrilled to be here and it has only confirmed that this is where I would like to be in the future.

This is the first time that I have worked full-time in a busy office (I won't include the ol' days where my mother took me to her work and kept me occupied with a Disney colouring book and some crayons) and I have met a variety of 'characters', as I shall put it.
- There's the post-graduate student sitting opposite me, who seems to change her middle-cass London accent into a RP one whilst speaking on the phone (Does she think this makes her sound better? It doesn't. It just makes her sound extremely robotic and monotonous).
- The balding man who is clearly very sick of his job. He admitted that he has been at The Mail on Sunday since The Mail Online was just a 'small experiment in which there were only 12 people working on' (it has since become the world's most popular online newspaper).
- There is a lady who sits to my left who constantly swears just like Shazza from Bridget Jones Diary. She looks uncannilly similar to Shazza too. Maybe this IS Shazza?!?
- There is also a lady who looks as if she has walked straight off the set from Made in Chelsea and walks around the department with her super long, slim legs. No fair...

Despite my digs at them, it's probably just jealousy. I envy their jobs and I am incredibly interested by the media and the way it works. I have been granted access to The Red Pages (Think Yellow pages, but an exclusive, celebrity version) and love the way in which these journalists are able to write a fantastic story as well as contact basically whoever they wish to get hold of.
I might just have to take down the number of Johnny Depp's agent, so we can be set up. Maybe not.

XoX
The Online Bitch

About the 'Bitch'

I have decided to start a blog. Whether it will be a success, I am not sure - I guess time will tell.
First of all, I would like to tell you a bit about myself.
I am currently a young woman living near London, who (like most women my age) is interested in music, friends, anything starting with i(Pod/Phone/Mac) and the opposite sex.

I have often been told I am the Bridget Jones amongst my friends, and so I shall treat this blog like a diary. However, I will keep my posts annonymous (because I do not want to have my real life Mr Darcy reading about my embarrassing life).

Due to the title of this blog, I do not wish for any readers to think I am some twisted, manipulative, uglier version of Regina George. I would like to think  I am quite a nice person - I'm a bit sarcastic and I have a tendancy to talk a lot. But I am a female forgodsake, it's one of our many talents.

I will also keep you posted on my general views of anything and everything. As I like to say (atleast for now), the world this blog is my oyster.

XoX
The Online Bitch