Breaking up hard to do?

Not on YouTube, apparently. The Associated Press leads with the question grownups (parents, educators, etc.) will be, maybe need to be, asking more and more: "Was it live … or was it just a stunt for YouTube?" Whether the videotaped break-up of a couple of college students was real or not (they said it was), it was definitely a hit on YouTube, the AP reports. "The various videos of [North Carolina State U. sophomore Mindy] Moorman's hostile breakup with University of North Carolina senior Ryan Burke have been watched more than 300,000 times as of Wednesday - making it one of the most popular clips on YouTube.com in recent weeks." Moorman, a political science major "thinking of going into politics" was asked by her mother how she plans to get elected now. Good question, except that it could also be that the popularity of her breakup video will give Moorman a name-recognition headstart in a future campaign. Increasingly, reputation damage will probably depend on an online video's content. Less likely to get elected are future politicians who "starred" in compromising party shots, school-fight videos (see my 1/26 issue), or worse (see last week's feature about the upheld convictions of teen producers of child pornography).