My Space -- parts one & two

Assignment Three

Part One
I chose to join “myspace.” I had originally intended
to join a couple of virtual communities and then
compare them one to another, but I found that
“myspace” took up all of my time.

I began by inviting friends who I already know to join
me on “myspace.” I have nothing to report in this
regard as none of my friends elected to join.

No problem - I began to cultivate new relationships.
First, I chose a number of people based on their
creative profile designs.

I sent each of my new friends a note telling them who
I am, why I chose them and thanking them for joining
my friend list.

After one week of spending time with my virtual
friends each day, I have discovered a number of
things.

First, the people who I thought would be fun and have
things in common with me were not really the people
with whom I am having the most contact and discussion.


Other photographers, other journalists and even other
dog owners have not engaged in long, meaningful talks
with me.

Instead, the people who now contact me most often are
a teenager on the run from Hurricane Rita and a writer
in Southeast Asia.

I guess that's actually an old lesson - don't judge a
book by its cover.

Some of my “friends” are advertisements. “Lost - the
First Season on DVD” is my friend, as are several punk
bands.

With the ads, I know they have a monetary goal. With
everyone else, well, it's anybody's guess, I suppose.

I feel closer - more “friend-like” - to the people who
write to me on a regular basis now than I do some of
the others. Regardless of the amount of contact we
have, however, I do not consider these people real
friends. I don't suppose they have time for real
friends - they're online all the time.

Part Two
I realized that my critique of "myspace" sounded
somewhat negative -- what with those folks not really
being my friends and ads posing as relationships and
all.

However, I did find advantages to joining this virtual
community.

A) I got a first-hand account of one Florida
resident's flight from Hurricane Rita. That certainly
speaks to some journalistic value to such sites.

B) I was immediately jealous of some of the more
creative profile pages. So I got an updated HTML/CSS
book and I intend to use it. Also, as I have targeted
"friends" based on their impressive code-writing, I
will use those "weak ties" to help me build a new page
(after I re-familarize with my new book).

C) I have been directed to other interesting websites
by some "friends'" pages. Overall, I am improving my
navigation skills.

I apologize for this late installment. I only just now
realized that I had been a bit one-sided about
"myspace."