You probably already noticed after signing
up, that the first name you input on the sign-up page automatically shows up on
your MySpace page as your display name. You can change this at any time and
often. Many users prefer a gender-neutral name, so they avoid the attention of
online predators. Certainly, if you are under 21 you do not want to list your
birthday and your real name, or any name that hints at your gender.
On the left side of the main
page you will see options as shown in the graphic below. These include:
editing your profile and account settings; adding and editing photos and video;
and managing your calendar, blog, and address book. You will also be able to
view your photos, video, blog and profile. Notice that our domain name now
appears under “Tell people about your MySpace.”
Further down the left-side menu column, are
other options for building your web page (shown below). Add your school and
let classmates locate you, or add a Yahoo, Gmail, or other online address book
and discover if contacts already reside on MySpace. If you are still in
school, or under 21 years of age, avoid adding your school for safety reasons.
Online predators look for profiles with personal information and school data.
However, alumni may wish to list a school as a way to reconnect with old
friends. You can also post a new bulletin message here (bulletins are mass
emails that are sent to your friends and contacts.)
Now that you’ve registered and
reviewed the basic menu options, let’s walk through each one and learn how to
do the following:
· Edit Profile
· Account Settings
· Add/Edit Photos
· Add/Edit Videos
· Manage Calendar
· Manage Blog
· Manage Address Book
Edit Your Profile
Your profile is more than that —it is a list of your likes and
dislikes, and spells out the reason you’re on MySpace. Add as much, or as
little information as you want. The categories on this page include Interests
and Personality (profile headline,
interests, about you, people you’d like to meet, music, movies, TV, books, and
heroes); Name (your user/IM name
which can’t be changed, and your display and real names); Basic
Information (gender, date of birth,
occupation, city, country, state, zip code, ethnicity, body type, height, and
the reason you’re on MySpace from dating, serious relationship, friendship, or
networking); Background and Lifestyles (marital status, sexual orientation, hometown, religion, smoker,
drink, education, income); Schools (schools you’ve attended); Companies (companies you’ve worked for or started); Networking (add categories you wish to network in) and; Profile
Songs (where songs go when you add them to
your profile).
When you click on each section of the profile (i.e. Interests, Name, and
Schools) you will see blank text boxes and a world of buttons. Your main
options at the top of each page are <Save All Changes> and <Preview
Profile>, so as you input information, you can immediately save, or preview
your main profile page. For each entry on each page, you can click <Preview
Section> or <Preview Profile>. The first button lets you see how the
specific entry you just added looks, and the <Preview Profile> buttons
shows you how the entire profile is shaping up. When you choose one of these
preview options a message appears asking if you’d like to save the changes or
return back to the edit page to make some changes.
When inputting details about
yourself, remember, this is a public space. Never give out personal information, including your address, to people you do
not know. Parents should monitor what information their children add to this
site. In the Basic Info section, it is recommended that people under 21 years
of age do not list their body
type, or height. Under the height option, check the “no answer” box. In fact,
the only questions on that page that require an answer are gender, birth date
and state. Even this can be taken off your profile, which we’ll demonstrate
later. (You’ll notice that MySpace has a great deal of duplicate
steps—they require that certain information is input, and display it on
your page by default, but yet other options allow you to keep the information
from going “public” or to be completely deleted.) Single people should also take
safety precautions with their identity, and college students should think about
what they’re posting as it could hurt their chances of getting a job a few
years down the line.
The Backgrounds and Lifestyles
section asks personal questions from sexual orientation to income. With the
exception of “marital status” each of these questions has a “no answer” option.
Once again, listing your school, when are still in school is not a wise idea.
Your friends will already know what school you go to, so there is no need to
remind them. Another point to bring up is the “dates employed” option on the
Companies page. This information can be given on your resume, and doesn’t need
to be listed on a public website.
Decorating Your Pages
Editing your profile may seem like a mundane set of chores, but the “slots” on
these pages can be used for more than just adding text. You can also add HTML
and CSS, or “MySpace codes” into each of the boxes, which in turn decorates a
certain area on your profile page (as shown here.) You can then add pictures,
slideshows, videos, backgrounds, and music to any area in the form, which in
turn shows up on your main profile page! That is where things really get fun
and creative. It’s so easy—all you have to do is cut, paste, and save!
Before we get to the fun stuff, it is very important to learn the basics of
your page, so read on.
View Your Profile
Now that you’ve added information to your profile, let’s see how it looks. To
view your profile, just click the “view my profile” link in the upper
right-hand corner. Notice that any headline you entered in Interests and
Personality now appears next to your picture. Further below that you’ll find
your interests and details. In the right-hand column are your “blurbs” with
information about you and who you would like to meet.
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