"Generation @"

I just read a very interesting article about our currents generations ability to socialize online just as much, if not more than in person. Through AIM, MySpace, Blogs, etc. Chat rooms have sort of faded out of popular use, at least for me and most of the people I know. But something like MySpace is huge. People use it to meet new people, to find old friends, to make plans with current friends, to find jobs, parties, bands, and so much more. There are around 40 million members to MySpace. It is almost sad that we have stooped to a level where we feel more comfortable making friends online than in person. It is also at the same time innovative and amazing that we can make friends from across the country that we may never meet in person. I personally deleted my MySpace account about a month ago, after being a member for almost 2 years. I consider it to be too much of a popularity contest. "How many friends do you have?" "Oh only 86 I have 400" It's pathetic, anyone can have 400, even 4000 friends on MySpace as long as they aren’t picky, and that makes them feel special and popular. Some of those people even say if you only have 50 friends you're a loser. Yeah you're a loser because you don’t spend you’re time online accepting friends that you will never meet and probably never even talk to. However I do give MySpace a lot of credit for being a place to network with people that have the same interests and goals as you. I do still have a small MySpace account that I was trying to use to meet people to make movies and to do graphic design work for. It didn’t work too well but I will probably use it from time to time if I want to check out a new band or send a message to someone who's phone number I don’t have. I will not succumb to the MySpace Generation though, I will not be a zombie checking if I have new messages or comments every few hours and I will not judge my popularity on how many "friends" I have. Not to mention the fact that this gives online stalkers and predators so much more to work with. People who post their entire life on MySpace are just asking for trouble. This isn’t me being paranoid, but being reasonable. Complete strangers shouldn’t know your class schedule and your phone number, but some people are stupid enough to post that. Just like most innovative ideas in the world, MySpace was amazing at one time, but now it has grown to the point where it is becoming more of a negative aspect of life than a positive one. This is because the majority of people don’t know how to use it properly. I personally feel comfortable putting my feelings and thoughts down in this blog. It is the evolution of the diary of journal. People can see it at will but to be honest with you I am not posting any of this in the hopes that I will receive comments or viewers, it is all for personal gain. It is to give myself the ability to go back and view what my perception of the world was at a certain point of time. But too many people are taking this "Online Generation" to an extreme degree, almost fazing out real life relationships. To each his own though, do you and be comfortable with what you do. Peace