Myspace,facebook,blogs,etc... why do we want to be seen?

[laetitia85]

Nowadays it is hard to find someone who is not registered to a 'profile website' with dozens or sometimes hundreds of pictures uploaded just to show the world who we are.

I, myself, am a member of myspace, Hi5, and a blog site called skyblog, where i have hundreds of pictures of me, my husband and my family etc.

Do we forget that by having our pictures and profiles online we are giving people access to our personal worlds?

I seem to have an excuse for each of my profiles:
I used 'Myspace' for a long time to find modelling work

'Skyblog' is like a photo album so that friends and family around the world can see pictures of me and remember what i look like

'Hi5' is a great networking site where I found lots of old friends.

So why do we want to be on so many different sites? what's our real purpose? Perhaps we just want to mark our existance on the net?

 

[leckershell]

Myspace I used to use because I was a gig organiser, and a lot of bands have myspace pages, and to keep them all in some sort of order it made sense to have a myspace page and add them all as friends (I had over 500 at one point before I split my myspaces into 2). Now I have a personal page, and a gig organiser page. It's an easy way to access unsigned bands and their music.

Facebook I use because I got so many people adding me to it I gave in and thought why not. In the end I found loads and loads of people from primary school that I would have otherwise forgotton about. It's nice to see what happened after they left primary school and what has become of them. Through facebook I found a girl called Jennie from my primary school who has had a baby this September, and also Amy from my high school who has also just had a baby and is Amzhunny on this forum!

I don't use these sites to find new friends, I use them to keep track of what's going on with my existing friends. I don't bother with most of the applications on them because that's not what I signed up for and I'd rather keep my profile page simple and easy to read.

 

[Jen & Her Men]

I have a Facebook account and nothing else. I find Facebook is good as there are privacy settings so only my chosen friends can see my profile rather than the whole internet. I use it to keep in touch with friends who are all over the world and keep up to date on how they are getting on - share photos etc. I think its really good! My Hen Do was ace cos I invited loads of Facebook friends who are old school mates - some of them I havent seen for 10 years and they showed up! So it was like a big reunion as well as a hen do which was just so lovely.

 

[Tangerinedream]

I only have facebook and only my freiends can see my pics

 

[Kimbo]

i have myspace and i love it.
i don't add random people though, only people i know such as close friends and people from college.
its god to show off your pics and let your friends comment them etc
but bands adding me really gets on my nerves i get at least 2 a day.
sending me a friends request is not going to make me like your music

 

[HappyAlice]

I'm on facebook but don't perceive it as showing myself off to the world, I have 30 people in my friends list, all friends/family/ex work colleagues and it's a good way of staying in touch with people. I have a few people on there i havent seen face to face for years and its so lovely being able to see a few pics of them how they are now and for them to see mine and what my kids look like - so i dont think its about exposing urself to the world, just staying in touch with peeps you know.

 

[jenna]

I use my myspace to keep in touch with old friends that im probably never going to 'see' again. Its cool for music updates and for bands.

I dont really put anything too personal on mine.

 

[annem]

i'm a facebook girl and think its great for catching up with old friends

 

[Squiglet]

I hate myspace.... I just don't "get it"... It annoys me intently.... and well.. I hate microsoft too..

I mainly use facebook... but have learnt not to add people I don't like..

 

[Sammystar]

I joined facebook because I was invited by a friend, and I've found it a good way to keep in touch with people. I only let my friends see my pictures.

My OH hates me putting pictures of the kids on the web, so I don't allow anybody access if I don't know them personally.

 

[Minime]

Its a good way of keeping in touch (or finding!) friends and rellies. Not the same as email. For example a guy on my friends list is actually my 3rd cousin once removed. We found each other via genesreunited and chatted via email but it was always a bit "stiff" and formal. Went on facebook and we get on like a house on fire and have found we have loads in common. I dont think that would have ever happened via email.