It’s Not About My Personal Space

What does the term ”˜MySpace’ mean to you? Before recently, if I was talking about my space it would have meant the five feet or so around my body that I would consider my personal space and appreciate others not invading upon. But now, MySpace refers to my page on the internet network of MySpace.com., where I can share details about who I am, my interests, my education, or even my job. I can post bulletins to tell people about events or fill out surveys with all kinds of questions about myself. I can write blog entries, like a diary, but where everyone can read them and know what I think about issues or my life.

Have you heard of this site? I bet your children or students have. It is an easy way for teens to connect with their friends, post pictures, and leave each other comments on their pages. They can email each other, search for other people they know, and even meet new people. They can join common interest groups with other people who are involved in or interested in the same sort of things, such as sports or television shows. They can look up their favorite bands, add them as friends, and even have their favorite songs or video clips play on their own page.

Why is this so important for you to know about? It is a whole other world that your children are becoming a part of and it is growing. They are no longer just involved in after-school clubs, sports, or youth group. This is a group of people from all over the world who can come together to share thoughts, ideas, and their lives. It is a good idea to check the site out and see what sort of information your kids may be looking at or finding out. It is always important to stay involved with their lives and the new things that are playing a role in their social lives.

Now I do not mention this for you to get worried about your kids and what they might be involved in over the internet. There are definitely good things about the MySpace world. Even several ministers of our team have their own pages as well, that you can check out. Students who have had the opportunity to see them can now easily stay in contact with our ministers and share their thoughts or the impact the ministry has made. However, MySpace can be misused by our children and others so its important to know what is going on in this world.

MySpace has grown to be quite a phenomenon and has even recently been making headlines in the news for the endless assort of information that people may be posting on their sites. It is a good idea to talk to your children and/or students about their pages and the information they may be posting. Remind them to not put up personal contact information or anything that might allow unfamiliar people to find out too much about them. As always, you never know who might be sitting in front of the computer screen on the other end of the network.