PageFetti Blog

Friday, July 27th 2007
Time for a change

The time for change has come. I recently redecorated my apartment and realized that I also needed to redesign the look of my MySpace page. I used the same page layout for nearly a year and frankly it was looking stale. As I have mentioned before, your MySpace page artistically expresses who you are to the world at large. My supposedly emo black background was starting to look way too gothic for my girly taste. I needed to reinvent myself.

After some serious self-examination I think that I have figured out the perfect layout. I wanted a hot background but nothing too cute. So of course being a chic fashionista I opted for a free fashion background. My hot new background consists of an assortment of sizzling in- vogue shoes and purses. I am sure that I will be bombarded with lots of fashionable new friend requests!

Friday, July 20th 2007
Express Yourself: MySpace & Facebook

I am a self-confessed Facebook & MySpace junkie. I love them both, immensely. I secretly think it is because I have always been the type of person who would read your diary if you left it unlocked. So of course, I love the fact that I can freely lurk (in a non-creepy way) around my friends' pages. I usually don't bother to check my email in the mornings or call friends about weekend plans, because I would rather log into MySpace or Facebook to stay on top of the latest plans and gossip.

Social Networking sites are a modern day Yellow Pages of personal information. A person's MySpace or Facebook page can define who they are. A single page divulges a person's likes, dislikes, relationship status and the type people that they hang out with. Glitter graphics here, a new profile pic there-before you glam up your page and leave a comment for your bff, take a moment to think about what you are doing. Try to showcase your creative side and let your personality shine through with the background, pics and info that you leave on your page

When I started my foray into the social networking scene two years ago, I was a newbie in every sense of the word. I wanted my MySpace page to scream 'Glamorous, Fun, yet Interested in Serious World Issues', but I didn't have the slightest inkling how to get started. After some searching, I discovered that there are Free Code Generators, Photo Generators & Clipart sites that could help me decorate my page. So yes, even the technologically handicapped (like myself) can have a page that artistically expresses how they want the world to view them.

About six months, ago I signed up for a Facebook account to compliment my already dazzling MySpace page. At first I was puzzled by Facebook. Hmm... you get a page but you can't have graphics, music or a cool background? Then I discovered the key to having a streamlined yet personal Facebook page-Facebook Applications. By applying Facebook Applications such as Cities I've Visited and Flixster (a movie application) I am able to share with the world my personal preferences and passions.

A Cal Berkley PhD student named Danah Boyd is conducting studies on the users of social networking sites. She has garnered a lot of press recently for her bold statements concerning the users of sites such as MySpace and Facebook. Danah believes that social networking sites are dividing people into socio-economic groups. In a recent posting she claimed that The 'clean' or 'modern' look of Facebook is akin to West Elm or Pottery Barn or any poshy Scandinavian design house, while the more flashy look of MySpace resembles the Las Vegas imagery that attracts millions every year. I suspect that lifestyles have aesthetic values and that these are being reproduced on MySpace and Facebook.

I wonder what my pages are saying about my lifestyle and aesthetic values? Since I use both MySpace and Facebook regularly, am I really just a Vegas showgirl at heart who loves Pottery Barn chic? This is something to ponder as I generate my new comment glitter graphics.