We thought you might want to use www.myspace.com to promote BAM in your district.

But what is it and what's it for?
MySpace is referred to as a social networking site, but that is really only one part of what it's about.

MySpace is a free online space for anyone - individual or group - to promote whatever they want the world to know about.   It creates an individual website for people and organisations without the money or technical skills to set up a conventional website.   It's used to pass on information by bands, artists, individuals, organisations, events, campaigns, and even politicians.   It can have as much or as little information on it as you want, and can be customised in a few minutes.

Check out: http://www.myspace.com/thelivewireproject - it was set up by the group from West Lancs for their consultation.

What can a MySpace page contain?
Pretty much whatever you want.   When you set up your account you will be asked if you want to enter information about your interests, who you'd like to meet, and what you'd like the world to know about you.   It's up to you how much information you share - - some people make long lists of their interests, favourite music and books, and quotes, and others keep it short and sweet.

You can also upload pictures (as long as they are your pictures or you have the copyright), write a blog (which people can then subscribe to for updates), add videos and music - your own & favourite MySpace bands.

Click on: www.strikefile.com/myspace/ for an example of how you can change colour scheme/style of your MySpace.

The social networking bit comes in when you start to link your page to other MySpace pages – your myspace friends.   Once you are linked to other people as 'friends', you can send out bulletins and announcements to your friends, as well as invite them to read your blog.

Remember:

• Don't include phone numbers, addresses, email addresses or any personal information like that.   Let people send you a message via myspace first and you can then give them your details later in a private message if you want to.   The only time you'd want to publish these kinds of details is if you are an organisation with public contact details.
• Look at someone's profile before you add them as a friend - - some are not real people, but are sales sites that will bombard you with ads, or occasionally are viruses that get into your myspace account and cause all kinds of havoc!   This is exactly the same caution you should take with a regular email account.
• Go into your 'account settings' to adjust your privacy and security settings - - this includes things like hiding your birthday (in the 'privacy tab'), and requiring all comments to be approved by you before they show on your page (in the 'spam' tab).

As your page will be visible to anyone online, think about how much and what kind of information you want them to know.   Some people or groups use a general name, some give lots of detail about interests and so on, some give specific instructions about who they want to get in touch with and how (e.g. people in the Lancashire area who are interested in art, music or spoken word performance).

When you join someone called 'Tom' will instantly be your friend and send you a couple of messages to help you set up your MySpace!

Privacy on MySpace
MySpace has a wide range of privacy settings; you can decide who you want to contact you! You can block friend requests from people you don't know. Set your MySpace account to require someone to enter your last name or email address before sending you a friend request. (Note: If you prefer to only talk to friends, you can also block friend requests from bands, filmmakers or comedians.) You can also make your profile private to everyone but your friends, or to anyone under 18 or over 18. MySpace also lets you make specific photo albums private. Go to the photos page and click the "Friends only" option on any photo album you'd like to make private.

In the next month, MySpace will be launching a whole new set of spam settings so you can set your mail to "friends only" and put a block up to prevent spammers from contacting you. To update your subscriptions or modify your subscription privacy settings just click "Edit" on the Friend Updates module on your user home.

P.S. Remember, no one from MySpace will ever ask you for your password, and the only place you should ever login to myspace is at the short url: myspace.com !

Someone on MySpace is bugging/harassing/threatening me - what can I do about it?
The best thing to do if and when you encounter such a situation is simply ignore them... 99.9% of the time they will soon leave you alone. Remember, you can always remove the person from your Friend List (they will then no longer be able to add Comments to your Profile page), delete any Comments they leave on your Profile page, and you can even delete any messages they send you via the MySpace Mail system without opening them. By NOT responding to offending user (i.e., NOT giving them any attention, NOT letting them get a "rise" out of you), most people will simply go away.

You may also view their profile and click "Block User", which will prevent them from contacting you. Annoying people get bored very fast when you don't allow them to annoy you. If someone threatens you, contact law enforcement immediately. If you feel threatened, please also read our safety tips. If they created a nasty profile about you or someone you know, you can contact customer service (and make sure to include the link to the profile!)

Here's answers to all your questions about how to make MySpace your own:
http://www.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=misc.faq