Too Many MySpace Messages and Friend Requests? Here's What to Do

If you're a MySpace user, and you probably are, you may have found yourself inundated with random friend requests from every band in existence, plus friend requests and messages from people you don't know and don't want to know. If you're female, these messages probably start off something like "heyy cutie urr hottt."

While it may be kind of funny to get so much attention at first, after awhile it can get annoying, especially when you signed up for MySpace to keep in touch with your friends and instead you find yourself sifting through mail from "HotBoy47" and "The Coolest Band In The World."

One way to deal with this problem is to make your profile private. This means that only your friends can see your profile. Some say this defeats the purpose of MySpace, but that all depends on what your purpose is. If you're an exhibitionist who wants to put any and every personal detail out there for the world to view, then yes, making your profile private definitely defeats that purpose.

But if you just joined to interact with your friends, then making your profile viewable only by your friends kind of makes sense. And I can say from experience it will definitely cut down on annoying friend requests. People will be much less likely to message you and send you friend requests if they have virtually no information about you.

To make your profile private, go to "account settings," then chose "privacy settings" and under "who can view my profile" choose "friends only."

Another thing you can do is block friend requests from bands. This is a pretty good option if your main problem is friend requests from bands you have no interest in. The only problem is that every now and then you get a request from a really good band you never would have known about if they hadn't requested you. But those bands can always send you a message instead. If you want to choose this option, go to "privacy settings" and choose ""Block Friend Request From Bands."
The last thing you can do is make it really, really difficult to add you as a friend by requiring people to know your e-mail address or last name. If this is the option you want, go to "privacy settings" and choose "Require email or last name to add me as a friend." Pretty self-explanatory, and pretty lame, if you ask me. I've been unable to add people I legitimately knew and would call a friend, or at least an acquaintance, because I couldn't remember their e-mail address or how to spell their last name. The way I see it, this option is overkill. You can't be getting that many add requests, and if you are, just take down the picture you posted of yourself in the skimpy bikini.