Facespace

There is no pretending that we are all not aware of the many social networking sites on the Internet today. Regardless of what they're being used for, there is no doubt the online addiction they have caused. Walking through libraries, computer labs and even offices on campus, one can always find students searching their social net, checking their Facebook, and or Myspace messages. Along with television, instant messaging, and cell phones its is safe to say that the Facebook, and Myspace are by far the biggest procrastination tool amongst college students, and therefor they are becoming a problem. What Facebook and other sites like Myspace do so well is to enable us to engage in a flow of personal news that is being created by our network of friends. We're drawn to it, and become addicted because we're wired for connections, for looking for trends, for stories, even for a bit if voyeurism, but that doesn't mean that they are useful tools and may even be hazardous to the minds of our youth.

One of the ways we define ourselves and know our world is through other people, how we fit into their lives, or how our lives fit into theirs. For those of us whose lives intersect with the online world, we have a need to keep defining ourselves online. We're at the peak of the era of continuous partial attention, where being current with each other through all of these little online connections is so important in what it means to be defined as a person right now, and in some ways, in some groups, you aren't really a person unless you're continuously connected to others online. This entire process of defining ourselves online can take a hold of someone and pull them into the social networking world for life.

Some argue that Myspace and Facebook do have some useful purposes like making new friends, keeping in touch with old ones, and maybe finding some common interests, but is that all that our youth is spending their time doing? Instead of wondering what current events are going on around the world, exploring, taking the time to be with family, or even reading a book they all must race over to their Myspace, and Facebook accounts and see if they have received any new friend requests, or if they're lucky, maybe some comments or messages. Myspace.com along with Facebook.com are the first and sometimes the only websites many people visit while on the Internet.

Checking these social networking sites is part of their daily routine, just like showering, brushing teeth, and drinking their daily cup of coffee, Myspace and Facebook are customary part of the day. This is a destructive cycle and appears to be affecting almost everyone exposed to it. In Social Networking: How is Facebook Changing student Life? It is explained that these sites have been attracting students from colleges all over the country and that there are nearly eight million students on Facebook alone, quite a large number and its still growing. Not only that but just about anyone can use these sites and its impossible to know with whom you are really interacting with, it can be a harmful environment with no one to enforce ethical rules. Ethical rules that prevent students from posting inappropriate pictures of themselves or others, posing as someone they're not, and mistakingly making a friend with the wrong person, all the while leaving all their personal information open to anyone who wants to take the time to look. As stated by Michael Bugeja a professor and director of the Greenlee school of Journalism and Communication at the University of Iowa in his essay Facing the Facebook " Students might think that they are merely crafting and surfing a vast network of peers, but because their....profile is, in essence a public diary, there is nothing to stop any one else-from marketers, to parents, to college officials- from reading it" (Bugeja 89). Not only are the profiles open to people that we don't know they also expose our youth to images of underage drinking or sex, discussions of drug use, and bullying and other abusive behavior.

This way of communication takes away from the face-to-face interaction, humans are social beings. It is in our nature to build relationships with one another. It is a need that can't be denied nor ignored and one that humans thrive on that may be one of the reasons why these sites are so popular but they are a negative type of interaction that can take away from the growing process. A lacking of real social skills can inhibit students from succeeding and