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  MySpace Mania
    Love it or leave it, IVCC students know MySpace

    By Maggie Rhynes
    IV Leader Staff

    It seems MySpace fever is sweeping through Illinois Valley Community College. The online phenomenon began in 2003 but recently exploded with popularity. According to a Wall Street Journal article published in February, MySpace was the eighth-most-visited website in January and its traffic doubled in the last six months of 2005.
    The popular site allows users to create an online profile, complete with custom backgrounds, music videos, photos and blogs. The main draw on MySpace is the ability for users to gather “friends,” other MySpace users who are then linked to each other's profiles. A MySpace user can ask another user to add them as a friend and once they are approved, friends can leave comments on each other's pages, send private messages and leave comments on blogs.
    For many IVCC students, the draw to MySpace seems to be two-fold: show off your creativity and keep in touch with friends. Kalie Judge of LaSalle is an avid MySpace users. Judge said, "MySpace is a great way to show your personality with the ways that you set up your background and the different ways that you can put photos and make slide shows." Judge also uses MySpace to make new friends and keep in touch with old ones.
    "MySpace is a great way to keep in touch with people that you don't always get to see and don't always get a chance to talk to." She said.
    For Brian Eller, a student from Earlville, graduating with only 31 students in his class, college meant a time to make new friends and MySpace proved helpful. Eller now has 89 friends on MySpace and says it was an easy way to meet new people.
Megan Denton, a freshman from Ottawa, also uses her MySpace account to keep in touch with friends, and stay on top of her classes. "MySpace has allowed me to meet many different kinds of people from all over the world and from IVCC. Not only can I keep in touch with my friends that have went away to college, I can contact my peers that I have in certain classes to find out what assignments we have due for the next class period." She explained.
    For those who swear by MySpace, what my have started out as following a trend quickly turns to an addiction. Judge said, "When I first got an account, I never wanted to go on it. Now, it is like an addiction that you just cannot cut."
    The thrill of seeing the red "New Message!" or "New Comment!" memo that appears on a profile when a user has received something from a friend is enough to keep Denton checking her space frequently. "Getting new comments, new friend request and new messages makes my day!" she said.
    Brenna Jackson, another student from Peru is also hooked. "I use it everyday and I love it!" she said.
    Heather Huffaker of Seatonville has also caught the MySpace bug, "I have a MySpace account which I'm on pretty much everyday. The reason behind my addiction to MySpace I haven't figured out yet. Honestly, there isn't anything that's overly great about the whole program, yet I can't stop logging in."
    For others, the use is more moderate, like John Wallaert who says he likes MySpace, but usually only uses it during breaks between classes.
    For all those who love MySpace, there are just as many who seem less thrilled with the invention. For most IVCC students, the avoidance of MySpace has to do with time limitations. Ashley Kimes of Ottawa said, "I do not have the time to even create and keep up with a MySpace account."
    Denise Hyan from Marseilles agreed: "I don't have enough time to sit and do all of that (send messages and post photos). I'm either at school or work. I'm not really home a whole lot."
    Kimes also noted that few of her friends use MySpace, making it an unworthy investment of her time.
    Like many others, she also mentioned safety. "There is just something unsettling about having my pictures posted for anyone out there to view," she said.
    Adam Stefko of La Salle said he doesn't worry about his personal safety because he doesn't post any type of material that might be considered inappropriate to a school or employer. But then, he says, there are those who post "pictures of themselves drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana or nearly nude pictures," and Stefko wonders if such practices won't come back to haunt them.
Dawn Bachman of Toluca has the same theory. "I myself am not worried about security because I don't post pictures of anything personal. I really hate to say it, but I believe MySpace is a great way for online predators to find their next victim(s), to be honest," she said.
    Wallaert said he wasn't as concerned. "I am not really worried about security for the fact that I don't put enough personal information on the Internet for people to 'steal' or anything. I just have a few pictures with friends and that's about it."
    Jackson also doesn't worry about her privacy with MySpace. "As far as security goes, you hold the option of whether or not you want to accept the person as a friend. My advice is simple, don't accept somebody if you don't know them" she said.
    Jackson also noted there are ways to protect your privacy. "If you are truly worried about it, set your page to private. To be quite honest, people can find things out on the Internet if they truly want to. If people are that psychotic, they will do what they can do [to get information] and MySpace isn't the main source of that."
    Available on the MySpace home page are tips and warnings about use, such as "Don't forget that your profile and MySpace forums are public spaces." The warning advises against posting anything "you wouldn't want the world to know," such as location information and how to be contacted. The site also warns that people can be deceiving and meeting people, in person, that a user doesn't fully know is a bad idea. Further, users are warned against lying, particularly about age. "Don't mislead people into thinking that you're older or younger. If you lie about your age, MySpace will delete your profile," the site warns.
    While some shy away from hosting Internet profiles for privacy reasons and others avoid MySpace for a lack of time, a few clicks around MySpace shows that plenty of IVCC students and alumni have jumped on the MySpace bandwagon.
    Users can choose to add their schools to their profiles, listing both current and previous schools. Links to a specific school can then be followed to view all the MySpace users who list a particular school on their profile. As of press time, MySpace IVCC homepage lists 796 current students and 405 alumni.
    Another advantage of listing a school on a user's profile is the ability to then "grade" professors at that school, anonymously of course. There are currently 138 IVCC professors, both full and part-time, graded on MySpace. Students can search professors by name or by department, aiding them when it’s time to register for classes.
    Clearly, MySpace fever has become an epidemic on campus, with few students immune to the Internet craze. Whether the craze is just another phase, like GigaPets and Pogs in the 90s, or a here-to-stay addition to our culture, like instant messaging and cell phones, only time will tell. But with well over 50 million members world wide, it doesn't look like MySpace will be going anywhere any time soon.

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