Aunt Mary : Social Networking

Dear Aunt Mary,

I find it very interesting that you want to get involved in social networking on "MyFace". To help you get an idea of the social networking activity taking place on these networking tools I will describe how my experiences have been with the tools "MySpace" and "Facebook". First of all, online social Networks are basically networks in which people link up together through various interests and begin online friendships. Some people, like my friends and I, have used these social networking tools to reconnect with long lost friends, teachers, acquaintances etc.

I've recently began using "MySpace" even though I don't have an account because I like music by a certain individual. I view this site to listen to new music by him and to see when he will be in town. "MySpace" began as a tool for musical purposes and is mainly used as that today. It is still used as a tool to connect with friends and others as well. My experience with social networking has been an interesting one through the "Facebook" networking tool. I've been a "Facebook" user for a couple of years now and I began using the networking tool to connect with friends I haven't seen since elementary school. Later, I began using the site to view pictures from events that I attended or may not have been able to attend. Some people I know use these sites to cause drama. They may post notes or comments about people in a negative way.

The differences between these two networking sites are professionalism and freely us of images. On "MySpace" individuals freely use very graphic pictures on your profile and you don't have to be an individuals friend to look at their page and listen to their music. You can be very creative with you profile in regards to wallpaper and images in general. On "Facebook" there are graphic images but it isn't tolerated as much on this site. Also there is a tool where an individual or stranger can't see your profile unless he or she is your friend. "Facebook" more so has a standard wallpaper that is used and is professional. This was originally created for college students to connect and collaborate. "Facebook" is still used for this purpose but it has expanded to high school students and possible middle school students. Based on worded of mouth, I would say that middle school students are mainly on "MySpace." The two sites are similar because people may post pictures or links in hopes of getting noticed by famous record companies or modeling agencies.

These social networking sites are very good tools if you want to stay connected with the world. My suggestion is to check out the characteristics and professionalism of the site "MyFace." Of course you should be careful Aunt Mary being selective with your acceptance of friend requests and distribution of information. Have fun!