2008 Woodie Awards
Getting naked online really boosts popularity
Lewis Beesley
Issue date: 4/17/07 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
Since most of my credibility has already been destroyed by the upcoming fact, I will go ahead and share.
I have a Myspace page. You can stop reading now if you like.
Despite the bit of shame I feel for being a part of something growing more and more juvenile-oriented by the day, it's been a means of escape for me from the realities I already deal with including, but not limited to, my job, my bills and my schoolwork. I have my little space, my little cyber bedroom where I can express myself without consequence so long as I'm not hacking into other people's profiles or posting pornographic images.
Wait. Pornographic, you say? That would include no nudity, correct?
Well, as long as it's funny, or the right spots are blurred for safety, I guess it's okay.
At least that is what my experiment I am accidentally conducting tells me. Recently, on another website, someone had taken my head and superimposed it onto the body of a nude man who happened to appear on an NBC show unbeknownst to me. The artist for this little prank had a keen eye for detail because the subject I now had from the neck down shared my skin tone and to a degree my build, sans beer gut. However, to ensure no one would mistake this for the real thing, he made my head about three sizes too large. Needless to say on several counts, he failed.
Despite making this joke my profile image, where it would be the first thing anyone sees of me when doing a search, I have not had any administrative action taken against me despite the lewd nature of the photograph. The man is not doing anything improper; he's just simply stark naked. This is enough to ruffle some feathers, though.
Also, it's not surprising the visitor numbers to my page have gone from 10-20 daily to almost 10 times that - with almost 400 hits in the five days I've had the picture on my profile. It's garnered more comments than all the other photograph I have on there combined.
It leads me to stating the obvious. Sex sells. We all know this. To quote someone's response to me regarding this very discussion: "It's taboo; of course people want to see it. If it were law to wear hats all the time, the second you put up a picture of you without one, it'd attract a lot of attention."
I just never figured it would work for an average joe like myself. Want to get popular? Want people to notice you? Get naked. In this day and age, it doesn't matter who you are or what you look like.
I have a Myspace page. You can stop reading now if you like.
Despite the bit of shame I feel for being a part of something growing more and more juvenile-oriented by the day, it's been a means of escape for me from the realities I already deal with including, but not limited to, my job, my bills and my schoolwork. I have my little space, my little cyber bedroom where I can express myself without consequence so long as I'm not hacking into other people's profiles or posting pornographic images.
Wait. Pornographic, you say? That would include no nudity, correct?
Well, as long as it's funny, or the right spots are blurred for safety, I guess it's okay.
At least that is what my experiment I am accidentally conducting tells me. Recently, on another website, someone had taken my head and superimposed it onto the body of a nude man who happened to appear on an NBC show unbeknownst to me. The artist for this little prank had a keen eye for detail because the subject I now had from the neck down shared my skin tone and to a degree my build, sans beer gut. However, to ensure no one would mistake this for the real thing, he made my head about three sizes too large. Needless to say on several counts, he failed.
Despite making this joke my profile image, where it would be the first thing anyone sees of me when doing a search, I have not had any administrative action taken against me despite the lewd nature of the photograph. The man is not doing anything improper; he's just simply stark naked. This is enough to ruffle some feathers, though.
Also, it's not surprising the visitor numbers to my page have gone from 10-20 daily to almost 10 times that - with almost 400 hits in the five days I've had the picture on my profile. It's garnered more comments than all the other photograph I have on there combined.
It leads me to stating the obvious. Sex sells. We all know this. To quote someone's response to me regarding this very discussion: "It's taboo; of course people want to see it. If it were law to wear hats all the time, the second you put up a picture of you without one, it'd attract a lot of attention."
I just never figured it would work for an average joe like myself. Want to get popular? Want people to notice you? Get naked. In this day and age, it doesn't matter who you are or what you look like.
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