Meg

In this chapter from the forthcoming second edition of Coming of Age: An Introduction to the New Worldwide Web, teenager Meg describes how social networking tools have enabled her to make new friends based on music preferences.

Silence.

Thank goodness it’s hard to find these days. With all the tools found on the internet, one need not put up with silence anymore. More and more bands are appearing and some of them are truly worth listening.

My iPod is stuffed full of all varieties of music. The songs on the radio are not worth the time it takes to push the "on" button, and my friends know nothing about what good music really is. So what is my source of music? It is, beyond anything, the internet.

I’m a member of Myspace and have 282 friends. More than one hundred of these are bands.

I’ve listened to their music and downloaded and bought some of their songs. Myspace allows me to connect to the bands, and talk to them on a personal level.

Because of this, Myspace is ultimately my biggest source of new music.

iLike

Also, have you ever heard of iLike? It is an online website that can connect to your iTunes music player. The iLike sidebar recommends music to you based on what you listen to. If you sign in on iLike.com, you can press the “recommend new music to me” button and it will recommend more music based on the music you pick on the site and the artists you listen to in iTunes.

Not only that, but you can download free music from new bands that want their music out there -- and it’s absolutely legal.

Are you in a band that needs a way to tell the world about your songs? Just like Myspace, iLike is perfect for you. iLike is part of GarageBand so you need simply to upload your music and be amazed by how many fans you acquire.

Some of my friends are involved with iLike as well. I’ve learned how compatible I am with them because of my music preferences. And I’ve met others who enjoy the same music as I do.

Both of these websites -- MySpace and iLike -- are really important to me as a teenager. I’ve learned which bands I like and which I don’t. Not only that, but with the internet’s help, I can easily find out when my favourite band’s next concert will be and where.

This demonstrates how far we’ve come in the world of music. Struggling artists can easily turn to the internet for support.

Finally, I can be an individual in the music I listen to and I can tell it to the world!

(c) 2007 Meg

Meg is a teenager living in Canada. As well as being an avid music lover she both writes and critiques short stories.

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