MySpace: Professional vs. Personal
Former Mayor Carmen Kontur-Gronquist of Oregon’s MySpace page is a hot topic in her community. As a PR professional, the first thing that I think of when a politician has a MySpace page is, “Excellent, they are expanding their reach and making an effort to connect with multiple generations through a medium that is continually growing in popularity.”
Well, this mayor was doing something a little different. She was posting pictures of herself wearing only a black bra and panties on her MySpace page. But wait, it gets better… in the pictures she is sitting on one of the town’s fire engines.
The former mayor has responded to the situation by making it clear that the pictures were taken before she became mayor and that it is her personal life and has nothing to do with her position as a the mayor. She also noted that she is not going to take the pictures down.
I think it is horrible, that a public figure has pictures of herself in her underwear on MySpace, but I also don’t think that anyone should have pictures up in their underwear, there has to be a line between appropriate and pornography. Imagine if the pictures were of your 5 year-olds teacher, your doctor, the president. I think that many of us would be upset about it.
We all know that public officials have less privacy then an ordinary person and that they lose many of the aspects of everyday life that we all enjoy like taking a walk, grabbing a coffee or attending a sporting event without interruptions. Maybe having a personal MySpace page should be added to the “off limits” list for public officials.
And the reason that she is no longer the mayor is that a vote took place on Monday night, resulting in her position being recalled. The reason for her being recalled was the pictures and an issue involving the management of the town golf course.