New friend request: Myspace, Facebook vie for teen users November 26, 2007
Posted by Mark Blei in : Uncategorized , add a comment Today’s teen lives in the age of technology, with cell phones, laptops, and MP3 players a must for everyday life. Among these tech essentials are social networking Web sites. Mainly used to communicate, make new friends, and stay updated with one another, social networking Web sites have seen their popularity significantly increase over the past two years, according to BusinessWeek.com.
MySpace, the most widely used of these Web sites, has pioneered this movement, setting a new standard for how teenagers lead their social lives.
In 2006, MySpace was introduced to a new competitor — Facebook. Originally made for college students attending Harvard University, it quickly expanded its network to both universities and high schools across the world, according to a recent article by Forbes.com.
Each Web site, unique in its features and networks, attracts a large teen following — many of which use one or the other. As Facebook and MySpace increase in popularity by the second, both have made new improvements within their systems to attract more users.
Facebook and MySpace, like many other networking Web sites, provide users with a basic, user-friendly system in which they can type in their personal information, musical preferences favorite movies and many other things. This information is then submitted to a server and is generated into a profile for the user.
Both Web sites do not have much difference when it comes to this basic feature. Their main difference does not lie in the information users may input, but the way this presentation is presented in their profiles.
MySpace allows users to edit their profile’s Hypertext Markup Language, more commonly known as HTML, to change the way their profile looks. HTML is made up of a series of Internet codes than can be edited by the user to make pictures appear on their profiles or to make the colors and sizes of their fonts different from what the Web site would originally generate.
With HTML, teens like Academy of Our Lady of Guam senior Tasha Tydingco feel that they can express their individuality more on MySpace than on Facebook.
“HTML is easy to use once you get the hang of it — all you have to do is copy and paste from a Web site — and I like how it can let me add backgrounds and effects to my MySpace profile,” Tydingco says.
Facebook users are still able to express their individuality on their profiles through the thousands of applications. Though they are not as personal as MySpace’s fully customizable “Edit My Profile” option, these applications allow teens to “poke,” “tag,” “send a gift” or “dedicate a song” to one another.
With no limit to the number of applications a member can use, Facebook users have endless possibilities to go beyond the basic Facebook profile.
Privacy concerns
Despite the social nature of these sites, an issue that concerns many Web-savvy teens is privacy. While MySpace gives its users the option of making their profiles private, Facebook makes it mandatory.
According to Father Duenas Memorial School senior Gerald Cruz, Facebook also features a more effective filtering system for viruses, hackers, bugs, and Spam, compared to that of MySpace.
“MySpace profiles are easy to access even by people who don’t have accounts there. If your profile isn’t set on private, strangers can see everything on your profile. Facebook beats MySpace in privacy because you need an account to not just to look at profiles, but to look around the Web site,” Cruz says.
Sharing work
MySpace, with its less restrictive privacy options, has paved the way for a number of musicians, bands, clothing lines, and other individuals who want to share their work and gain popularity.
“MySpace lets you learn about new bands and artists who are just starting out and you can share that music with your friends. Once it gets around, they become more popular,” says George Washington High School sophomore Ryan Bongato.
A great number of bands and artists have thanked MySpace for their success. Locally and internationally, MySpace continues to serve as an outlet for artists to make their work known.
MySpace, the older of the two Web sites, is more active in the offline social scene. An avid sponsor of concerts, skate tours, book launches, plays, and other events, they have revolutionized the social scene beyond the Internet.
MySpace is also highly involved in the ongoing presidential election, streaming videos of the presidential debates from their Web site, and allowing users to share their thoughts on next year’s presidential hopefuls.
“I use both Web sites, but I think it’s great how MySpace is becoming more involved in the community and in more important issues. It gives us teenagers a reason to get off our computers and get more active,” says Tydingco.
