Myspace - Good or Evil?

Category: Myspace , Social Networking

MySpace is a popular online community that lets you meet and interact with your friends, your friends' friends, and all of their friends. You can use it to share photos, public or private journals, and build a network of mutual friends with common interests. But even if you have NO interest in social networking, it may be wise to poke around in Myspace...

How Does MySpace Work?

myspace friends
With over 70 million members, Myspace has become one of the hottest destinations on the Web. After you signup and create a free profile, you can describe yourself, your personal and business interests, then select what type of networking opportunities you're looking for. Photos and personal journals can be shared, or made private. You can even tweak your Myspace layout with a few tricks.

Once your profile is online, go looking for your friends, or make some new ones. Search Myspace for your friends, then link them to your profile by adding them to your list of friends. You can also invite others to join your personal network. If you're curious, find out how many degrees of separation between you and Kevin Bacon -- or any other Myspace member.

Why Can't We Be Friends?

Myspace is a place for friends who want to chat, or singles who want to meet other singles (try it as an alternative to paid dating sites such as Match.com or Eharmony). It's a tool for matchmakers who want to introduce their friends to others, a way to map your Family Tree, and a resource for business people and co-workers interested in networking. Independent bands use it as a way to keep their fans updated on concert schedules and new releases. You can use it to find a study partner, a long-lost friend, or hang out with people who like the same things you do.

I figured 70 million people can't be wrong, so I created my own Myspace profile at http://www.myspace.com/bobrankin -- pop in and see my custom Myspace background, then add me to your Friends list.

Myspace Safety and Privacy

Especially if you are a young person, you should carefully consider how much personal information you want to reveal to the entire world. Kids on Myspace should be cautioned about not revealing their physical location to strangers, but there's another potential downside to sharing your photo, personal information and ramblings in an online public space... Landlords, employers and college admissions departments can (and do) use Myspace and other social networking sites as a part of background checks.

So if you've been turned down for an apartment, a new job, or didn't get accepted to the college of your choice, it's entirely possible that something in your online profile was a factor. It's also possible that a bogus profile created by a pranskster or malicious person may be reflecting negatively on you.

So it's wise to search for your own name on Myspace, LiveJournal, Facebook and other social networking sites if you're moving, considering a new job, or submitting a college application.

Do you have any Myspace tips to share? Post your comments below...


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Posted by Bob Rankin on April 8, 2006 11:57 PM


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Most recent comments on "Myspace - Good or Evil?"

(See all 37 comments for this article.)

Posted by:
nikki
23 Apr 2007

i think that its up to who ever has that profile what they have on there and who they allow to see it. even though people can get on there and look without u knowing u dont have to put ur real info on there like u can ur home town as washington if u live in texas its up to u what they know


Posted by:
kat
17 May 2007

Ok. That is all very good informaion to know. I am actually writing a paper on MySpace right now. Thanks for the info. I personally think MySpace is good, but can be bad if your child gives out personal information. If the parent has the child's password, he/she will be able to check their child's posts and friends. It can be safe.


Posted by:
Hunter
25 Jul 2007

I would like to point out that MySpace itself is not bad, it's what people do with it that is bad. When you tell about the viruses and all, and how some of the members on there are setting up bugs, your just giving people more ideas. With all these bad things being published in the newspapers and on the news about bad MySpace stuff, it doesn't help. It is actually pointing out that you will be somewhat famous (in a bad way) if you do these things. I think we should just drop the whole bad MySpace conversation for a little while and see what happens.


Posted by:
just me
27 Jul 2007

Your posts are interesting! I am 23, and i agree with what you all are saying about myspace being a double edged sword. On the one hand, it's a fabulous and amazing tool for connecting with people, on the other hand, it has being seriously abused by trashy pictures & profiles, hacking & spam, and people publicizing every detail of their lives for the world to see. (What happened to a little privacy and dignity?) But it's not hard to see why since about 2/3rds of the US is on myspace now, it's attracts all kinds.Just like any interent communication, it has the power to make your relations feel more personal and impersonal at the same time. Like some above me said, what happened to just going to a friend's house or writing a snail mail letter? I don't like how the various features have becomes abused (like public comments being used for personal conversations instead of the private email messages.) I have a myspace but it's private. But even with my small network of friends the petty attention-getting and drama is making me wanna stay away sometimes. I have a friend who's my age on there and she regularary send out quizzes (in the public bulletin section!) with literally hundreds of questions combined telling really personal and insignificant information. One of the questions she answered was the last four digits of her cell phone number. If that slips into the wrong hands somebody could easily figure out her area code then..bingo!..figure out the other 3 digits. It's so dangerous! Other people on my friends list do the same thing. I'm not trying to bad mouth my own friends, it's just that what they're doing is so dangerous and stupid. With the info and pictures on their profiles, a stalker could track them down just like that. You could find about any one person: dozens of pictures, personal conversations,boyfriends/girlfriends, make of car, workplace, schools, physical description, mood, and whereabouts within 5 MINUTES of looking at their profile. I would just hate to see them get hurt from something so easily preventable. I have learned one thing from the myspace experience tho....most people who are mindful of their own dignity and safety usually have private or mostly blank profiles, or they simple AREN'T ON THERE AT ALL. Myspace can be a blast as long as you put in generic information and play safe! I am not a parent yet, but i hope this gives some of the parents a heads up to what might really be going on behind it's doors! The best approach is the educate your children about net safety!


Posted by:
jj
03 Nov 2007

noooo you people are so stupid myspace is not a networking place well no it is but its more than that its a way to freely express who you are i mean im emo and without myspace no one would know that and i cut and without myspace no one would know that and i have excellent friends on myspace its a great thing now no lol to be honest it's not perfect however what in this world today is?? I mean look around you homless, abortions,murders,gangs....COME ON myspace is the absolute least of our worries right now instead of focusing on a website that "kills people" let's focus on the real problems that we face today and not only us but our futures you people are pathetic I mean seriously making such a huge controversy over a website and video games come on now THOSE DO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO MAKE THIS PLACE WORSE...quit blaming society's problems on everything else. Do adults not tell their children to take responsibility for their actions then you go around and say that today's problems aren't your fault their a computer generated program's


I mean let's think this through


Posted by:
Ally
18 Nov 2007

Hello there! I am a 9 year-old girl. I know that for Myspace you have to be 13. I am wise, and I don't go to dangerous and stupid websites. But as a 9 year old girl, I'm into cool websites like blogger, xanga, stardoll, but I stay out of trouble. I'm computer smart, but I would like to know if myspace would be bad for me. My sisters are in college, so they protect me, but they suggest websites to me. Please respond, PLEASE! So, shod I sign up for Myspace?

EDITOR'S NOTE: If you really are a 9-year-old, then NO, you shouldn't. There are good reasons for staying away from certain things until you're older.


Posted by:
Harry
20 Nov 2007

hello, im 16 and doing research for my debating scociety about the dangers of networking and found this all to be very interesting. firstly, a word to "A very angry parent" by not giving your daughter any freedom to do what she wants you seem to be restricting her freedom. the same happened to several good friends of myself, like a theoretical party balloon, you squeeze and squeeze until, POP! it explodes, your not allowing your daughter to discover the world on her own and are forcing your own belifes of what is right and what is wrong. this is never the case outside your house. nothing is ever GOOD or EVIL, the grey areas inbetween are what she will encounter, not set restriction upon falsified morals. by attempting to quash her expression, the spark of rebellion flickers into a bonfire of hate. what is to say that your daughter is safe from the other supposed horros of the internet? it takes 3 clicks of a mouse and a scroll wheel to say your 29 born on the 3rd of august to acess a pronographic site. if you realy cared about your daughter you should allow her to find things out for herself and make her own desicions on what is good and bad for herself, with exemptions such as going to the dentist obviously. To quote Publilius Syrus, There are some remedies worse than the disease. T assume you dont want her to turn into a punk-goth with more chains and nails that somthing more akin to a small ship rather than a daughter. The vast majority of people on myspace have not killed themselfs im pleased to report, however the minority of which you are so afraid often already have somthing wrong with them before they go to myspace and there are websites out there that try to help with people who have bi-polar disorder and depression.

i hopes this will be some use to the discussion here.


Posted by:
anna
07 Dec 2007

omd i like totally read an article the other day sayin dat myspace is like super super bad sooo like i think its like super bad now yup yup its a true story = b


Posted by:
Taylor
30 Jan 2008

Myspace isn't a bad thing. It doesn't get people in trouble, or cause any drama; however, the people on it do. It's not a website that causes all of the drama, it's the people. Being a 15-year old girl and a lover of myspace, I think it's not the site we should be worried about. It's the people that are the causes of this.

think about it .
It's your decision who you add or talk to on myspace. Stay away form the people who may be a threat, and you're fine. All you have to do is change your settings to where your profile & pictures are private and you are fine.

I don't see what the commotion is. It's a website. If you're so worried about people finding your child and molesting them, you should keep an eye out on where they go and who they hang out with. You should be less focused on the internet and more focused on their surroundings and their friends.


Posted by:
???
03 Mar 2008

idk wat some of you people are saying, but myspace isn't bad if its on private mode. ya, but some people could be a threat and stuuf, but if you leave it on private mode, you won't even be able to talk to pple that you don't know... my advice is to just put it on private... and then itsss finneee


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