I may as well admit this right off the bat: I was a Myspace addict too. When I first created my account freshman year, I could not get enough of "friend scouting" and creating new profile layouts. I soon found myself spending hours a day on the site, and substituting sleep for my daily Myspace appetite.
After a year or so and countless hours of wasted time, I finally caught on to the fact that Myspace was taking over my life. I would wake up early in the morning just to see if I had a new comment, and when the "top friends" feature came out, my friends at school would start drama when their friend ranking went up or down. I severed my ties with Myspace, and decided to move on to bigger and better things (initially starting by claiming my eight hours of sleep again).
In the months following my withdrawal from the site, my life saw a drastic improvement. I miraculously had time to practice the flute again, finish all homework with time to spare, and hang out with my family.
Then came summer camp. I spent six weeks in Michigan at an arts camp, where I met some of my closest friends. I couldn't bear to part with them at the end of the summer, but we promised to keep in touch. They told me about Facebook, the "new Myspace", and requested that I add them upon my return home.
I was skeptical. My new Myspace-free life had been extremely productive, and I could see no reason to abandon my new lifestyle. However, I missed my friends from camp dearly, and after they explained to me that Facebook featured a clean, organized design, and was very entertaining, I was convinced. I signed up two days after I returned home.
Just as I had become addicted to Myspace, I was hooked to Facebook instantly. I loved being reconnected to my friends and constantly being in touch with my closes acquaintances.
Now, let me get to the point. It was with the creation of my Facebook account that I realized that it's more than just another social networking site. It provides a snapshot of my life and the people that I hold dear to me, and connects us all together in a way that phones and e-mail never could. Through wall posts and picture tagging, I can capture the essence of friendships and learn things about people that they would never dare say in real life. Facebook gives me a glimpse into the unspoken aspect of people and their relationships, and makes my complicated and sometimes overwhelming high school social network seem worlds smaller.
Through Facebook, I've realized that my problem exists not with social networking sites themselves, but with the addiction that they create. When controlled and limited to a reasonable amount of time and effort, these sites provide a unique and crucial tool to eliminating barriers and helping the world better understand other people.
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You absolutely right. I am not a big fan of MySpace because facebook has a lot more security and privacy things. Unlike MySpace, most people don't have their profiles private so anyone can see them. My MySpace is very simple. It has my picture, a quote and a comment link. That is it. I don't have my comments or my friends showing. Too many perverts. With Facebook, you cant see anyone's profile unless you are there friend which I like oh so very much.
But now I am more of a progressiveu.org addict :]]
I hope that MySpace didn't cause you to do bad in school.
No, it didn't cause me to do badly in school; I have always been a straight-A student, but had I not been a Myspace addict, I might have been able to better manage my time.
Anyhow, my point in writing this blog was not to point out the negative affects that Myspace had on me; rather, I wanted to point out that Facebook is not just full of drawbacks, but has some beneficial aspects as well.
Take 2 seconds :]
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/lemmonkat
I've never been that addicted to myspace or facebook even though I have accounts for both of them. The reason I got them in the first place was to get in touch with my friends too. But I was never active in any of them. I find them pointless sometimes. It's like we want to have a lot of friends so other can see that we're not lonely. I'd be perfectly fine if I have a friend (ONE) with myspace and we chat back and forth with interesting comments. Some people just leave comments so we have to comment them back. Most of what they have to say seem meaningless at times. Many of them won't even comment you back. Facebook and myspace is a good thing. But I don't think they're necessary. Friends come and go. Even through myspace and facebook, your connection/relationship with them just is not the same as seeing them in person. So, I just pick up the phone and call whoever I miss. Then again, they never pick up their phone or call me back. Sigh. It feels like I have no friends at all. This is sad.
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http://www.mylot.com/?ref=truelife
Unfortunately, social networking sites can create black holes that suck up a lot of time, including time you would spend actually interacting with the people you're "friending" and "poking", etc. However, they do have their place in today's social scene, and for that reason alone are worth using.