Questions about MySpace and Facebook

[msagara]

I'm not entirely a luddite. But. Well. MySpace and Facebook? They make me feel bemused and almost entirely incompetent. But I know there are a bunch of people in my flist that probably don't feel either of these, and I thought I would, you know, badger you for helpful advice.

1.* How does it work? I recently created a MySpace account and then ... kind of clicked in circles because I couldn't really figure out how to do anything, or in fact even figure out what I was supposed to do. My oldest son and my friends mock me mercilessly in Facebook, and because I love them, I want to avoid having to kill them, so I haven't yet created an account there.

2. Have you found it helpful?

ETA: * as in rudimentary step-by-step instructions as if you were speaking to your 5 year old dog. Because I in theory understand that you are suppose to build a friends-list there, but cannot figure out how to do this.

Comments

[msagara.livejournal.com]

I find MySpace useful to keep up with some friends that I see at a concert annually. I find Facebook useful to keep in touch with graduate students (I'm staff and not an advisor; just a person who helps smooth the bumps in academia).

I am not even close to that state. Mostly, I am at the: How do you create a friends list on MySpace exactly? stage.

[sarbah77.livejournal.com]

Ah, sorry, I misunderstood your question. I'm going to blame that on it being Friday rather than an inability to read.

Yeah, I kind of ignore both my pages other than finding a button that says "profile" or "edit profile" to make it say what I want it to say about me. Otherwise, I don't do much at customizing. Then I tell everyone I know on LJ that I have an account and how to find me. So I'm of no use.

[lyssabits.livejournal.com]

Well, Max Barry basically posted to his blog, "Hey, I'm on Facebook!" and his legion (ha) of followers followed him there. ;) It's a pretty low-key way to go about it initially. Facebook pops up notifications on your home page when your friends do something noteworthy like add a friend or join a group, and a lot of stuff gets propagated that way, assuming of course you and your friends and their friends all like the same stuff. ;)

As for friends, Facebook should have a wizard that, if you don't mind letting them look through your e-mail address book, will search for the e-mail addresses of anyone you know and notify you whether or not they're on Facebook. If not, it will give you the option to invite them to Facebook and add you as a friend. They've also started looking through the friends of your friends and suggesting people that pop up on a lot of your friends' lists that you have not yet added, so you can find people that way. (Although my friend noted that this feature tends to pop up people you don't like, as friends who've you've had a falling out with tend to be the "missing links" in your social circle.) Alternately, if you're a privacy freak like my husband, you can search manually by name, interest, what have you. (Friends --> Friend Finder should take you to a page where you can do all these things.)

Personally I loathe and despise MySpace, even though Facebook can be kind of sketchy I'll take that over the eye-searing profiles of MySpace any day. But the process is pretty similar. If you click on the friends link below your user icon in your profile it'll take you to a page where you can search for names, e-mail addresses, people from your hometown or high school, all that stuff. They have some new features that are supposed to make it easier to keep track of your friends, but as they've basically just been, in my opinion, copying Facebook, I haven't bothered to learn how to set it up. ;)

[msagara.livejournal.com]

Thank you for all of this :D.

Actually, I have a bunch of friends on Facebook, but I've avoided it in terror because my son is on Facebook and my friends are on Facebook, and. Well. Did I mention they mock me, to the delight of said son?

[lyssabits.livejournal.com]

Heh, yes, as a member of the Michelle Sagara West Fan club, I noticed a lot of people in it who also pop up here on your LJ. If it weren't for the mocking I'd say setting up your page is exactly the sort of chore perfectly suited to computer-savvy children. Builds character. Of course, then you run the risk that all MY friends who had me set up online presences for them ran, the possibility that they would fill your profile with erroneous information. (The friend who got the profile that listed ballet as one of his hobbies was not nearly as amused as I was.)

But since you have adoring fans, that may be the easier way to get information, mock free. ;)