Have your children started disappearing recently? Spending hours glaring at screens that are littered with warped words and gangster grammar? Well don’t worry, it’s just the latest craze that millions of teens are logging on to. James Parr finds out why MySpace is so much more than a website.
Fascinating isn’t it. Just how can one individual spend ‘surfing the net?’ The endless hours of typing and simultaneous laughing that can make you wonder and even fear what exactly your children are looking at.
Of course you believe in their innocence and trust their teenage ways, but deep down there is a nagging question of wonderment that nips away at you, making you crave an answer and live in hope that they haven’t fallen victim to one of the many horrors of the web.
Well, there is now no need to wonder as the answer has been found. A simple word that parents may have become familiar with either when their children have just come off the computer or when they are throwing a Kevin and Perry style strop. MySpace.
It’s the latest craze amongst the acne riddled millions that is proving to be their number one cause. With their own web pages and profiles, millions of teens and adolescences are within one click of connecting with each other.
The MySpace service was founded three years ago in 2003, by Tom Anderson, a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and the University of California, Los Angeles. Together with current president and CEO, Chris DeWolfe they and their team of programmers, established the network that today receives over 1 billion hits a day.
The main concern that many parents have raised with MySpace network is how safe it really is. There are fears that paedophiles can infiltrate areas on the network to gain the trust and friendship of unsuspecting youngsters.
To combat this, anyone who is between the age of 14 and 15 has their profiles set automatically to private. This means that they can only speak to people who they have put in their own friends list. All over 16’s have the option to restrict their data as well, choosing which parts of information they wish to be displayed and which parts they don’t. Again the same privacy rules apply. Thus far, there have been no reported cases of paedophiles using the MySpace site to talk to children.
More casual users see the site as an upgrade for the also popular MSN messenger. "There are a lot of sad people on it, but it is good for keeping in touch with friends who have moved on to different places and different things."Re-calls Laura Meadowcroft who has had a MySpace profile for four years. "It is good for looking at people don’t like! Keeping up to date with all the gossip and what’s going on is mainly what I use it for." Says Natalie Stamford, a MySpace user who has only recently joined the craze.
There are many things that can be said about MySpace, but you will find that the majority of them are positive. The internet tool that has millions of people hooked is proving to be a friendly device as well as spotting talent. Perhaps the best feature for a parent is the fact that it is free. It costs nothing to create a profile, message others, watch videos and listen to music, but the actual internet connection fee.
So next time you want your child to clean their room or wash the dishes, send them a message on MySpace, you might actually get a response.
James Parr