While I am not necessarily in the MySpace or YouTube targeted demographic
, I have certainly become intrigued by the two websites and their potential value for others and me like me.

I have had a MySpace page for over a year, and update it on occasion. I have located many friends, present and past, and am able to keep up with what is going on with them, and them with me. I have been able to locate my kids' friends and acquaintances (my kids do not have MySpace pages yet), and get a look into the character of these people. I have been able to market my business to a certain extent.

Since Myspace has the video sharing capabilities of YouTube I would have to say that it is running a strong race. However, there are some issues. The main problem I have with MySpace is that users can be judged by association. For example, if I have a friend who has a friend whose page shows indiscretions like nudity and bad language, then the person who has them linked as a friend can be associated with the same values. For this reason, I have limited my friend circle and in so limited my business marketing possibilities. Then there is the well-known problem associated with MySpace, which is that pedophiles target MySpace users since it is a place where young people gather. Such stigmas may be hard to overcome.

I have had a YouTube account for just a couple of weeks. I saw no similarities between the two sites at first, thinking of them as completely different sites for completely different reasons. Then I discovered the profile page is set up almost identically to MySpace's profile page. The only exception is that the user's videos are profiled in place of random personal information that MySpace users generally add to their page. The favorite's page was is a good feature to revisit makers of videos you thought was interested, but there is also a friend's page function, which allows you to connect with your friends MySpace style.

YouTube is definitely a contender in this race to be the best social website online. YouTube has a unique advantage. Age of users is not limited to the teenybopper demographic of MySpace, and so while there are always stranger danger issues, especially when people are showing videos of themselves, the pedophile stigma is not the main problem on this site. Instead what I perceive as an issue on YouTube is hate speech. I have noticed that people receive comments on their videos that have more to do with name-calling based on looks, race, and religion than on the content of the video. (I was even prompted to submit a video to AC called "The Dark Side of YouTube" The younger myspace generation is a little more color blind than the older more "sophisticated" users of YouTube