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Cyber
networking thrives through MySpace and Thefacebook
Web sites
By
Bradley Zint
Online Forty-Niner
Calendar Editor
The
Internet has endured several trends of the
times, many of which still linger today
along its cybernetic pathways. The Net has
been overwhelmed with personal homepages,
the online centers to show the world who
you were. Today, Internet users can experience
another web phenomenon, MySpace and Thefacebook.
MySpace
is an online community where users can share
photos, journals, interests and develop
a network of friends who are also users.
In actuality, MySpace is a well-conceived
combination of several earlier internet
trends made into one simple format. It uses
the traits of typical homepages such as
personal photos and information, combines
them with the commenting effect of guestbooks,
inserts the online blogging feature, and
ingeniously connects them all into a more
public version of the instant messaging
buddy list.
Certain
users have managed to attract considerable
attention and have become MySpace celebrities.
These users often have lavishly designed
pages, complete with thousands of friends,
many of whom the "celebrity" doesn't
know but has in theißr intricate online
network. A new form of networking, MySpace
is the easier online alternative to an otherwise
more difficult offline practice.
MySpace
divides itself into many interest groups,
ranging from colleges and Democrats to fast
food employees and Disneyland operators.
Long Beach State currently has its own group
with over 1,000 members. There are many
specialized groups from CSULB, one of the
most interesting being the club named "The
Bad Asses of Long Beach State," which
has exclusive membership.
MySpace
has its addicts and critics. The addicted
login compulsively throughout the day; the
critics scoff the notion as an online popularity
contest or lame excuse to find a date. However,
moderate MySpace users see it to be both
good and evil. Junior film major Brennan
Reed describes his MySpace feelings as a
kind of love-hate relationship.
"It's
a menacing waste of time, but it adds so
many levels to my social being," he
said.
Patricia
Boswell, a freshman nursing major, finds
MySpace to be an excellent venue to find
old friends, but also sees its potential
problems with normal social interaction.
"I
think it's lame for people to try and hook-up'with
others over the Internet," Boswell
says. "It defeats the purpose of ‘going
out' and makes everyone just lazy."
Another
Internet Web site similar to MySpace is
Thefacebook. Like Napster and Yahoo!, Thefacebook
began in the mind of a college student.
Its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, wanted to
help an otherwise fairly unfriendly Harvard
campus communicate. His design eventually
spread to other colleges throughout the
nation.
While
MySpace is more considered an online population,
Thefacebook was designed to be a "directory
that is reinforcing a physical community"
according to Zuckerberg. It too contains
typical personal information such as interests,
favorite movies or political views. Unlike
MySpace, which contains many non-college
affiliated groups, Thefacebook is strictly
a directory of university students.
CSULB
recently has been added to the list of schools
in Thefacebook's directory. Within weeks,
already 400 members in Long Beach State's
two main groups have compiled a directory.
It
is unclear whether the two Internet fads
of MySpace and Thefacebook are here to stay,
but it is certain that these cyber networking
tools reflect a clear change of society
through technology. Charlie Tran, junior
film major, describes this recent effect.
"It's
definitely a sign of the times and the integration
of the online world into social circles."
MySpace
can be found at www.myspace.com and Thefacebook
can be found at www.thefacebook.com.
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