Getting in touch with your inner MySpace.com

Sussex COUNTY - The social networking site MySpace.com makes it so now that people don’t even have to leave their homes to make friends. In May, MySpace.com was the eighth most-visited Web site on the Internet, with 43.5 million hits, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, a media-research company. In all, 92 million members worldwide call MySpace home. The popular Web site allows users to post personal information, pictures, blogs and invite and accept users to be their friends. When searching for users in a five mile radius of the zip codes for Franklin, Hamburg, Highland Lakes, Newton, Sussex and Vernon, more than 7,000 postings were listed. The site is not without controversy. But in interviews, many users will say those incidents of sexual predators - while serious - are the exceptions. Browsing the site shows a large amount of personal information that users post. The majority list where they work, their high school or college; some list their current courses, and even their dorm name and room number. Some post their AIM screen name, prompting other users to contact them, birth dates, and in some cases their phone numbers. Even if users don’t post their name, in many cases it can be found by the comments their friends write on their wall. On one page where a young woman was listed as 25, she stated: “As you can see from my picture I’m not as old as it says my age is.” The exceptions Controversy about MySpace.com’s accessibility to pedophiles and sex offenders has given the site regional and national coverage. • In January, a 14-year-old girl from Roselle was found strangled in a dumpster in a park in Newark. Police searched her computer after her friends reported that she had told them of a man in his 20’s that she had met on MySpace. • This spring in Goshen, N.Y., a 14-year-old girl got into the car of a 21-year-old man she had met on MySpace. He reportedly sexually assaulted her. • And recently, a 16-year-old girl from Michigan tricked her parents into getting her a passport and flew to the Middle East to meet a man she had met on MySpace. A 26-year-old female MySpace user from Hewitt said she understands the concerns about the Web site. “I like to think that since I’m older, I’m also a little wiser than some of the kids that use this site,” she said. “It’s a little disturbing to think of all the information they share openly. There’s comments they leave for each other with information about where they are going or what they are doing. I imagine that’s frightening for a parent who’s not Internet savvy.” Bad press One 18-year-old male user from Stanhope said that people already had message boards and e-mail before MySpace and that MySpace just expanded allowing for localized message boards, selected viewings and more personal profiles. “Parents should teach their children what the Internet is and how it is to be used,” he said. “The same can be said for all media, as well as television, music and video games. It is not the place of the parent to complain of the evils of the world all the while sitting back and not explaining to their children what it all means.” Many users report that they use the site everyday and have no problems with it. “I’m just tired of it getting bad press because of a few irresponsible users flaunting personal information and expecting no repercussions,” said an 18-year-old male user from Vernon. “When used safely and properly this is a great resource to meet people from your school and prospective colleges.” A 19-year-old female user from Lafayette said that she uses MySpace as a place to keep in touch and connect with old and new friends. “MySpace is abused by younger kids that try and act older with provocative photos of themselves and posting that they’re 18 or 21 when they’re only 13,” she said. “This causes problems with sexual predators. It’s simple if you don’t know the person then don’t befriend them.” A place to grieve One user pointed out the link to the MySpace page of one of the young girls from Port Jervis, N.Y., who died June 2 in an accident on Interstate 84 close to the New York-Pennsylvania border. Her page was filled with comments from hundreds of her friends and peers. One comment read: “I know you’re looking down on all of us in a place where you feel no pain.” Another asked: “Why did this happen to you of all people?” Hundreds of MySpace users posted comments paying tribute to her. “I think her page shows just how powerful of a tool MySpace is,” said the user who sent the link. The way radio used to be MySpace has a music section where users can download music, see featured videos, search for local or mainstream musicians or bands, and even purchase ring tones of local musicians or bands. A large number of local bands and musicians also create their own MySpace pages to broaden fan base and post upcoming shows. “The music feature is great for up and coming bands,” said an 18-year-old male from Vernon. “Many of my friends have pages for their bands and it’s really cool that you have your friend’s band on your iPod because they might not have a CD yet.” Cyber tattoos Aside from protecting oneself from sexual predators MySpace users also need to be weary of the content they post due to potential employers. Joe Callan, a MySpace user and the managing editor of Milford Magazine in Pennsylvania, said today’s employers are proficient at scanning the Internet as a form of background checks on applicants. “You may as well hand your employers a folder telling them who your friends are, what your hobbies are, and what you do day-to-day,” Callan said. “Damaging or compromising material posted to a personal Web site can ruin a prospective employee’s chances as easily as a felony conviction.”