Okay, so I realize that this is kinda off topic for the Life Teen blog, but Joe keeps telling me about Facebook and it's role in the everyday life of a teenager.  I haven't taken the plunge on Facebook or MySpace, but do I remember being a teenager.  I even remember emailing and instant messaging quite a bit, so I'm not surprised that the "social web" has offered something even more attractive for teens now.  I also remember talking on a phone, with a cord... you know the kind you only see in pictures.

To be honest, I do a terrible job of keeping in touch with people (especially those who aren't living near me anymore) so another tool to communicate could be useful for me, but the thing that kept me from signing up for a MySpace page (and I unfairly lump in Facebook here) was the absolutely stomach churning page designs.  I like the internet, I enjoy working on web development, and I find MySpace horribly offensive because of the piles of junk that show up on any given page.  My feelings about Facebook include considerably less vomit, but my gag reflex is pretty sensitive.

That brings me to the good news!  I caught a pair of news stories recently about MySpace and Facebook that seem to signal a change.  It's been reported that MySpace is making an effort to de-nauseate their pages, which probably puts MySpace and Facebook on a level field as far as my gagging is concerned.  The second article (about Facebook) is icing on the cake.  The basic gist is that all those gizmos that are on your Facebook page are actually a security concern.   The people who spend their time making those fun little add-ons for Facebook may not get paid for their work, but they do get to collect your personal data.  Now, I'm not saying that the occasional poke is a bad thing - but it does prove my point; pages that nauseate are can be bad for you. :)