Let’s Be Friends: The New Way To Meet People

            Let’s face it. College life is tough. Trying to balance school work with making friends and keeping in touch with old ones. It’s really hard to meet new people, especially in Sac State’s huge campus. And, you know that you’re not the type to just randomly talk to that hottie in your math class. So you must be thinking.. where can I go to meet new people? Parties and keggers can be a little overrated. Everyone is drunk and thinking you’re someone else. How can you meet friends like that? I have the solution for you. You’ve probably heard of the internet, right? The internet is such a wonderful thing, full of information, resources, and yes.. friends. But, where can you go to find friends SAFELY? Here are some cool places to go to meet people.

The Facebook is an online college directory that connects people from their own colleges and university. It is a fun way to meet new people, and keep in touch with old high school friends. The Facebook has a lot of positive attributes. It is an exclusive system that connects colleges and universities, narrowing down the many people you encounter. It is very professionally crafted, making it simple to navigate and understand. The Facebook also has some negative attributes. Some of your friends may not go to college, so they won’t be listed on The Facebook. Also, if you see someone you might no, there is no way to read his/her profile. In order to view a person’s profile, you must be their friend. It is a simple yet complicated website, which takes a lot of getting used to.

Verdict? Join The Facebook. It’s a great way to keep in touch with your old high school friends and an awesome way to meet people from college.

Visit: http://www.thefacebook.com

Myspace is one of the most convenient and simple ways to make friends. It is a broad network where it is available to anyone 16 years of age and older. This service provides an online journal (or a Blog), an Instant Messaging program, and much more. One of the prominent features of Myspace is it’s “Comment Box.” Basically, what the comment box does is it lets your friends write something about you. Anything. It is a very fun way to keep in touch with people and to make new friends. Some negative features include strangers sending you odd messages or chain letters (no spam filter), and the site is sometimes down because it is undergoing construction, therefore the page is always changing.

Verdict? Make it a priority to join Myspace.

Visit: http://www.myspace.com

Friendster has the same concept as Myspace. It is a place where you are connected through friends. Some features that Friendster offers is “Testimonials.” Like Myspace’s “Comment Box,” Testimonials let your friends write things to you. Friendster was the first networking program out there. They always have problems with their server, and you’ll be lucky if you can even get on. It is not very aesthetically pleasing.

Verdict? I don’t suggest you join Friendster. It’s not something I’d recommend.

Visit: http://www.friendster.com

Decisions.. Decisions..

Here are some reviews from students on each of the websites.

“I really like Myspace. It’s really fun to be on. It’s fun to just browse through pages, adding people you know or don’t know or just see around.. I like how you can change your page.. you can change the colors, the fonts, add pictures, add videos, add music, etc. I take a lot of advantage of the Blog. It’s good to write in if you want to talk about a funny day and you’d like to share it with the world. All in all, Myspace is the best. No doubt about it.”

-- John, 18 (Student at CSUS)

“The Facebook is really neat. I like how it is only catered to college students. It’s easier for me to meet people from campus through Facebook, rather than just in person. What I don’t like about it is I can’t view the person’s profile without knowing them. It’s kinda embarassing if you add someone you think you know, but it’s not them. That’s something that’s bad about The Facebook.”

-- Kim, 21 (Student at UC Santa Cruz)

“I really don’t like Friendster. I had a page since 2002, and I’ve probably been on it 5 times total. The server is always down and it’s hard for me to view pages.. even with my fast connection. The only thing I like about it is you have a lot of privacy and security.. and there aren’t a lot of frills.. just plain and simple. But, I don’t really get why it was to be so dang difficult.”

-- Rob, 19 (Student at UC Davis)