All Eyes On Me

Participating in social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace are great ways to network with fellow students, teachers, and family, and maintain bonds with people you've met in college and beyond. They make it easier to keep track of what music, movies, and books your friends are into, what schools they are attending, and much more. In getting to know each other's interests and news, you must also always keep in mind how your own information is displayed - not just among friends - but, to the world.

Internet pages are stored and archived, and may be accessed long after the site itself has been taken down. (Want proof? Check out the handy Internet Archive WayBack Machine and look at sites as they were displayed years ago!) Additionally, publishing an image online allows others to download and republish the same image anywhere they choose. For this reason, you can never be too sure who has access to your photos online and who can use them to incriminate you - including professors and potential employers. (Check out this video of an Oxford University student who was busted for posting photos of herself engaging in reckless behavior on a private social networking site.)

That said, there's no denying that social networking sites allow us to embrace the modern internet age like never before. They allow for spontaneous classmate reunions, new conversations, and study buddy match-ups. They provide an open field for displaying your musical prowess, artistic skills, writing abilities, and other talents with your friends and the world.

According to Wikipedia, here are the top 10 most user-populated social networking sites on the web right now:

1) MySpace
2) Windows Live Spaces
3) Google's orkut
4) hi5
5) Friendster
6) Xanga
7) Classmates.com
8) Bebo
9) Facebook
10) Reunion.com

How many are you on?