MySpace or Your Space?
Ubiq Staff Writer
What began as a way for up-and-coming musicians to share their music, the Web site MySpace.com now has more than 100 million accounts. Every day, hundreds of thousands of accounts are added, and users are no longer limited to just musicians. MySpace is immensely popular among teens and those as young as 14 are allowed to have accounts.
Most high school- and college-aged people on MySpace use it as a way to communicate and reconnect like Chelsea Stelmachowicz, a freshman at UW-WC. "I use MySpace to talk to people who, without MySpace, I would never talk to on a weekly or even monthly basis," she said.
Brittney Vorpahl, another UW-WC freshman, agrees. "I think MySpace is a good idea because you can stay in touch with people you went to school with."
Chelsea Stelmachowicz checks her MySpace between classes. She uses MySpace to talk to friends she woudln't otherwise. (Rachel St. Peter)
Like many fads, the popularity of MySpace has caused some problems. In one extreme case in summer 2006, a 16-year-old American girl lied to her parents and flew to Palestine to meet a 20-year-old she first met on MySpace. Some young girls lie about their age and post pictures of themselves dressed like Paris Hilton. This makes for an easily accessible, prime fishing spot for sexual predators. Vorpahl thinks MySpace can be a scary place.
"There are ways of letting people know too much about you. MySpace can be good and bad," she said.
MySpace was recently sued for allowing copyrighted videos and music to be played on the Web site, but it is taking steps to stop these videos from circulating. While the Web site has its negatives, MySpace is trying to improve. Software called Zephyr is being designed that will allow parents to obtain their children's username and thus let them see their online profiles.
MySpace is also working with the police to help catch sexual predators. A valid e-mail address is required to get a MySpace page. MySpace has a database of sexual predators is working with authorities to shut down accounts with questionable profiles. Soon, another technology update will allow an Amber Alert message to pop up on the screens of accounts within zip codes of the alert. Amber Alert is a system of protocols used to inform the public when children are missing to speed the process of finding them.
Most problems with MySpace stem from young kids spending large amounts of unsupervised time online.
"Children that are younger than high school age probably do not need to have a MySpace. The issue is parents really do not monitor what their children are doing. Why? Because they are so caught up with themselves and their jobs and their needs. If parents are going to allow their children to use MySpace they should at least censor the amount of personal information the kids are giving out," Stelmachowicz said.
MySpace does offer tips for parents on keeping their children safe and warns users to be wary of anything that seems suspicious when an account is activated.
