Title: Making Connections Through Myspace Word Count: 667 Summary: MySpace is an online community focused on helping individuals to make new friends or reconnect with old friends. With this type of goal in mind it is not surprising that the vast majority of MySpace members use the community to make connections with other members. This may include staying in touch with old friends and family members, reconnecting with lost friends, making business connections or even meeting romantic partners. This article will discuss how all of these opport... Keywords: myspace, myspace features, myspace layout, myspace music, privacy Article Body: MySpace is an online community focused on helping individuals to make new friends or reconnect with old friends. With this type of goal in mind it is not surprising that the vast majority of MySpace members use the community to make connections with other members. This may include staying in touch with old friends and family members, reconnecting with lost friends, making business connections or even meeting romantic partners. This article will discuss how all of these opportunities are available on the MySpace community. Keeping in Touch with Friends and Family MySpace can be an excellent way for friends and family members to stay in touch. Encouraging friends and family members to join MySpace with you can help you to stay in better contact with these individuals. Communicating through MySpace is a lot of fun and gives users the ability to post pictures, audio files and video files in addition to personal information presented in a blog. Members can leave comments for each other or just stay in touch by reading each others websites and posting personal information on their own websites for others to read. Reconnecting with Lost Friends Overtime we all lose contact with some of our old friends. Whether this is a trusted friend who was with you through the trying times in high school, a companion who helped you make it through college or even an acquaintance you met in passing at a bus stop MySpace can help you to reconnect to these old friends. One passive way to reconnect with lost friends is to simply create your own MySpace website and wait for these lost friends to contact you. This may not always happen but it is possible. MySpace is an extensive community with members all around the world and it is very possible your old friend may see you on MySpace and contact you. Also, if you create a blog entry expressing an interest in reconnecting with an individual, your blog may be seen by someone who knows your lost friend and passes along the message. Another way to find lost friends on MySpace is to use the search feature. The simplest way to search for someone is by using their full name. However, not all members post their full name. Other methods of finding an individual include entering their nickname into the search feature or entering keywords related to their favorite hobbies, books, movies or entertainers. This method may require a great deal of research and may be quite time consuming but it can help you find your lost friend if they have a website on MySpace. Making Business Connections MySpace can also be used to make business connections. The search feature can be used to find others who share your business interests, dreams and goals. Once you find these individuals you can engage them in conversation by sending an email or instant message or by leaving a comment on their website. These connections may lead to potential business relationships but they may also simply be networking opportunities which allow those interested in certain business aspects to converse with others who share this interest. Meeting Romantic Partners Finally, a large portion of those who are using MySpace are hoping to make a romantic connection. MySpace is an online community which enables users to post photos and information about themselves for other members of the community to view. This effectively makes MySpace very similar to a dating service. There is also a space for users to enter information regarding whether or not they are single or looking for a romantic interest. Those who are looking for romance can spend time searching for others who they find physically attractive, share their interests and are also seeking romantic companionship. These MySpace members can contact each other through emails, instant messages or through comments left for each other on the websites. A courting relationship online can progress to an offline relationship or can remain online depending on the wants and intentions of the partners.