BY ROB JONES
The Daily News
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They do share cyberspace.
It's odd how people from opposite ends of the earth tread the same login screens and Web addresses with shocking regularity.
However, with children having become cyber savvy at younger and younger ages, age-appropriate sites were a premium.
Then, three years ago, UCLA student Tom Anderson launched MySpace - a youth-friendly Web site with an outlandish number of features and customizations options that gave youngsters the Internet outlet they wanted to literally connect with others from around their state, nation and the globe.
Now a college graduate, Anderson sold the rights to MySpace for Fox Media in 2005 for $580 million.
The fifth most-popular site on the Internet, MySpace is expected to generate more than $200 million in 2006.
Unfortunately, the site has gained popularity - and notoriety - with more than just adolescents.
Numerous incidents of child abduction have been linked to the site, as well as a number of arrests of adults who cruise MySpace in search of sexual liaisons with underage partners.
Yet, MySpace is not the Big Bad Wolf some of the media has made it and a number of parents believe it to be.
Like anything an offspring does, parental guidance and control is tantamount to keeping a child safe on the Internet and relieving parental anxieties.
To create a MySpace ac-count requires only about two minutes, but to really fabricate an in-depth profile could take days - even weeks.
One can navigate all sections of the site anon-ymously with only a username and password.
However, those who use the site as intended, upload photos and fill out all fields of personal information to give visitors to their profile an actual view of themselves, or at least the view that flatters them the most.
Upon signing on to their page, users are notified of a number of things - new comments, messages and friend requests.
Adam Klein, a recent graduate of Fontainebleau High School, jokingly refers to the combination of new comments, messages and friend requests at the same time as the legendary "triple stack."
"I joke around on Myspace - like the triple stack thing," he said. "Some people go overboard on their MySpace."
Myspacers can leave comments on profiles of their friends and vice versa; all who view the page containing them can see comments.
They can also send personal messages to their friends that are only seen by the sender and the person to whom the message was sent.
Some users, however, leave comments containing personal information and details that are better suited for a personal message and not the billion or so people on MySpace.
Profiles of users under 15 years of age are set to private for obvious security concerns. This means that only those approved as a friend can view the particular profile.
All that will be seen by someone trying to access a private profile is the profile picture of that person and the option to send a message or request friendship.
Usually, this also requires knowledge of that person, such as the user's last name or e-mail address.
Much controversy has surrounded MySpace.com as of late - specials on CNN, writing of regulatory legislation and a countless number of lawsuits and accusations.
MySpace has taken its share of blows from the media and competitors, but none worse than being blam-ed for rapes and assaults of young girls.
Yet, it is abuse of the site from both sides that has created many of the problems - 13-year-old girls can claim to be 18 or 20, while men in their 40s can post pictures and pass themselves off as teen-agers.
As a result, most schools have blocked MySpace from campus computers, forbidding students from accessing their profiles.
Bowling Green School outlawed MySpace last year, and the site will be completely inaccessible to students this year.
"We outlawed myspace for the students' safety. Safety is No. 1 one," Bowling Green computer teacher Telissa Sylvest said. "Pedophiles and predators can find out enough personal information to get in touch with students.
"Some students, a small minority of them, have sites with vulgar images and language. That's another reason the site is banned."
Sylvest advised parents to learn to monitor their children's pages, and see to it that no personal information is divulged.
Several private schools have even ordered their students to stay off of MySpace at home with threats of disciplinary action for those caught using the site.
MySpace has seemingly monopolized the world of virtual socialization - and according to some, virtual solicitation.
Many unsigned bands and unknown filmmakers have been discovered through MySpace sections dedicated to music and film.
For many artists, business owners, models, and writers, MySpace profiles have taken the place of Web sites.
In fact, former Vice President Al Gore's recent film about global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth," was promoted heavily by MySpace.
Lots of people also seem to view MySpace as a way to cash in.
Two New York teens hacked their way into the MySpace maintenance server and demanded over $100,000 from MySpace to keep their method secret. Detectives posing as MySpace employees arrested the two boys.
MySpace is accessed by millions of people across the globe on a daily basis. Though opinions differ, the site and others like it have an undeniable impact on the mainstream culture of our world.
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