Five Reasons to Delete Your Myspace

Your original intentions were most likely innocent enough. Perhaps your dear friend, who you have known for ages, insisted upon sharing the joys of social networking with you ... maybe you were simply looking to reconnect with old friends. Regardless of the purpose, you opened a myspace account, and now, you are questioning whether or not to maintain it. Read on to discover the top five reasons why you should delete your myspace page today.

1. Do you realize how visible you are?

My initial reaction to creating a myspace account was quite unusual. I am a shy person by nature and very unlikely to share personal information of any kind with strangers. Unfortunately, a herd of friends already using myspace badgered me into joining the over 100 million current users. Approximately 10 minutes and I was fully enmeshed with cyberspace. My name, date of birth, relationship status, zodiac sign, smoking and drinking habits, and occupation all became transparently visible to myspace users worldwide. Yes, you can set your account to private; however, until the recent addition of myspace 2.0, all myspace pages appeared easily hacked, regardless of privacy settings. I question how much time remains before hackers topple the new privacy restrictions.

2. Are your friends really who you think they are?

Sure, you created your myspace account with the strictest of confidence that you, in your unwavering self-discipline, would only accept friend requests from your dearest of friends. Then, you opened your mail one day to discover a friend request from that guy who sat next to you in 6^th period high school chemistry. He never did anything to bother you. In fact, he seemed like a pretty cool guy. What harm could there be in adding him? A lot. Suppose your high school acquaintance matured into the man who stalks around the internet collecting headshots of women to utilize in his latest pornographic novel. Yes, this is a worst case scenario, but the question remains, how do you really know what your friends are doing with your personal information?

3. How much do you want your friends to know about you?

I just adore people who keep running commentaries of their lives on their myspace pages. Of course I want to know that you were up all night with your crying baby! I also want to know that you found a really cool pair of sneakers on sale for $2 at the Nike outlet. I was so excited to hear that you are now engaged to the love of your life - especially after the nasty breakup that transpired when you found pictures of your ex-boyfriend all snuggled up with another woman. And posted blatantly on her myspace page? Profile not even set to private? Oh wait, it was set to private ... she was on your friend list. Didn't that happen just two weeks ago? And no, I don't blame you for sending her that hateful message. After all, the photos were tacky enough. She really didn't have to post those catty status messages about you for everyone in the world to see. Hope you have a good time in Vegas, Dear. But wait ... I don't have to hope. I don't even have to use my imagination. I can rest assured that just as soon as you return, you will post your entire wedding album, change your layout, and describe in depth every detail of your big day. Oh wait, you were doing that from your mobile the entire time you were in Vegas. I trust you get the point.

4. Has myspace ever ruined your relationship?

If you have maintained a myspace account for any length of time exceeding three months, whether you realize it or not, the answer is yes. Myspace ruins relationships in three ways. The most common scenario occurs when both you and your significant other maintain active myspace profiles. This situation is ideal in the beginning ... you know, that period of time when you are both so absolutely in love that you cannot wait to express your unwavering emotions (in comment form) to the entire myspace universe. For most people, this type of adoring behavior gets old quickly. We get tired. We get sloppy. We start communicating with our partners in real-time instead of cyberland. Then, it starts. Allow me to demonstrate.

Girlfriend: Honey, you never leave me any comments anymore.

Boyfriend: I'm sorry Baby. I'm very tired. I haven't spent as much time online lately.

Girlfriend: Well yes but ... I saw where you left Gina and Mark comments yesterday. And then you changed your layout. You mean to tell me you couldn't have left me a single comment in that length of time?

No one wants to diffuse that explosive situation.

The second scenario is slightly trickier than the first. Let's use my bachelor friend, Bob, as an example. For many years, during which we were both single of course, Bob and I took to engaging in friendly banters on our myspace profiles. The situation was completely harmless, the only intent on either part being to embarrass the other to the upmost degree. It was fun at the time. Shortly after the termination of this phase, we realized that sometimes when you make the commitment to enter into a mutually exclusive, serious relationship with another person, that person may, at some point, dig through your myspace comments to see what you have been up to. It might not be the best idea to have excess comments hanging around, especially when they speak of topics like clown porn and bondage.

The third scenario is a no-brainer. Due to my general disgust with the thought of having to explain this at all, I will keep my lecture short. Do not cheat on myspace. Aside from the fact that there is absolutely no excuse for this behavior, you will always get caught. Always.

5. Have you checked your employment status lately?

If you care about your job at all, at the very least, you should closely monitor what goes on your myspace profile. This includes graphics, icons, photos, quotes, comments, and status messages. If you are currently seeking employment, you can bet that most employers check myspace and facebook prior to hiring you. It is not unheard of for employers to monitor employee's myspace profiles to determine if sick days are honestly being used for that purpose. The reasoning behind this is nothing new. It serves the same purpose as not wearing your scrubs and your name badge into a bar. Still having trouble? Look at it this way. If your mother would be mortified at the sight of your myspace profile, take it down - no one needs to see that stuff but you.

In summary, personal information is just that - personal. Choosing to post your information on any internet outlet is entirely up to you. Just as it is your choice, it is also your responsibility to safeguard your identity. Be aware that just because social networking sites appear safe and risk-free, there are no guarantees. Post with caution, and when in doubt, delete!