Parents' Guide to College Students' Favorite Websites

Parents have always wondered what their sons and daughters are up to, and for the most part, they can find their answers until they send them to the college. That's right, college. It is a term that has been synonymous with freedom away from parents, parties, reckless behaviors, and other themes repeatedly mentioned in numerous pop culture movies.

So, if you are really anxious to see what your sons and daughters are looking on internet (they will look things other than in this list - so this is not comprehensive - but this is something that I've gathered over a long period of time) in college, this list is for you.

1. Facebook

It is not too wrong to say that you can find essentially every college student in Facebook. I think that if you go to any college library with computer lab, you will always encounter at least couple of college students who should be doing their work but end up taking "Facebook breaks." In case you do not know what Facebook is, Facebook is a very popular social network designed for college students by Mark Zuckerberg. Nowadays, there are many adults, high school students, and even politicians who take advantages of Facebook.

Facebook is also very addicting, and this risk of being addicted can skyrocket if you decide to play Facebook games such as Farmville, Fishville, and Mob Wars. Another reason for such high popularity for Facebook is the Facebook Chat, which has essentially supplanted AOL Instant Messenger.

2. YouTube

Exception of films that infringe copyright laws of movies or songs, include adult content, or are against the laws of YouTube, you can basically find almost everything on YouTube. From a college lecture to an audition video from American Idol, there are millions of video that you can watch. I know that when Kanye West insulted Taylor Swift in the VMA incident, I was able to watch the clip of it the night it happened on YouTube because I did not watch the show on TV (I saw through people's Facebook statues that this happened). YouTube is also very well-known for making people popular through their videos, and here is a solid list of such people - maybe you have heard/read about some of them somewhere.

3. Pandora

Many college students still listen to their iPods during working out in the gym, but I have seen an increase in number of students who have begun to listen to Pandora, a free online radio station that you can type in the name of song or artist to build a station that sounds like it. For example, if you typed "John Mayer" and made a station of it, then you will probably encounter some songs by Jack Johnson, Jason Mraz, and so on. The best part about Pandora is that everything is automatic, so it is an excellent website if you have to do some readings and are sitting in front of your computer.

4. Hulu

If Pandora was for music, Hulu is a website for videos, including trailers of movies and full episodes of your favorite TV shows. I have watched couple of episodes of my favorite TV shows through Hulu, and they were all in pretty good qualities. I have not seen students using Hulu as much as Pandora since some people just like to watch them on their television, but for those people who are too lazy to go out and buy new movies or just happened to miss their favorite show because of an exam, Hulu is a way to go. It's easy, free, and quick way to catch up on an episode or two.

5. Ebay & Amazon

Though these two websites are vastly different in many ways, I decided to group them together because for a college student, both are very similar. Amazon is frequently used for buying textbooks because textbooks are becoming more and more expensive, and the college bookstore is not always the best place to buy them. Ebay is for finding more obscure books or purchasing them even for lower prices. Now, it is important to keep in mind that college students may surf on Amazon and Ebay without actually buying anything. One of my good friends often got on Ebay (along with visiting Facebook) to look at some motorcycles or trucks.

6. Urban Dictionary

I am not sure how many college students actually visit this website, but I figured that it would be helpful to include this website for parents, who have a limited knowledge for jargons in college. Urban Dictionary delivers crude terms that college students use (though there are many that are not used) in their usual lives, whether verbally or through text messages. I guarantee that parents will find this website useful, especially for the next website in the line.

7. Texts from Last Night

This website has a list of text messages with area code (that's the number inside the parentheses), and it is becoming very popular. The messages are often very sexual, involve parties and passing out, and contain complaints about school work and procrastination. My advice for parents is that what you read on this website does not necessarily reflect what your sons and daughters are texting, but it is possible that his/her friends may be encountering similar situations. Overall, it's a pretty entertaining website, and I have seen people put up their Facebook statuses with things from Texts from Last Night.

8. Twitter

Twitter is gaining popularity among the college students, but I am not exactly sure how popular they are. Many students use Facebook for most of the social networking and text people for quick and minor needs. I do not mean that Twitter is not popular, but it just has not reached the prominence among the college students as Facebook has.

9. Yahoo! Sports and ESPN

There are probably other sports websites that college students visit frequently, but these two are regular ones that I have seen. I think that these websites are pretty self-explanatory, so I won't explain them.

10. Omg!, E!, and People

If the websites in number 9 were more oriented for male college students (not saying that women do not keep up with sports), these websites are more for female college students, who are interested in fashion, celebrity, scandals, and other news. Like in number 9, there are probably other websites that college students visit with similar purposes.