The Technological Hassles of MySpace

There is no shortage of information available on the potential personal security issues surrounding MySpace. There is far less information available at this time of the technical aspects of using MySpace in other words, what it does to the computer you are on.

Ask any technical support person in a public computer hosting setting what they think of MySpace, and watch their faces crack. Yes, it can be a very entertaining site for those who have the basic knowledge to maintain a safe level of privacy. But MySpace is the bane of existence for people who have to maintain and clean up the computer you just used to visit your and your friends' MySpace pages. Because it is a free site, it is supported by advertising a GREAT DEAL of advertising, and if you do not have your cookie filters set to screen at least some of this crap out, you can expect to spend a great deal of time trying to zap out pop-ups and clean all the little bots and cookies off your system. If you have a system that works for you on your own computer, that's fantastic, and hopefully you are enjoying your experience. If you are on another person's computer, however the people you baby-sit for, the library computers, or other public access computers, there are a few things you need to be aware of.

First of all, the more videos, bells and whistles, and songs you try to access and play, the more you are going to bog down any public Internet server you are on. Educational or career guidance places where people are working on time-sensitive programs such as testing or assessments will suddenly find their own terminals slowing down, causing aggravation at the least and some messed-up scores at the worst. If you hear the people around you starting to groan, bang on the sides of their monitor like they're watching rabbit-eared Goldstar TVs, or complain to staff on duty about their computers running slow, it's time to get off MySpace.

Many public libraries and similar institutions rely on donated equipment, often second-hand. Many run with outdated hardware and/or operating systems. MySpace is a common cause for patron complaints of computers freezing or seizing up. Quite often staff has to finally resort to shutting the whole PC down and rebooting it. These same PCs also have to be "cleaned up" afterward to get all the junk off them that slow them down.

If you are on a friend's computer, please be aware that you are likely causing a ton of junk to be dumped on their computer as well. Make sure you have permission to even be on their computer and visiting MySpace before you do, because I guarantee they're going to know. They'll know when they wind up with 300 cookies on their hard drive.

I had a MySpace page for a while, but like many of the friends I have who also had one, I stopped going because I got tired of the constant housekeeping. I also grew weary of the constant bulletins advertising ring tones, invites to adult content sites, and pop-ups pop-ups pop-ups. The people from that site who are truly my friends communicate with me via e-mail or instant messenger anyway. Furthermore, my husband started getting comments and invites on HIS MySpace page in his e-mail, and he does not even HAVE a MySpace page.

So what can you do? First, just be aware of where you are and what they allow. It's really not okay to jump on someone else's computer and visit a site plagued with advertising any more than it is okay to get in their car without permission and go off-roading. Also be aware of the types of sites that the public computer hosting facility you are in allows. They don't necessarily restrict sites just for the sake of censorship; it's often about maintaining the operation of their equipment. Finally, think carefully about just how much you can do on MySpace, or any other site, given the age of the hardware and operating equipment you are on. Just because the great wilderness is there to be explored does not mean you should be trying to do it in a Yugo. And finally, if you do get on a site that seizes up the system you are on and don't know how to fix it, the polite thing to do is to ask a staff person for help rather than leave it frozen up for the next person to deal with.

Be safe, and happy computing!