by Ken Colby
Staff Writer
“MySpace is a great place to go when you have nothing to do,” freshmen Jeff Craig said.
MySpace.com is a Web site that allows friends, family and complete strangers to meet and hook up. “It’s a place where you get to meet people with your same interests, talk to them, and eventually if you’re into that, date them,” freshman Alison Jones said.
Like in most internet communities, you have a user profile, however, unlike your Yahoo profile this one has spark to it, as you don’t only list your name, and hobbies. Instead, you list your age, sexual preference, where you are from, what schools you have been in and more. Listing who and what you are seeking (friends, relationship, hook-up, etc.) it is a rather personal registration form.
“The registration is a little bit scary, they get very personal, but after being on it for a while, you realize why it is tailored that way,” Jones said.
After you are registered, you have many options for your next step. On your home page, you can look for friends, check your personal mailbox, write journal entries or post a picture.
Looking for friends is very simple, as the whole point of MySpace.com is to “hook up” with people. You meet people for one of three reasons, friendship, relationship/dating or networking. This goes along hand in hand with the registration form. When you search the site for a “friend,” you can narrow your search for whichever purpose you hope this friend will serve. After you find your friends, you do not have to give out your email address because MySpace.com provides you with an inbox that all members can send information to. This cuts down on worries of privacy invasion and allows for easy communication of all MySpace.com friends.
Journals are where MySpace.com gets really interesting. They cover the most random topics you could imagine. Some users use it as a daily journal, while others have rather random entries. For instance, one user had an entry on how much he is in love with his dog. A little strange, until you read his next entry, where he describes how he wants to eat the arm of the girl next door. If MySpace.com does nothing more for you, many journal entries guarantee a good laugh.
After you get familiar with the site, you are able to post up to 10 pictures. You set a default picture, which shows on your profile and journal entries. It acts as a signature for everything you post on the site. With your pictures, you can include a caption, giving people a chance to live in the moment of your picture. After you post your picture you can submit it for evaluation to boost or slash your self-esteem.
“I did it once, but never really used that feature,” Craig said. “I figured it would be inaccurate because the only people that would waste their time ranking people would probably be hot people bashers.”
The veteran MySpace.com user can add special backgrounds to your profile to give his profile even more individual looks.
“MySpace is addictive, you have so many things to do, and so many people to meet you never get bored,” ULV sophomore Michelle Baccus said.
Since its creation, MySpace has logged more than 1 million members and became a veritable Internet phenomenon.
“It has become important to me, I meet random strangers with the same interests as me, and they become good friends,” Jones said.
And the trend does not stay online. On MySpace parties, like tomorrow night at the Key Club in West Hollywood, former cyber friendships get in touch with the real world. So if you are looking to “hook-up” with friends, or just find out if you are hot or not, MySpace.com is a site for you. “It’s all what you make it to be,” Craig said.
Ken Colby
