Myspace is one Web site that offers services people can use to personalize and keep in touch with friends. It recently has been blocked on the on-campus Internet network.

New Internet addictions: Facebook and Myspace

Rebecca Titus TIT02001@BYUI.EDU Scroll Staff

Students in colleges and universities all over the United States are registering and logging onto www.facebook.com and www.myspace.com daily, while anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000 new members register each day for Facebook alone.

These sites, which offer personalized Web sites where members can discuss their interests, share music and photos and contact old and current classmates, are becoming addictive for many.

“The other day, my roommate and I were seriously contemplating either going to class or going home to log onto Myspace,” said Jennilyn Weed, a junior from Beaverton, Ore.

It is not unusual for users to log onto their pages every day. Sometimes, it is more often than that.

Allen Fordham, a sophomore from Weyers Cave, Va., logs on to his Facebook account approximately three times a day.

Fordham is also a member of the Facebook group called “I Check Facebook Late at Night Instead of Doing Homework,” which currently has about 160 members, all from BYU-Idaho.

Besides messaging friends and sharing music, and pictures and personal interests, these services allow members to contact old friends.

One such example is Chandee Brown, a junior from Beaverton, Ore., who contacted an old crush from junior high on her Myspace account. After messaging on Myspace for a few days, they were able to talk on the phone and eventually spend time together in Utah.

“We took a trip down memory lane,” Brown said. “We looked through old yearbooks and even hung out with other old friends.”

While Facebook and Myspace are both growing in popularity, there are significant differences between the two services.

Myspace allows users to upload eight photos, up to 600k each, onto their personal picture indexes, while Facebook has no limit as to the amount of photos that may be uploaded.

Myspace also offers its service to anyone above 18 years old, while Facebook is only offered to college students with an e-mail address ending in “edu” and high school students who are invited by current users.

For those who have both services, there are preferences.

“I like Facebook a lot better,” Fordham said. “It is more user-friendly and faster and easier to search.”

On the other hand, Nicole Shields, a sophomore from Wrightwood, Calif., is in favor of Myspace.

“I like Myspace better because you are more connected to more people,” Shields said, “although Facebook is easier for finding people from your school and classes.”