Dayhoff Soundtrack: The Facebook Skeletons Come Out

Sunday, November 07, 2010

The Facebook Skeletons Come Out

By JEREMY W. PETERS and BRIAN STELTER

Published: November 5, 2010

"As the Facebook generation ages, time indeed may prove that they are more willing to overlook the indiscretions of their peers out of empathy."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/fashion/07indiscretions.html?_r=2&hp

AMONG the many firsts in the 2010 elections, it is safe to assume that the following words had never before been uttered about a future member of Congress, “This is a candidate who is probably best known for getting drunk and having sex on television.”

Kimihiro Hoshino/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Krystal Ball, who says, “I am not the only person with stupid photos out there.”

The comment, made by the chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, was lobbed at Sean Duffy, who overcame his bawdy past as a star on MTV’s “Real World: Boston” in 1997 to ride a wave of conservative discontent into office. Some of Mr. Duffy’s youthful indiscretions that were captured on film and dredged up by his opponents included a drunken toga party and images of him dancing on a pool table in his underwear.

With the ubiquity of technology and social networking Web sites like Facebook that allow — and compel — young people to document themselves drinking, wearing little clothing or putting themselves in otherwise compromised positions, it was a given that a generation of politicians would someday find themselves confronted with digital evidence of their more immodest and imprudent moments.

But who knew it would happen this quickly? http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/fashion/07indiscretions.html?_r=2&hp

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