so, facebook is the new myspace. duh?
about a year and a half ago, i wrote a blog entry about myspace. i had just given into the craziness and started my own profile, primarily for the primitive reason that "everyone else was doing it". the curiosity to look at other people's profiles was insatiable, and unless you had a profile of your own, you were limited in what you could see.
the essence, however, of my myspace essay was cautionary. i was reflecting mostly on the fact that all of the pictures, quotes, captions, comments, and stories displayed on the pages are public knowledge (save any privacy features) and that we should all be aware that present and future employers may in fact be "myspacing" you for that very reason (and, i fully admitted that i do just that to the resumes that come across my desk). since then, i have heard true tales of job offers being rescinded by conservative companies as a result of disreputable behavior documented online. furthermore, many large companies are now including a "myspace check" as part of the HR screening process.
flash forward about a year. my spring interns were no where to be found on myspace. okay, odd, but anomalies happen, or maybe they were just being smart about keeping their lives offline. when my summer interns were also mysteriously absent from the grid, i knew i was missing some memo. turns out, to the next generation of soon-to-be college graduates, arch-rival facebook is the new myspace. who knew? and beyond that, not only do they not use myspace, but they are apparently so dismissive of it that they've never even bothered with an account. wow. never have i felt older.
throughout the summer, we casually discussed the pros and cons of myspace vs. facebook, and when i referred to the all-but-defunct predecessor network--friendster--they looked at me like i had two heads. needless to say, i have now been sucked into the world of facebook, and i have to admit, i kind of like it. it's a little confusing at the offset, but once up and running, i've found it to be cleaner, more private, more secure, and much much better for sharing photos (and keeping track of others' activities with the news feed feature). plus, everyone else is doing it.
don't worry, though, if you too are feeling a little bit older than you did yesterday. the "kids" are still using AIM...for now.
the essence, however, of my myspace essay was cautionary. i was reflecting mostly on the fact that all of the pictures, quotes, captions, comments, and stories displayed on the pages are public knowledge (save any privacy features) and that we should all be aware that present and future employers may in fact be "myspacing" you for that very reason (and, i fully admitted that i do just that to the resumes that come across my desk). since then, i have heard true tales of job offers being rescinded by conservative companies as a result of disreputable behavior documented online. furthermore, many large companies are now including a "myspace check" as part of the HR screening process.
flash forward about a year. my spring interns were no where to be found on myspace. okay, odd, but anomalies happen, or maybe they were just being smart about keeping their lives offline. when my summer interns were also mysteriously absent from the grid, i knew i was missing some memo. turns out, to the next generation of soon-to-be college graduates, arch-rival facebook is the new myspace. who knew? and beyond that, not only do they not use myspace, but they are apparently so dismissive of it that they've never even bothered with an account. wow. never have i felt older.
throughout the summer, we casually discussed the pros and cons of myspace vs. facebook, and when i referred to the all-but-defunct predecessor network--friendster--they looked at me like i had two heads. needless to say, i have now been sucked into the world of facebook, and i have to admit, i kind of like it. it's a little confusing at the offset, but once up and running, i've found it to be cleaner, more private, more secure, and much much better for sharing photos (and keeping track of others' activities with the news feed feature). plus, everyone else is doing it.
don't worry, though, if you too are feeling a little bit older than you did yesterday. the "kids" are still using AIM...for now.
posted by mark at 1:14 PM
2 Comments:
whatevs. Myspace is still way better than facebook.
Yeah, I actually got into facebook because of grad school-- more of my NYU friends are on facebook.
Welcome to the party.
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