Myspace - Good or Evil? - Comments Page 1

I recently read an article (legitimate) about teen suicides that were related to My Space. The only suspicious activity in the life of this otherwise great kid was her very active participation in My Space. There was concern that something was going on there that moved her to do it, especially since another teen she was friends with on the site completed suicide. Too iffy for me; I made my kids delete their info and stop using it.

The thought of a simplified networking system, a social net so to speak, is cool enough. But, MySpace is littered with poor taste. It starts with the half-naked woman advertising the sexual hook-up service (corporate sponsor), and wraps up with the profane personal pics and pages posted by its users.

Friends of mine use MySpace almost exclusively for marketing music, live shows, etc. in the entertainment biz. I can see value in the network. I could do without the hookup mantra, and don't want to participate. I'd bet there's millions who think just like me. Since you don't seem to have any semip**nographic ads on your MySpace ... space, do you have a shortcut method for keeping such things off your personal area?

EDITOR'S NOTE: I don't do anything to control the ads that are displayed on my profile views. I'd guess that it's either random, or possibly tied to your demographics.

Myspace has been a great place to meet and stay in touch with friends. I have found some fascinating people there. I try and keep a close eye on making sure the site is family friendly and safe, choosing my friends carefully, reviewing comments posted to make sure they are safe as well.

It's just vastly incredible and mindblowing as to the horizons that are opened up when you connect to the world on this level. You are able to forge new relationships and create your identity that speaks of who you are. By the way...check out my profile...tell me what you think?! www.myspace.com/Ensky

Bob - on the subject of matchmaking networking, you might want to check out http://okcupid.com -- It's free, without ads, and has some very interesting matching technology. It allows users to create tests so can be quite entertaining (if you focus on the more popular and appropriate ones.)

That said, some of your warnings are still valid - it's all public and your info & test results are displayed on your profile. They've recently added journals too. Sounds like it has almost 2 million subscribers, US, Canada, Brits and Aussies.

I'm grateful there's a site like MySpace. It's very easy for people to forget that just because they sit alone in their homes writing blogs and profiles that that information is not accessible to millions around the world. It's hard to believe some of the things people will say or share - but that's free speech even if I don't agree with something being stated. I think this is partly due to the anonymity factor - someone can post a profile and a picture, but who's to know if that's really the person behind the words?

I use MySpace for my band - it's a great way to put us out there and we've been able to network with other musicians and have made some new fans world-wide. It's fantastic and I'm glad to have it as a resource.

The negative aspects that hover over MySpace are really no different than in any chat place or place people can create a profile or persona. It's a risk I'm willing to take, but I'm an adult and am definitely careful about what I put out there. I may be alone when I write what I share, but I never know who could one day wind up reading it.

My 16 yr old son spends a large percentage of his day messaging in Myspace and it seems to be getting in the way with his school work. The children, for the most part, whom he is writing to only live a few hundred yards from us. In our day, we would just go outside and see them. I often hear his computer clicking away in the wee hours of the morning and I have to tell him to go to bed. He made 'friends' with a foul mouthed girl from Jersey and he had to delete her from his network. Nuts if you ask me.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A convincing argument for keeping the computer in a very public place in your house! Also don't hesitate to make the computer an EARNED privilege!

I agree that there is a potential on MySpace to give out "too much" information. I was looking at the events section, which normally lists public events at bars and such, and found a young girl's birthday party listed. It had a picture of her and two of her friends in bikinis, listed the girl's full name, as well as the address of her house. Not only could anyone "crash" this party, a pediophile might fixate on this young lady with (literally) a map to her house. I printed the page, and mailed it to the address listed, in order to warn the parents. It's a good idea for parents to pay close attention to what thier kids do online, and warn them about giving out personal information.

That being said, I have been very happy with how MySpace has helped me and my existing friends coordinate our social time, as well as meet new friends through my existing friend network. Through MySpace, I have been able to keep in better touch with friends who live far away.

MySpace is just a tool - like a knife, it can be used to make dinner or to hurt someone, depending on the person using it.

Simply put ... PLEASE run a good anti-spyware scan after anyone signs up for Myspace. Personally, the adware and spyware is not worth the 'connectivity' you or your child may enjoy!

EDITOR'S NOTE: I've heard no reports that using or visiting Myspace resulted in spyware problems. Nor does it make sense... they have too much to lose by doing something that malicious and easily detectable. Of course, it's HIGHLY likely that the Myspace target audience (teens and pre-teens) will click on just about anything and end up with a pile of spyware, but that can't be blamed on Myspace.

WHAT? Ad/Spyware on MySpace? Wow it s*cks even more than I thought it did.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Ummm, this is rumor. Find me a verifiable instance of Myspace distributing adware or spyware and I will GLADLY trumpet the news to the world. I seriously doubt that Myspace would be so stupid...

Like anything in life, anything that has good points starts getting watered down and this site now has become a magnet and there are anonymous people acting who commit dangerous acts or play pranks, now with all the attention myspace has attracted and now that the authorities are watching it and it has in fact become a detriment to my sons homework activity time being spent to much on this myspace site along with his girlfriend, i have to warn him, get off the site besides now I hear Rupert Murdoch, Global Media Magnate who is very controversial owning the site and knowing my city's police dept use of systematic corrupt practices, use of false charges, I will in fact have a long talk with my son even if he only uses it to stay in touch with his friends, and cousins.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Whew... that's one LONG sentence! I was winded after reading it...

I've been reading these comments, and, being 15, I believe that there is good and bad to myspace. Sure, you CAN get involved in supposedly bad stuff, but thats a risk that people, especially us teens, have everywhere we go. Would parents rather have us out with our friends, roaming around, or on the internet doing the same thing but without leaving the house? And, on a side note...any parents that believe that they can keep there teens from going on myspace, your kid most likely has one. Thats one of the neat little things on myspace...you don't have to put your real name on there anywhere. For instance, on Myspace, my ID is Dr.Nefarious...nothing to do with me, just something that popped into my head. And we can access it from the computers that are believed to be blocked in any way (believe me, I would know) by our parents. The only thing that a parent can really do without banning them from the internet (and consequently getting their kids very angry with them) is to hope they taught their kids how to have fun and remain safe on the internet.

Last night I registered with Myspace and has always I ran my spy/adware checkers before doing so. After registering and browsing the site for about an hour I ran my spyware/adware checkers again and they detected 59 infections! While I can tolerate a certain amount of adware on a free site I find this amount to be totally excessive and unacceptable, especially when the majority of the users seem to be the sort of people who would interpret the term 'adware cookie' to be some type of American biscuit.

I await your promise to 'GLADLY trumpet this to the world'. Though I think you're rather more likely not to show this post.

EDITOR'S NOTE: With pleasure! But ONLY because this underscores another pet peeve of mine. The "cookies" your spyware scanner found are *NOT* spyware! Any malware scanner that tells you cookies are some form of threat is misleading you. I'd also guess that the cookies are NOT from Myspace, but rather third party advertisers on the site.

Please see "A Closer Look at Cookies" here: http://www.internettourbus.com/cookies.htm

i get "drive by" downloads on myspace all the time. you will see: &nbps and then get a pop up window saying download content cannot be verified (or similar). if you click no you get pop up saying "you must click yes." also multiple download of this are attempted automatically 1 after the other. i pull my ethernet cable out instantly because you cannot stop it by clicking anything. this has occurred many, many times & i do not go on there becuase of it. if you want "proof" i don't know how to get it to you. i am not sure WHAT is but i do not want things "auto" downloading onto my pc uncontrollably.

EDITOR'S NOTE: It's quite possible for someone to add malicious code to their Myspace profile. Does it happen when you visit specific user pages?

I think people are being ridiculous about Myspace. Yes, there are bad things on the site. Yes, there are some trashy people on the site. And yes, there are some uneducated kids giving away more information than they should. That doesn't make the tool innately bad, however. Your computer lets you get to Myspace -- why, it's practically the key to the devil's front door! Does that mean you should throw the computer on the front lawn? Does that mean you should incite a riot and carry 'Jesus Hates Bill Gates! Repent Now!' posters? NO. It means that if you are a parent, you should makes sure that your children are EDUCATED. You should make sure they know how much is too much and if they were to ever get in any situation (no matter how they got there) that threatens them in any way, they should know that they can come to you, the parent.

And by the way, I'm sick of hearing "Myspace is evil!" on the news every night. Yeah, sometimes bad things do happen and yes, sometimes they are direct causes of bad actions on the website. But these bad things happen EVERY SINGLE DAY and the vast majority have NOTHING to do with some stupid tacky website. Yet no one reports on those things unless it was the mayor's daughter or the prom queen.

Many people think that MySpace is not good for people, specially fpr teens. That is not true. What is not good ( about MySpace ) is HOW you USE IT. The site is not bad. It is the way you use it. I knew many good friends on MySpace, one of them taught me how to use some Windows program. Yes, it is true that there are many bad things in this site, but it is not Tom's fault ( Tom is the owner and creator of MySpace). All we have to do is to take care of what we're doing in this site.

First off I would like to say that I feel guilty that I am even wasting my time writing this as it will not get me, nor any of the thousands of other angry parents out there anywhere. However, I would like to make a few points.

They say that it is monitored and that anyone under 14 cannot be on the site. There is even a place to "turn these people in" and I have done so in regards to my ELEVEN year old daughter that has an account on My Space. I've deleted it once and because she does not live in my house with me she turned around and did another one! I believe the site says that once you report one of these people that My Space will delete their profile immediately...well here we are a week later and approximately 4 emails later and hmmmm.....her profile is still there. How can you possibly know these children are the ages they are posting?? You don't think this is a problem???

Alot of you may think that My Space is a good way of keeping in touch with friends/family etc....whatever happened to picking up the phone and calling someone? Or walking a block away where you have spent hours messaging back and forth with that person? Or spending hours on there with the people that they've just spent all day in school with...my how times have changed.

The computer useage in THIS house is limited and monitored...but how many parents are out there that use the computer as their personal babysitter?? As long as the kids are quiet and occupied - My Space is great huh?

If the people who came up with this site is so proud of it - why is it impossible to actually get to speak to someone regarding questions/concerns regarding this site? You either get one of those lovely "automated repsonses" when contacing my space - saying it is being worked on or they'll get back to you...which has yet to happen. Where are the people standing up for their site when you really need a REAL PERSON to speak to?

In closing - here are just a few thoughts for everyone out there. How many children is it going to take running away to go be with someone they've met on My Space? How many children are going to get raped or even killed because they were stupid and didn't have proper education on the "safety" of this site? How many kids are going to have to commit suicide before you realize what is going on?? How many kids are going to fail school because My Space is the new fad and they are on it for hours a day and schooling has become secondary in their house? You say it's up to us as the parents to monitor this - which WE do....but what about the others that I cannot help do this. This is what the world is turning into...seems pretty senseless to me.

I'd like to tell the person that even invented My Space to get a life and try to keep everyone else's safe. Because if you honestly think about it....more BAD has come out of My Space than good...I'd like to be proved otherwise.

SUPER!

I'm sorry A very angry parent on November 8, 2006 06:49 AM you feel that way about myspace, but not everyone uses it for evil. I'm 17 years old, and I'm a myspace addict. My mom lives in New York, and has a myspace. Yeah you could pick up the phone that cost like 13 dollars a minute since my dad is to poor to afford long distance. I use myspace is a easy way to talk, send picture, and videos too.

This is for Rae who responded to my post. While I appreciate your response and clarity on your end - wait until you are a parent going through the same things I am. 13 dollars a minute for long distance?? That just shows the ignorance out there. (sorry) Instant messaging and regular email work just as well for sending messages, videos and pictures - that way you are not posting it for the world to see. As said before, someday you will be a parent and understand it too. Good luck to you & have fun & be safe with your myspace!

A very angry parent posted that mostly bad has come out of myspace...not true. Just because some people who used myspace have done bad things does not mean the tool is bad. An axe is used to split wood but when handed to the wrong person it con be used for malicious purposes. However does some people using it for evil make the site evil. I do agree they need to update security. Only one live of javescript and they would make it impossible for people to steal the posted pics. However the myspace concept is not evil its just being weilded by an evil person