Social Networking Sites

I think Facebook and MySpace are popular among tweens and teens because such sites provide a way for the kids to be creative and express their individuality...while at the same time staying connected with their friends.

That adolescent/teen time is so filled with the tension between individuality and conformity. ("Why can't you be unique and original like everyone else?") A kid sees a friend put up a picture of his dog on his page, and the kid thinks, "Okay, I'll put up three pictures of my dog doing tricks." Then a third friend says, "I'll make a movie of my cat doing tricks and put that up."

I've seen kids spend their whole hour of pc time working on getting the background of their MySpace page just right, or asking another kid "How did you get it to do that?" It's all about fitting in while being yourself.

(And face it, aren't some of us doing the same thing right now with our blogs? We see something kewl on Chocolate Chai, and we want to do something similar on our own blog.)

Still, I'm an old fogey at heart, and I just don't have the passion (or the time)(or the energy) for MySpace or Facebook the way all these young whippersnappers do. Back in my day, if we wanted to be social, we gathered in Jim Cummings' parents' basement and watched Saturday Night Live. (This was in between walking 12 miles to school in the driving snow and working ten hours a day in the factory, thank you very much.) :)