Virtual Popularity on Myspace

Friends
Of course, digital friends and the space (or MySpace) world they co-habit are very different than physical one. First, they introduce you to many more people than you could actually have time for. While radio and TV did this long ago, MySpace allows you to interact with this bigger group rather than simply being fed information from the media.

By going virtual, digital technology allows everybody to create private and public space, while actually in a safe place, like home. IM serves as a private space to talk with your friends without anyone interfering, while your MySpace profile gives you a public place to be seen in.

Personality
I've found that on MySpace it's best not to be too outrageous, as things that may seem funny at the time on MySpace can come back to haunt you. Online privacy is not very reliable. The online social communities like MySpace have shown that the things students might admit only to their friends are now being posted on MySpace. Once on MySpace, they are often accessible by anyone from administrators to parents to police.

As far as negative press, MySpace's large advertisers are savvy marketers and have seen this kind of criticism before with the Internet and in the history of media. Like the introduction of rock 'n' roll and or even television, anytime you have a generation defining itself with something and another generation not understanding it, you have an issue that will emerge politically and in the press. Additionally, they understand that negative issues on MySpace are very small relative to the close to 80 million members

Privacy
On MySpace, or anywhere, you have to remember that no section of the Internet is your private playground, and to keep your mouth shut in public forums about information you would rather the rest of the world did not know. Beyond that, though, it can be difficult to eliminate traces of stupidity online. Good luck getting Google to remove all links to that embarrassing karaoke video that comes up first when you search your name. It ain't gonna happen. The moral of the story is: don't expect privacy on the Internet and you won't be disappointed.