Virginia Tech and MySpace

We all share the grief in the tragedy at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, but it is especially gnawing on me. Over the years that I lived in Virginia, I watched with pride as the Hokies became a first-rate school and a true rival to prestigious UVA in sports and academics. NAA’s Digital Edge has a nice rundown on how local and college media are covering the story.

I really like what The New York Times did. It published an interactive feature on each of the students and faculty. The write-ups are really nice and well reported. But what makes the effort special are the links to many students’ MySpace and Facebook pages. In some cases, their self-portrayals are very different from the written obits, but even more compelling.

I was looking at one student’s MySpace profile, and noticed the rotating banner ad: “Shoot the Rapper, win $5,000.” I hope MySpace deletes the ad soon.