Patrons swarm to the Riverpark shopping center for another night of entertainment. Suggestive and “skintastic” clothes catch the eye as teenagers vie for attention.

Others, more reserved and tame, turn to their personal Xanga group for interaction–not all need superficial ways to gain attention.

The past few years have paved the way for a new form of communication known as “blogging.” Blogging is simply technical talk for posting opinions or stories on the Internet for the public to view. Xanga has taken the lead in this electric frontier as the most popular form of blogging.

“I’ve had a Xanga for a good year now,” Nick Ramon, ’05, said. “I use it to tell stories of my life or share my knowledge of music and entertainment. I love putting pictures up and getting comments from other users.”

An intricately woven community emerges as users subscribe to others’ sites and share comments. Xanga users share beliefs on politics, entertainment and news.

“I like to talk about the news with friends,” Nic Westburg, ’05, said. “Using Xanga is a great way to spread my opinion and connect with other people around the world. I’ve met a few new friends through Xanga.”

Xanga clients have the privilege to leave comments and e-props on other users sites for new ideas and outlooks.

“The best thing is getting comments from friends,” Garret Horn, ’07, said. “It really makes you want to keep writing to entertain others. It enhances your creativity too.”

Setting up a Xanga account is fairly simple. All one has to do is give basic personal information such as name, e-mail address and birth date on www.xanga.com. Afterwards, the individual has to set up the basic format, including color, background and shape. From then on the possibilities are endless.

Xanga members use their personal site for composing poetry, sharing philosophies, or uploading photos.

“It’s pretty easy to make a Xanga,” Krista Johnson, ’06, said. “I don’t update mine very much, but I like how it looks.”

Although Xanga is at the forefront for the new age of communication, other alternatives have caught on and appeal to others.

“I don’t have a Xanga account,” Daniel Kessler, ’06, said. ” I use MySpace; it’s a lot easier and simple for me. I like it because I don’t know much about computers.”

Competing with MySpace is another program called “LiveJournal”. Users treat LiveJournal like a journal entry, displaying emotion and telling about daily events on a regular basis.

For more information on Xanga; go to www.xanga.com; or
for more information on setting up a MySpace account, go to www.myspace.com; or
for more information on LiveJournal, go to www.livejournal.com/users/mewsnack/.