Facebook, Twitter, MySpace: Making the Net work
Rachel Carlson
Issue date: 8/24/09 Section: A&E
Many people all over the country no longer have to socialize in person. They can now plop down in front of the computer and the world materializes in front of them. From personal emails to the news, the internet continues to offer more and more ways to stay connected. Now the social aspect is taking off as well. It is the era of the social networking sites.
For the past few years social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook and Twitter have all provided a common arena for people, students especially, to socialize, chat and "follow" their friends and celebrities. Users are now one wall post or "tweet" away from connecting with friends and family.
Facebook and MySpace were both launched in 2004 and have now become the welcome distractions for college and high school students. This year Facebook reached 150 million users, according to its creator, Mark Zuckerberg's, Facebook blog.
Junior biology major Allie Nutt from Chatham has been a MySpace and Facebook user since high school and recently created a Twitter account as well. Nutt said she joined the sites because all of her friends were on them. Since then, Facebook has become the site she uses the most.
"Facebook is a lot more convenient because I can understand it more and I've been using it longer," Nutt said. "If you have friends at other schools you can comment back and forth too."
Nutt said she checks her Facebook at least once a day and her Twitter and MySpace accounts once a month.
Nutt said although she has a Twitter account she would choose Facebook over it if she had to.
"Twitter is dumb," Nutt said. "Its only point is to stalk people."
Twitter is new to the social networking scene, but exploded in December 2008 with 4.43 million users, a large jump from the 500,000 it started the year with, according to mashable.com. It has quickly become a celebrity and news favorite.
Users can post a message, also known as a "tweet," of under 140 characters on their profile page. The posts are then delivered to people who have subscribed to or "follow" that person.
For the past few years social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook and Twitter have all provided a common arena for people, students especially, to socialize, chat and "follow" their friends and celebrities. Users are now one wall post or "tweet" away from connecting with friends and family.
Facebook and MySpace were both launched in 2004 and have now become the welcome distractions for college and high school students. This year Facebook reached 150 million users, according to its creator, Mark Zuckerberg's, Facebook blog.
Junior biology major Allie Nutt from Chatham has been a MySpace and Facebook user since high school and recently created a Twitter account as well. Nutt said she joined the sites because all of her friends were on them. Since then, Facebook has become the site she uses the most.
"Facebook is a lot more convenient because I can understand it more and I've been using it longer," Nutt said. "If you have friends at other schools you can comment back and forth too."
Nutt said she checks her Facebook at least once a day and her Twitter and MySpace accounts once a month.
Nutt said although she has a Twitter account she would choose Facebook over it if she had to.
"Twitter is dumb," Nutt said. "Its only point is to stalk people."
Twitter is new to the social networking scene, but exploded in December 2008 with 4.43 million users, a large jump from the 500,000 it started the year with, according to mashable.com. It has quickly become a celebrity and news favorite.
Users can post a message, also known as a "tweet," of under 140 characters on their profile page. The posts are then delivered to people who have subscribed to or "follow" that person.
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