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A Teen Speaks: The Pros and Cons of Facebook

Amy Summers — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 10:00:25 +0000

Everything in the world has good and bad aspects, and that can definitely be said as true for the phenomenon that is Facebook. Our lives have been taken over by this long running trend, one that has lasted more than a single season, in fact one that has lasted longer than any of us could have possibly predicted. It hasn’t been discarded like last season’s jacket, or pushed to the back of the wardrobe like last year’s shoes. No, Facebook is just as ‘in’ now as it was when it was first open to the global market. More so, even. And let’s be honest, what’s not to love? People of all ages can chat with their friends and family from all around the world for a price much smaller than that of a phone call. Still, everything comes at a cost, and I don’t mean that in a financial sense. So now to the real question: is Facebook a valuable communication platform beneficial to all its users, or merely a time waster that has caused more headaches than happiness? For me, an average, sociable seventeen year old, I lean further away from the latter. That’s not to say I don’t see both the positives and negatives of this successful website and social networking in general.

Certainly, there are many advantages to Facebook. The easiness of communication is the obvious one. Who could have possibly imagined that someone would create a space where we could communicate, share photos and keep up-to-date with our friends from all over the globe as long as we had access to an internet connection? The idea at the time definitely would have seemed farfetched, just as all the great inventions and discoveries of history, I suppose. Now look at us. The majority of people I know would struggle desperately to live without it. However, in my opinion, the benefits of Facebook and other social networking sites reach much further than the evident convenience of communication and general socialising. In a world that can unintentionally overlook the opinions of society’s youth, it has become a platform upon which teenagers can express their feelings and voice their opinions, knowing that they will actually be heard, if not by adults, certainly by their peers. Whether they want to share their feelings with the world, or merely their closest friends, Facebook makes either possible. For some, it is their first opportunity to truly feel as though they belong to a group. Their first chance to feel as though someone is actually listening, that others care about them, their opinions and feelings. This concept, for me personally, is difficult to fully grasp. I get it, I understand it, I know that some people just need to feel loved and cared about, but I’d prefer face-to-face contact any day, which leads me to the negatives.

For years, I have had the dangers of cyberspace drilled into me from parents, from teachers, from various adults. I have been to multiple seminars and workshops through school, been forced to fill out a variety of surveys and questionnaires, and listened to an endless amount of case studies all concerning the topic. While I personally have never been affected by cyber bullying or online stalkers, I am fully aware of just how detrimental the time spent in cyberspace can be. Maybe it’s paranoia from the constant warnings, but whenever I am talking to someone online it’s always in the back of my mind that they aren’t who they say they are. And, no, I don’t necessarily mean that every time I’m talking to my best mate I’m wondering if it is a seventy year old paedophile; it’s not that extreme. Sometimes, however, if I get a weird wall post or someone sends me a strange inbox, I wonder if it is actually one of my friends, or one of their mates who has hacked their account and is having a bit of a joke. And this isn’t unrealistic. We all know that when a group of giggly girls get together or even a gang of burly boys a simple prank call, or prank online message, can be extremely amusing; but doesn’t it make you think how easy it is to switch identities when online? Nobody even has to hear your voice, let alone see your face, and you can write whatever you like, whenever you like, with no more contact other than that given from your computer monitor. It’s not only the fact that we can never be sure who we are talking to, but other aspects come into it too. Parents actually do have a point when they moan about their children spending too much time on Facebook instead of doing their homework or getting outside. At our age it’s hard to grasp the concept that this is time we will never get back and it will be gone in the blink of an eye, or so I get told. A balance between work and play is what a healthy lifestyle consists of, and when this balance is upset by countless hours spent on Facebook, the situation rarely ends well.

I don’t see social networking, in particular Facebook, as an entirely bad thing or a completely good thing, but simply a combination of the two. As with everything in life, there are elements of both associated with it, and just like junk food and most good things, moderation is the key. As human beings we can’t help but succumb to the latest trend, and I’ll admit to occasionally overdoing it and sacrificing valuable time that could be spent on study or exercise, but we’re not completely to blame. I mean, what’s not to love about a global grapevine? The curious, social creatures we are cannot help but to be sucked in.

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The Beastie Boys Make Some Noise on Tumblr

Kenna McHugh — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 11:35:02 +0000

We have been hearing how Tumblr has been growing like crazy, but now the social networking platform is getting noticed even more with The Beastie Boys new song, “Make Some Noise.” The popular rock band introduced their new song from their next album by playing it on Tumblr. Beastie Boy Mike D posted on the site about using Tumblr and saying that it wasn’t really part of the plan, but since followers are out there, “we wanted to let you hear it here first, or maybe second. Enjoy.”
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Music Lunge is Calling Itself a New Social Networking Contender

Kenna McHugh — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 13:47:37 +0000

I found an interesting social networking site for music lovers from all angles. It’s called Music Lunge, a social networking site designed to help Indie and Major artists with digital music and music video distribution, ringtone distribution and song mastering.
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A Teen Speaks: Do We Even Want To See Who's Looking At Our Facebook Pages?

Amy Summers — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 11:30:23 +0000

It’s one of the reasons why the social networking craze has reached mega proportions, modern teenagers would be lost without it and it is arguably the most beloved pastime of today’s youth. It, my friends, is online stalking.
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Update: Simon Cowell's 'X-Factor' Negotiating Facebook Voting

Kenna McHugh — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 09:17:01 +0000

[Update: AllFacebook's Jackie Cohen made contact with Facebook, who has not confirmed this rumor as true. Facebook's ambiguous comments are shown below:

"We don't comment on speculation but are always talking to media companies about developments. X Factor is already doing some great stuff with Facebook and we are seeing loads of engagement on their Page."]

The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Fox, Simon Cowell and producers of The X-Factor are in talks with Facebook to bring online voting to the upcoming U.S. version of the singing competition.
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A Teen Speaks: Is Social Networking Damaging Our Social Skills?

Amy Summers — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 10:50:01 +0000

“Guess what I saw on Facebook last night?” The most popular question of the decade amongst today’s teenagers is laced with rhetoric because really, the person asking it doesn’t want an answer. They just want to be able to tell their story, their little piece of trivial information concerning a status they saw, or a photo they looked at or an inbox message they received. At my school, it’s Facebook. At others it may be MySpace, or Twitter, or whatever other social networking site is the must-be-seen-on for that month, but ultimately they all work the same way.

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A Teen Speaks: Has Facebook Changed the Dating World?

Amy Summers — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 10:40:15 +0000

In a society that is driven by gadgets, money and social networking sites, it is no wonder that Facebook has become a part of everyday life. The ability to share news and photographs at the click of a button from the comfort of your own home is certainly appealing. Sure, Facebook makes communicating easy and sure, Facebook allows you to stay in touch with people you would otherwise never see, but using these sites to date over the internet? Is that really what the world has come to? Gone are the days where one had to actually drive to someone’s house and knock on their front door if they wanted to see them.
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The Business of Optimizing Social Media… for Business

Richard Howard — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:45:52 +0000

In just a few short years, the widespread belief that social media was either not a viable advertising/marketing platform or an inferior one has been turned on its ear (and the experts who stated such are praying that nobody checks their blog archives). However, while tracking web traffic has been nearly perfected (along with the practice of optimizing said traffic through keywords), the same cannot be said when considering viral traffic through networks like Twitter and Facebook. However, a few savvy companies have swooped in to fill the void.

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Is Social Networking More Dangerous to Teens Than "Stranger Danger"?

Amy Summers — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 09:46:36 +0000

In a world where words such as ‘Facebook’ and ‘Twitter’ belong to everyday vocabulary, it is no wonder that the traditional parental rules are taking on a modern twist. Long gone are the days when their biggest concern was the strange, old man hanging around outside the ice-creamery. Now, with instant access to strangers worldwide, stranger danger has taken on a whole new meaning.
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Myspace and Music — Still xoxo or Just Exes With Benefits?

Richard Howard — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 11:00:43 +0000

For the duration of the spectacular spanking that MySpace has endured since Facebook’s rise to power, its proponents have always had the ‘well…it’s still the best place for bands’ argument to fall back on. With the site’s complete retooling, many musicians are crying foul and threatening to desert the ‘Space and return to .coms. However, could it be that this is a short-sighted view that’s missing the new MySpace’s promise for sharing music better than ever before?
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MySpace Rolls Out its Official Toolbar

arnoldzafra — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 10:28:34 +0000

Although there have been many MySpace Toolbar already available for free in the web, it is only now that MySpace is releasing an official one. While these unofficial MySpace Toolbar may have successfully given MySpace users a useful toolbar which they can use for easily accessing their MySpace profile, still nothing would compare to the official Toolbar released by MySpace. continued…

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MySpaceID Becomes More Friendly

arnoldzafra — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 06:31:58 +0000

Finally, MySpace woke up from slumber and launches enhancements to its MySpaceID product. In case you may have forgotten already or unaware at all, MySpaceID lets any website to access MySpace’s social graph. Meaning, you as a MySpace user can link your MySpace profiles, friends, and other activities on the site to any websites. But a more important part of this announcement is MySpace’s integration to the new Yahoo homepage which is curently under closed private beta testing mode. continued…

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Top 25 Free e-books Sites, the Definitive List

arnoldzafra — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 00:38:18 +0000

Recently Amazon spiced up the e-books industry with the release of its second generation e-book reader the Kindle 2. Then last week, Amazon also announced the availability of its Kindle for iPhone application. With these two products Amazon hopes to beef up the sales of its e-book catalog. Although e-books are good source of portable reading materials, Amazon’s price tag on its e-book titles may turn off some of you. You’re in luck because Amazon is no the only site where you can get yourself some good e-book titles. In fact, we have compiled 25 of these sites that offer free e-books download. continued…

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MySpace Music Previews U2's Latest Album

arnoldzafra — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 23:22:24 +0000

If you got excited when Sydney Morning Herald reported that the full copies of U2′s latest album No Line in the Horizon have found their way to the web, you might want to stop scouring the web to find ways of obtaining it the not so legal way. MySpace is offering an alternative, by way of a streaming preview of the full tracks of the new U2 album right on its Music site. continued…

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MySpace Beefs Up its Mobile Site, Will Facebook Follow?

arnoldzafra — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 09:53:22 +0000

At the ongoing Mobile Web Congresss, MySpace has joined the slew of companies making their product announcements, more particularly new mobile phone devices. And MySpace is taking advantage of the event to announce a new beefed up mobile website and additional support for other mobile devices, particularly – Palm and Nokia S60 handsets. continued…

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