My+Space+or+Yours-The+Online+Social+Networking+Phenomenon

MySpace is a [|social networking] [|website] based in [|West Hollywood, California] offering an interactive, user-submitted network of [|blogs], profiles, groups, photos, MP3s, videos and an internal [|e-mail] system. A [|s of July 2006], it is the world's fourth most popular English-language website and the sixth most popular in any language. It is the most popular site in the [|United][|States], accounting for 4.5% of all website visits on the Internet.

Although social networks are still in their infancy, experts think they're already creating new forms of social behavior that blur the distinctions between online and real-world interactions. In fact, today's young generation largely ignores the difference. Most adults see the Web as a supplement to their daily lives. They tap into information, buy books or send flowers, exchange apartments, or link up with others who share passions for dogs, say, or opera. But for the most part, their social lives remain rooted in the traditional phone call and face-to-face interaction.

The MySpace generation, by contrast, lives comfortably in both worlds at once. Increasingly, America's middle- and upper-class youth use social networks as virtual community centers, a place to go and sit for a while (sometimes hours). While older folks come and go for a task, younger people are just as likely to socialize online as off. This is partly a function of how much more comfortable young people are on the Web: Fully 87% of 12- to 17-year-olds use the Internet, vs. two-thirds of adults, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project.Six degrees of separation is the hypothesis that anyone on Earth can be connected to any other person on the planet through a chain of acquaintances with no more than five intermediaries. Social Networking is a great illustration of this concept. In MySpace, a member sends out messages inviting members of their own personal networks to join the site. New members repeat the process, growing the total number of members and links in the network.

Social networking refers to the connections made between people who share commonalities such as interests or mutual friends; social networks can be used for a variety of purposes such as to make new friends with shared interests, to share information and knowledge with others and form communities. MySpace, for example, builds on independent music and party scenes, and Facebook mirrors a college community.

The MySpace site suffers from what sociologists might call the "busy street corner problem." People are going to find nefarious things to do with anything that draws such a huge audience. We want our children to use the Internet, but we want them to use it sensibly. We need to teach our kids that the Internet is like a very large city. There are all kinds of good things, but also some bad things and a few very bad people. We should all be concerned about anyone who posts too much personal information online, and that is especially true for children and teens.

Kids especially shouldn’t give out their home address and phone number online, and they should be particularly careful about chat rooms, because it’s impossible to really know who is on the other hand of a chat conversation. They should NEVER meet with anyone who approaches them in a chat room, especially without parents around. Even with children who should know better, I think you should reinforce these rules on a regular basis. The vast majority of us become lulled into a sense of security when we’re online because the only thing we can actually see is the computer screen. We often forget how many millions of eyes can see every move we make in the cyber world.

Surfing social networking websites, you can find scenes of binge drinking, apparent drug use, teens posing in underwear or less, and other members simulating sex, and in some cases even having it. You can also find less provocative pages like those of so many young people, but potentially even more dangerous. Teens listed not only their names, and addresses, but even cell phone numbers and after school schedules.

If someone knows you "like pina coladas and walks in the rain," it’s very easy online to be exactly what it is you’re looking for— to be your “soul mate.” In the last month, authorities have charged at least three men with sexually assaulting teenagers they found through MySpace.com and just this week police found a missing 15-year-old girl who investigators say was sexually assaulted by a 26-year-old man she met through the site. MySpace members are now warning each other about the danger of sharing information online. Are their pictures provocative? Their profiles too detailed? Who are they talking to? And perhaps most important— have they kept their profiles private, protected by a password, to keep strangers out? Too often we find that parents are afraid of their kids. They somehow think because technology is involved, they’re no longer the parent. Get real. You’re the parent. If you don’t like it, unplug the computer. If they don’t follow your rules, no Internet at all. If you’re not the parent and if you’re not going to step in, no Web site on earth is going to be able to help your child be safe. Keep in mind that your child may have more than one profile…one for the parents to review and the “cool” one for friends to hit. Oftentimes, individuals have multiple profiles online.

The media is constantly reporting sexual assaults, rapes, cyber-bullying, and murders as a result of young people hooking up via online social networking sites. These sites are not going away. If anything, they will get bigger and better for their users. The only way we can avoid these types of incidents is to educate the users. Keep in mind that young children and teenagers are not the only ones enjoying the online social network environment. Many adults have profiles as well. Many adults have been the victim in tragic incidents related to relationships developed online as well. Educating the users is the only way we can prevent these kinds tragedies. Employers could never ask about such things, but if it's on the Web, they're entitled to make decisions based on it. And as corporate America increasingly farms out the work of background checks, online material could become a part of every employment dossier. "It's easy, cheap and available," says Donald Harris, head of HR Privacy Solutions, a consulting firm. Recruiter Nick Corcodilos, host of Asktheheadhunter.com, adds that search firms "like to turn up dirt because it proves that they're doing their job." Even if material is removed, little on the Web ever really disappears. But online search engines like Archive.org's Wayback Machine are actively recording everything that has ever appeared on the Web. Will research firms mine this source? Without a doubt!

As more and more students turn to websites such as Facebook and [|MySpace] to chronicle their lives and socialize with friends, they also are learning that their words and pictures are reaching way beyond the peers for whom they were intended. As a result, many are getting expelled from school or fired from their jobs. Students post pictures of themselves holding cans of beer and bottles of liquor — even when they're underage. They pose suggestively wearing little — sometimes no — clothing. Some appear to be smoking marijuana in bongs or joints, even holding firearms. They openly write nasty comments about each other or their teachers and coaches online. To teens and young adults, social websites are private spaces where they can interact in the open, multimedia style of the online world in which they grew up. But to adults, these sites are places where kids are naïvely putting their reputations and futures — not to mention personal safety — at risk. • Admissions dean Paul Marthers at Reed College in Portland, Ore., says the school denied admission this year to one applicant in part because his entries on blogging site [|LiveJournal] included disparaging comments about Reed. It’s our job to teach our students to use common sense in cyberworld and to enlighten parents as to what is out there and encourage them to take charge. There's a parental responsibility to understand what kids are doing online. Are you going to leave your kid in front of the computer and not know what they're doing? Parents have the responsibility of learning how to change a diaper, take a temperature, administer medication, help a child with their homework…gone are the days of saying “I’m not a computer person”. It is the parent’s responsibility to learn about their child’s virtual life. It’s up to you to help us get the word out to our parents in our community.