Youngpeoplesocialisingonline.Howdoyoumeetnewpeople,makenewfriends,orfindoutaboutthelatestbands？HereintheUKyoungpeoplehavetraditionallydonetheirsocialisinginbars,pubsandclubs.However,thereisanewgenerationgrowingupthatfindsiteasiertomanagetheirsociallivesonthenet,usingfreewebsiteslikeMySpace,BeboorMSNSpaces.
Welcometothesocialnetworkingwebsite–aplacewhereyoucanpresentyourselftothedigitalcommunityandmeetotherlike-mindedpeople.
ThemostsuccessfulsocialnetworkingwebsiteintheUKisMySpace.com.AsofJuly2006,MySpaceistheworld'sfourthmostpopularEnglish-languagewebsite,attractingalmost3millionvisitorspermonth.MySpaceclaimstohave95millionmemberswith500,000newmembersjoiningthecommunityeachweek.
Sohowhasitbecomesosuccessful？Perhapsitssecretisinitssimplicity.Eachnewmembercanbuildtheirownpagesimply–uploadingphotos,videosandMP3files.Thentheydescribethemselves,listingtheirlikes,dislikes,favouritebands,relationshipstatus,etc.It'saneasywaytohookupwithpeoplewhoshareyourinterests.
BrianaDougherty,a25-year-oldMySpacedevotee,toldus,“It'sacasualwaytostayincontactwithoutappearingweird.”Itseemsthatmanypeopledonotfeelcomfortablegivingouttheirphonenumberorpersonale-mailaddresstonewacquaintancesbutareperfectlyhappytotradeMySpaceprofiles.
WhilesocialisingisthekeytoMySpace'ssuccess,loveofmusicisattheheartofthecommunity.Indeed,mostaspiringmusiciansintheUKuploadtheirsongstothesite,andwithgoodreason：unsignedartists,ArcticMonkeysandLillyAllencreatedsuchabuzzonthesitethattheywereofferedrecordingcontractsandscorednumberonehits.
GLOSSARY词汇表
thelatestbands最新乐队sociallives社交生活digitalcommunity数码社区uploading上载relationshipstatus个人情感关系状况devotee热爱者newacquaintances新相识aspiringmusicians胸怀大志的音乐家createdsuchabuzz引起轰动numberonehits榜首的轰动单曲socialising社交socialnetworkingwebsite社交交际网站like-mindedpeople趣味相投的人mp3filesmp3文件hookupwith交流；沟通weird古怪的totrade交换unsignedartists没有签约的歌手recordingcontracts签约commentsform反馈表