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Myspace, your addiction

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Contributed by: Kelsey Page on 8/31/2006

An awkward hello, an unsure glance, a halfhearted wave; the symptoms of Myspace, and its pioneering cyber friendships, are all prevalent amongst Chatfield students.

It's an obvious technological must-have in daily life for many, but I can't help but wonder... what about the almighty taboo of the chat room? Doesn't anyone under the age of 50 recall the days when talking to strangers on the internet was bad enough because they had your e-mail, much less pictures of you, your school, job, friend's e-mails, etc...?

Myspace, if anything, contains more of these widely feared creeps of cyberspace. Even with a private profile, which bans those not deemed worthy to be on your friends list, your cute Myspace pic is still visible for the whole world to see.
For those in too deep to be able to count their friends with three digits, there's also the inevitability of being friends with strangers. It's in the hallways virtually everyday: "Hey, don't I know you from somewhere? OH YEAH! We've been friends on Myspace for eight months!" I admire anyone capable of avoiding an awkward silence, conversation, or mere ambience, after the first time they've encountered one of their best buds from the internet.

Cyber stalking may not be of the utmost worry or fear to you; however, the astronomical time use (arguably, wasted) on Myspace speaks for itself. With music videos, songs, quizzes, blogs, strange backgrounds and migraine-worthy blinding color schemes, all for what purpose? No wonder the nation's average time spent watching TV is declining...the entirety of the youth is on the internet delegating which pair of underpants best suits their personalities.

Sadly for posterity's sake, the decline in couch potatoes will doubtfully result in an overall more intelligent country. What's worse: six hours watching TV (including the news, possibly even a glimmer of educational value thrown into the odd commercial or two) seems pretty harmless compared to six hours spent glaring into the eye-unfriendly screen (not to mention the inch-proximity to which) perpetuating a plague of poor spelling, abbreviations, internet lingo, and the ever so popular "innocence test" wherein the subject in question must answer random questions to determine the level of guilt they may inevitably feel after eventually shutting down the computer. Looks like America's obesity situation is here for good.

A good rule of thumb to live by, in my opinion, would be: if you use it as a verb, you're probably addicted. "Myspacin' it" and "Myspace pic" are probably the most commonly used. It's, understatedly, one of my largest pet peeves when posing for pictures with my friends hearing "Myspace pic," knowing that whatever expressions are "in" at the moment will be pursued (i.e. pursing the lips, tilting head sideways at random angle, and opening eyes really wide to give appearance of doe-like creature that somehow translates as attractive).

How can girls my age paste themselves nearly naked online and grow infuriated and repulsed with the middle-aged, and teenage, perverts their mugs have attracted, and then complain about the lack of a decent, non pornography addicted dating pool? Where else would an obsession like that thrive off of none other than the year round bikini and skimpy Halloween outfit fest?

I just don't understand how a vast majority of my generation can scoff at chat rooms and meeting strangers off the internet, and then go home and log onto their page to check up on their latest friend requests from a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend.

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Showing 1-3 of 3 comments

Submitted By: Ronnie Guidry

posted on 2/12/2007 @ 2:56:26 PM

Rated Story

I've never started a MySpace page because I absolutely refuse to be a part of this phenomenon. Well said.

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Submitted By: John Brandstetter

posted on 9/6/2006 @ 4:06:51 PM

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Very informative, Kelsey. I've been lazy about starting a MySpace page, but I'll probably make one about three months after the craze is over.

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Submitted By: Brendan Leonard

posted on 9/6/2006 @ 8:52:18 AM

Rated Story

If I am not cool in real life, can I be cool on a myspace page?

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Showing 1-3 of 3 comments

CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Kelsey Page

Boulder , CO

Kelsey Page has posted 56 stories and 11 comments since joining on 9/21/2005. Kelsey Page 's average story rating is 4.92.

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