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Myspace, Facebook directly affect students

By Zack Bolien
[email protected]
Staff Writer

Internet communities have existed for a long time, but they have never been as large as they are today.

The two leading websites, Myspace and Facebook, together claim nearly 120 million users, with that number growing by the hour.

Krista Mazza, a counselor with counseling and career services at Georgia Highlands, hosted a skill shop on Sept. 13 regarding the varied uses of Myspace and Facebook.

Included in the discussion was the current debate over employers checking these profiles before making a decision to hire or not.

�Sixty-one percent of employers that checked social profiles said that the results affected their decision,� said Mazza. She went on to warn students against posting anything they would not want their boss to see.

While students may feel that this is a violation of their privacy, both Facebook and Myspace are considered public domain. Therefore, businesses may search and use the information provided to help evaluate potential employees.

They may also use these databases on current employees as grounds for termination if something the subscriber does violates the company policies.

This does not apply to just businesses, however. Schools are also catching on to the power of searching these websites.

According to Mazza, �Some private schools have started looking at an individual�s profile before admitting them.�

Georgia Highlands, however, does not currently search online profiles during the application process.

Mazza also mentioned that while the social and networking capabilities are fun to take part in, safety should always be the first concern when subscribing to one of these sites.

Facebook is widely considered to be safer and more secure than Myspace.

Whereas Facebook currently limits its subscribers to people with student e-mails, anyone with any e-mail can enable a Myspace account.

As the site itself says, people are not always who they say they are. Therefore, Mazza advised students to always use caution when adding new friends to their network.

Recently Facebook introduced a �News Feed� to the website that tracks nearly every action a subscriber does, from updating favorite music to changing relationship status.

Students went into an uproar at these changes and created petitions that demand elimination of the new tracking mechanism.

While the creator of the site, Mark Zuckerburg, implemented the ability to filter this information, many students still feel that their privacy has been compromised.

Myspace connects to more people than any other site, with 108 million users that log in per day. This allows a huge possibility for contact with other people.

�Myspace is the best way to promote local bands,� said Kyle Troop, drummer of the band Icari from Cartersville.

�You can reach hundreds of people that you normally couldn�t share your music with. And that means more fans at shows that wouldn�t know who you were otherwise,� Troop said.

As both sites are still increasing in membership daily, no one can consider online profiles a fad. With uses now extending into the academic and professional world, students are learning more and more how to make their online personality into a tool for success.