Tropophilia

This has to be a first.

I’m sure most of you have at least seen the headlines by now: New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has been accused of engaging the services of a pricey prostitute service multiple times over the past year. More or less incriminating himself, Spitzer has announced his plans to resign effective this Monday.

More and more details have emerged from the ether over the past few days about the scandal, and tonight the New York Times revealed the identity of “Kristen” — the prostitute cited in the affidavit that mentioned Spitzer — to be 22-year-old Ashley Alexandra Dupré. There are three main sources used for the article: 1) a confirmation from someone “familiar” with the prostitution operation that Kristen and Dupré are one and the same person; 2) interviews with both Dupré and her mother; and 3) Dupré’s MySpace page.

Yes, that’s right. For a feature article that will no doubt be on the front page of the print edition tomorrow morning, the New York Times editors have allowed extensive quotations from a social networking profile. All three photos from the article were photos uploaded by Dupré to her MySpace page. There is a prominent link to her profile from the article. The journalists cite some of her listed musical influences, and even quote lyrics from some of the music that Dupré has recorded and uploaded.

At first, I thought this was a wholly great thing. Look! MySpace — and by extension all of social networking — is getting the nod of authority from Old Media! No longer is the social web an amusing distraction or theory, but a practical source of information. Three cheers for Web 2.0!

But then I realized how scary it was, too. I’m sure Dupré didn’t give permission for her MySpace page to be referenced, linked to, or quoted from in the exposé — because no one asked her for it. When you put something on the Internet, unless it’s password protected as private information then it is fair game for spammers, stalkers, and journalists alike.

The reporters had one goal: paint a picture of the girl who unwittingly brought down a governor. They didn’t have to pry the details of Duprés life or personality from her, her friends, or her family. She’d already given the interview, all in easy-to-access format. They couldn’t have asked for a better story:

I have been alone. I have abused drugs. I have been broke and homeless. But, I survived, on my own. I am here, in NY because of my music. It started when I moved in with a musician during my odyssey to New York. One day, I was in the shower singing “respect.” He and his lead guitarist burst in, had me repeat it and it started. We wrote, rehearsed and toured. After recording a bit with them, I decided to move to Manhattan to pursue my music career. I spent the first two years getting to know the music scene, networking in clubs and connecting with the industry. Now, it’s all about my music. It’s all about expressing me. I can sit here now, and knowingly tell you that life’s hard sometimes. But, I made it.

(from Dupré’s MySpace profile)

Compared to the revelation that she’s been working as prostitute, the widespread publication by the Times of Dupré’s life as described on her MySpace page is relatively harmless. But this should still remind us all to be careful about what we upload to the Internet. You think potential employers looking at the Facebook profiles of job candidates is bad? Wait until the media starts regularly relying on them for background information and images. Thinking about running for office? Being an executive? Writing a book? Just be careful…

Image captured from the New York Times article linked above, with my edits.