A typical MySpace comment picture The pull of social networking websites has been too strong for many net-savvy New Zealanders to resist this year, whether it be MySpace, Bebo, Facebook, hi5… or in extreme cases, all of them at once. The biggest – and arguably the gayest – is MySpace. With so many users, and so many different ways to show yourself off, it's proven an addictive way to catch up with old friends, share interests, or simply reward your thousands of adoring fans with a new sexy picture of yourself each day. Whereas Facebook hilariously rejected a woman with the surname ‘Gay' this month, MySpace is the ultimate homo-friendly environment. The options for ‘Sexual Orientation' are listed as ‘Bi, Gay/Lesbian, Straight, Not Sure, or No Answer' – in that order. ‘Swinger' is listed first in the ‘Marital Status' options too (how delightfully 70's). The site's strict ‘no nudity' rule also makes it okay to load up at the office, unlike most gay dating websites. It's not just gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people on there though – gay businesses, magazines, bands, TV shows and news providers are all there waiting for you to add them to your friends list. The UK's Gay Men's Health Charity promote their safe sex messages on MySpace too – with 1,280 responsible friends at last count. ADDICTED YET? “When I started out I went a little MySpace-mad,” says Jonathan, 23. “At work I'd leave the window open all day and constantly check for new messages, comments, bulletins etc. I'm not quite so prone to check my page constantly anymore but I'd say I spend at least about an hour a day on it now. I'd call myself a reformed addict - I use, but I don't abuse! “It really makes long distance friendships a lot more bearable and feels like you're not really that far apart at all,” he explains. “It's also great for letting people know what you're up to, upcoming shows or events you're involved in and its great for helping to promote your friends as well.” “I go on at least twice a day,” Robert, 24, admits. “Sometimes it's only a few minutes just to see who's messaged me, who's commented on my pictures, what events are on and other things like that. Other times, I sit on there for hours just browsing music pages, videos, and other people's profiles. If I'm online for long periods, it always stays on in the background.” Kain, 20, says he's not sure why he likes MySpace over other sites, but finds it easy to use, and easy to search for people. ”It's a great way to send messages and share party pics. It's also great to track down that random person you met when drunk on Saturday night and apologise for doing something stupid!” Jarred, 22, says he keeps in touch with friends using the site, but also finds new ones. “It's awesome when you go clubbing and you see someone, but don't want to make a foolof yourself and go talk to them, so if you see them on MySpace you can read what they are like, then add them as a friend and send a message. “It allows users to display their personality with theability to change the layout of their page, add their favourite music, add videos, and slide shows. So it really lets out the creativity in some people.” HOOKING UP MUCH? The guys we spoke to told us that hooking up wasn't the main reason they were on MySpace, but luckily for us, they did share stories of the nice people they found, and the weirdoes that remained lost! “I'm happily involved a relationship now,” Johnathan clarifies, “but once upon a time MySpace had a little hand in hooking me up with a boy from Aussie. He was only here for a while, but I first saw his profile on a friends' list. I bumped into him in town one night and walked up. "I said, ‘I've seen you on MySpace!'", and things just went from there.” Johnathan's other page for his drag alter-ego has also proven popular. “I've had some random messages from 'straight' boys saying that they are 'totally straight' but think I'm really hot and can't believe I'm not a girl. Then they go further and ask if I'm single. Ha!” Jarred says he's only had one “really weird” message. “Itwas a friend request from someone I'd never met.She started messaging me as if sheknew me. I pointed out I didn't know her, and then she said "That's ok, you're hot anyway". I indicated for her to read my profile again because I'm gay. She replied "That's OK, I'm into that too, so I think I'll keep you”. Like most people on the site, Kain says his page attracts a lot of random people from various countries adding him as friends. “My theory is to only have people I know, or want to get to know, as friends. I'm not one of these people who aim to have 40,000 friends on MySpace.” Robert, who has a picture of himself in just his underwear as his default image, says he's had tonnes of weird and dirty messages. He advises, “Be very careful with fake profiles and spam on there, if you don't know the person, email them back first before adding them as a friend, as they can contain viruses.” OUR BOYS' TIPS FOR MYSPACE Privacy is key in much of the advice our boys give about using MySpace. Don't give out your personal details, or any information that may come back to haunt you. More and more employers are Google-ing the names of job applicants… so don't let your social networking page come between you and your dream job. As always on the net, be very careful with your password. Robert recently had his account ‘phished' – when a fake website captured his password as he re-logged in to what he thought was MySpace. “Luckily the support at MySpace picked this up within minutes, but I didn't even know I had logged into a fake site. As I clicked on somebody's profile which asked me for my log in details again, which I thought a little strange, but just figured my computer had logged out.” Kain recommends: “Customise your profile, make it represent you and keep it up-to-date. At first it's a bit crazy having to edit your profile using HTML but there are heaps of pre-made profiles and layouts out there.” Jarred shares his networking tips: “To find everyone you know, use the search tool. When you locate their names, add them… and then go through their friends. You are bound to have forgotten someone, and you can guarantee some of your friends will have them.” Making your page look cool can seem difficult initially, but Jonathan says there are heaps of help pages on the net that will tell you how to use HTML to configure your page, and post pictures and videos. “There are also tons of free MySpace editors online. Some are a lot better than others. You just have to take the time to find what works best for you. “Don't use it for 'cyber-bullying', and don't over-post bulletins,” Johnathan also advises. “A friend of mine has a habit of sending about 20 out each day. When you open a bulletin you are given the choice of either responding to the poster, or deleting them from your friends list. You can guess what decision a lot of people made for her.” Johnathan again reflects on why he's an addicted social networker: “It provides you with a framework for presenting to the world only what you want them to see. We do this daily, but it can be further refined on the net. Youare sayingsomething about yourself with the song you have on autoplay, the videos you upload to your page, and the photos you use as your default picture. Every facet of your personality can be carefully constructed and augmented with the help ofHTML!” Matt Akersten - 31st July 2007