Forums for Learning About Customizing

Another way to learn more about customizing MySpace is to use the MySpace forums, where experts offer free advice to anyone who cares to visit. As we discussed in Chapter 4, a forum is an Internet venue specifically for holding discussions (in text) and are great resources for questions, help, and advice. MySpace has a forum dedicated to all things MySpace, with both a General topic and one that focuses just on customizing. There are experts on these forums who will answer your questions. This is a great resource for finding code and learning how to do things with your profile

To browse MySpace forums:

1.	Click on Forum via the blue navigational bar at the top of any MySpace screen.
2.	On the Forum homepage, you'll see folders or categories with short descriptions about the forum.
3.	Click on the MySpace topic and then go to either the Customizing or General subtopic. Scroll through the posts until you see one that has something interesting or addresses what you are looking for (Figure 7.17). Figure 7.17. An active MySpace customizing forum where experts share their experiences.

To post a topic:

1.	Click Post a Topic.
2.	Enter a subject and type your question or discussion, and click Post This Topic.
3.	You'll see a Preview Topic confirmation screen. Click Post This Topic to publish your comment (Figure 7.18). Figure 7.18. Posting a question on the MySpace message forum.

Now you know some of the most popular customization options that ambitious profile designers useway more than any busy parent would want to take on. But you can at least talk intelligently about profile design with just about any teen MySpace user. And if you've created your own profile and tried out even a few of our suggestions, you're way ahead of the average parentof most people over 30, in fact!

It's time to step away from the computer and back into your role as both a good parent and a concerned citizen. After explaining how teens use MySpace and other social networks and how you can use it and help teens make the experience safer, we're ready for the final and, ultimately, the most challenging chapter. Where do we as parents and a society go from here to make public policy that keeps pace with and encourages kids' constructive use of Web 2.0?