One of the benefits of these websites is that they allow you to promote your website to other people. I am a member of all of these websites, and when I publish a new blog entry or am doing a speaking engagement I use these sites to promote these events.

Social Networking Sites

Social networks have been around since the beginning of people. Social network websites started popping up on the Internet in 2002. Since their appearance, social network sites have become a dominant type of website, even featured on the cover of Time magazine. Most people have heard of these sites and millions of people have accounts on them.

A social network site enables you to create a profile, connect with other people, and share your pictures and views.

A social network profile is like a home page about you. It contains information about you (as much or as little as you provide) and acts as a central point for the other social network site features.

Social networking might be seen as something that is for young people, but more people of all ages and backgrounds are using social networks.

This section covers three of the biggest social networks and how to sign up, create a profile, and connect with others. If you are already a member of any of these sites you should review the section to make sure you are getting the most out of your social network experience.

MySpace

MySpace (www.myspace.com) began in 2003 and grew out of an early Internet company named eUniverse. MySpace has all the standard features of a social network site and some other features that are similar to sites that allow you to build websites. It has millions of people and is one of the most popular websites on the Internet. In 2005, MySpace had become so popular that it was purchased by the media conglomerate News Corporation for $580 million.

Creating an Account

Before you can create your MySpace profile, you have to have a MySpace account.

This is used to log in and authenticate who you are.

1. Open a browser and go to MySpace.com

2. Click the Sign Up button. This takes you to the MySpace.com Join MySpace Here page. This page asks you to enter information about yourself so that MySpace can create an account for you.

3. Enter your information in the required fields. This information is not displayed in your profile unless you allow it.

4. Check the Terms of Service box after carefully reading the terms of service (if you have nothing better to do).

5. Click the Sign-Up button. After your account is created, MySpace asks you to upload a picture for your profile.

6. MySpace allows you to invite some of your friends to MySpace.

7. Your profile is then displayed.

Customizing Your Profile

After you have a profile created, you can add all sorts of information about yourself. Remember, anyone coming to MySpace looking for you can see this information, so do not include personal information such as your Social

Security and credit card numbers.

1. To edit your profile, click the Edit Profile link on your profile. This displays the Profile Edit page.

2. After you have edited your profile, click the Save Changes button.

Website Features

MySpace has several website-like features (blog, picture pages, calendar, and forums) that may be everything you need.

You may already be using MySpace, but not taking advantage of all these features. Try out some of these features; they can be a lot of fun:

Comments - If you like someone’s profile or want to send someone a public message, you can leave a comment on that person’s profile. Remember these comments can be seen by anyone visiting that person’s profile page.

Blog - You can set up your own blog on MySpace and post entries that include text, images, and videos. You can also sign up to follow other people’s blogs.

Photo Gallery - MySpace is full of pictures. You can have hundreds of pictures on your account that are viewable by the public or just your friends. These pictures can also be collected into photo albums to keep them organized.

Applications - MySpace now enables you to create and attach applications to your profile. For more information on MySpace applications, consult the Myspace Developer Platform community site.