Last night, I pulled up to a house I have a million times before, anxiously anticipating hanging out with my two best friends ever . You know the kind of friends I mean: We had sleepovers complete with Spice Girls’ dance parties in middle school as we sported our bell bottoms & Skechers, played spin the bottle in junior high with cute, spiky-haired 8th grade boys who listened to NOFX, and experienced a whole plethora of good/illegal/potentially lethal times in high school. These girls knew me (and stayed my friend) when I saw CREED in concert. Enough said.

So, i walked in to see my two best friends, paired up in beer pong against the dude who owned the house and someone I’ll call M. When we first met sophomore year of high school, I was fascinated by M. She was ridiculously cool, had good taste in music & the most unique style I’d ever seen. We became instant friends and I thought she would be a perfect addition to the friendship triangle. Hell, If she liked Britney Spears and gangster rap as much as we did, she was IN.

So, I brought her around a few times, giving her a chance to “test the waters” of our crazy group of friends. I was excited when she was able to hold her own in conversations. I was pretty happy (albeit, a little confused) when she started to use the nicknames we made up for each other at recess when addressing us in conversation. I loved that I could borrow her super-cute clothes. And then, something I should have totally seen coming but didn’t happened.

She stole my friends. Read More »

“Heyyyyyy!!!! Ohmygosh we haven’t talked in ages!!!! How have you been? You look like you’re doing great. WE should totally get together sometime!”

We all have those friends on Facebook. People that we knew ten years ago and don’t talk to anymore. Except for on Facebook.

I have plenty of friends like that. And I even friend requested some of them.

Of course, those friend requests were mostly because they were the people that made my middle school years hell, and I like to stalk them and silently gloat over how much cooler my life is than theirs.

But some of them were sparked by a genuine desire to see how they were doing and what kind of people they had turned into.

So how does this whole reconnecting thing work, especially on the internet, and especially if one of the two parties may not be exactly thrilled at the idea of sitting across from their grade school buddy whom they haven’t seen since 1999? Something about the cyberdistance makes the idea of rekindling a friendship seem more approachable over Facebook (or Myspace, as the case may be). If your old classmate doesn’t feel like answering you, it’s a lot easier to not take it personally when all you’ve done is send a digital message instead of digging out an old phone number and calling out of the blue. Read More »

Most of the time, social networking sites are only discussed when devious, nasty, and vicious things occur. For instance, many parents have decried places like YouTube, and its variants, to be “evil,” and an infernal, virtual breeding ground that prey on teens’ desire for instant “web-celebrity” status - a type of immediate stardom in which individuals will even beat up others just to enjoy 15 minutes of fame.

There was the case in 2007 and most recently in 2008, in which teen girls were lured to a home and then beaten – all of it caught on camera. Indeed, it is easy to conclude that the transferal of information via the Internet is pernicious in so many ways.

That’s why this story about James Karl Buck is particularly refreshing, and points to the ways in which social networking sites can be useful in serious situations. Buck is a graduate student at the University of California-Berkeley. On April 10th, he was arrested in Egypt when covering an anti-government protest as a student reporter.

Buck had the wherewithal to text just one word – “Arrested” – on Twitter as soon as he was apprehended. Read More »

I’m in a fight with Facebook. First they opened the doors to every crazy person on the planet/your mom. Then they started telling you everything your “friends” were doing. Then they started recommending friends to you, even though you would already have those people as friends if you wanted to.

And now those crazy boys at Facebook are stirring the pot again. This time with Facebook chat. Read More »

I have a headache, and believe me, I’m not one for headaches.

Fortunately this ailment is of the metaphorical sort, although admittedly it does make me want to bash my head against a brick wall. Repeatedly.

I’m talking about social networking: MySpace, Bebo, Facebook, Faceparty, Sitonmybook, Myfacebookspaceparty…all right, so the last couple I made up, but it wouldn’t surprise me if next week they’re reality.

The truth is that these websites are addictive. Experts on the subject (if such a person can really exist) claim that young people are spending more time multi-tasking online than they are reading, exercising and – in some cases – sleeping.

It doesn’t take an expert to uncover the reasoning behind this either: these are more than websites. They are interactive communities, virtual cities. A place to meet new people, rediscover old friends, nosey into other peoples lives and, most importantly, to sell yourself. Read More »

The world is just too small. The more involved you get in any particular social circle or subculture, the more you realize that it’s all one big web.

As I’ve grown older, for example, I look around and see connections everywhere between my friends. Thank god Tom put that new “Mutual” friends function on Myspace. Now I don’t have to waste so much time figuring out how many of my friends that cute guy I met at the show last night already knows. Nonetheless, there comes a time in the lives of most women, provided she isn’t socially handicapped, where she realizes that she has to say:

“You’re cool, but I’m gonna go make out with your friend now.”

Of course, she doesn’t have to say it like that. In fact I would advise against it. So how do you tactfully reject a guy and then move onto his buddy? Read More »

“I would rather set my hair on fire than read this book again.”

“Saying this is the best book I’ve ever read doesn’t do it justice.”

Got an opinion? Like to read books? Then head over to Goodreads, the best site out there that you may not know about.

Goodreads is the ultimate winner: a user-motivated review site that’s also a social network. If you love to read (or have to for class, as the case may be), rate the books you go through and post reviews.

If you want to protect everyone out there from the heinous piece of trash your English prof is calling “literature,” call it out on Goodreads and tell other people to stay the hell away from it. If you think everyone on Earth should read your favorite book, find it on the site and write a review that will move even the soundest skeptic to sob with longing.

You can search the site for specific books, see what others thought of them, and get book recommendations from friends. If you’re a writer, you can also post excerpts from your writing and read snippets of others’ work. Read More »

Our generation has been called a lot of things. Lazy. Fame obsessed. Narcissistic. Unmotivated. Oversexed. Why haven’t you Twenty-Something’s moved out of your parents’ house yet? The general consensus seems to be. Why are your parents still giving your money? Stop watching reality TV and and get a real job!

Instead of pushing against the unfocused, immature stereotype so much of the older generation is trying to box us into, “Quarterlife” a new MySpace web show (soon to be a real NBC show) plays right into their frustrated hands.

Produced by “the creative minds behind My So-Called Life”, “Quarterlife” follows 6 white kids in their twenties, most of whom consider themselves some type of artsy bohemian. In weekly, 10-minute installations, the characters on “Quarterlife” walk around plugged into their iPods and deal with, you know, issues. Sexual tension, boredom, sexual frustration, confusion, sexual discontent…everyone’s so like, conflicted. So like, unsure. Happiness is fleeting, and nothing makes like, any sense at all. Read More »

I don’t know about you, but when I earn some cold hard cash, the word “budget” is definitely not the first thing on my mind.

In fact, that money is spent on clothes, nights out, and my astronomical rent (woo, New York City!) so fast that a budget is almost a laughable concept.

I’m willing to bet (I spend my money on gambling too, apparently) that you just may be in the same financial boat, which is why College Candy is here to help your broke ass out.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that budgeting your money isn’t so bad because–gasp!–it is now possible to manage your finances the same way we all manage our friends! How, you ask?

Social networking! It seems to be the only way we know how to do anything anymore. But, it’s so obvious! You gotta love it.

Financial social networking sites like Wesabe.com and Geezeo.com are here to save the day…and your pocketbook!

It works like traditional money managing software like Quicken or Money, but here’s the catch…your peers can offer feedback on just how well you are spending your paycheck. They can offer tips and tricks that may increase your savings or slash your debt. (Can they leave drunken wall posts too?) Read More »

Have you ever heard of aSmallWorld? Um, probably not, unless you own your own island in Fiji and drive an Aston Martin.

Ever since the launch of our dear old Facebook, there have been many similar social networking sites popping up, and this recent one that I have learned about is probably the most pretentious of them all.

Apparently, aSmallWorld.net, is a very exclusive, members only networking site for ridiculousslllyy rich people. According to the New York Times, it was “founded four years ago, and promoted as a Facebook for the social elite…it has grown from about 500 members to about 150,000 registered users.”

Sound like something you are interested in? Well, don’t even think about attempting to join, it’s an invitation only membership.

“The site functions much like an inscrutable co-op board: its members, who pay no fee, induct newcomers on the basis of education, profession and most important, their network of personal contacts.” Now do you understand where the UGH factor comes in to play?

And, don’t worry, there is one more truly disgusting part of this whole shenanigan:

Users are mostly young– 32 on average. What freaking business are these 32 year olds and younger in where they are able to comment on the website’s forums with inquiries such as this: “If anyone is looking for a private island, I now have one available for purchase in Fiji.” Seriously. That is a direct quote from one of the members. Read More »