Multitasking , genM, and facebook

So I Just read over the article from TIME Magazine and I can't help but write a some points that really interested me. The most intriguing section of this whole article was the section from myspace and facebook. I was shocked to see that children as young as 15 were logged on to facebook. What had originally began as a college site has now taken over the junior high and high school kids. I wasn't surprised however to see that myspace was the number 2 most visited site on the internet. Nearly everyone I know has myspace, myselk not included. I must admit, I could be considered a facebook junkie. In the article, it is stated that on average students spend about 18 minutes/day on facebook. I can definitely say that that 18 minutes sounds about right. I couldn't really even tell you why I enjoy visiting the site so much. Mostly, it causes unnecessary drama and fighting amongst fellow students, but we can't get enough of it! Myspace really scares me though. I feel more secure on a site who's members are younger and mostly in college. Anyone can have myspace and can visit your site, which could lead to some seriously dangerous situations.
I feel that it is necessary for parents to monitor what their children are viewing on the internet. All of those Dateline NBC shows that are televised weekly show the great number of internet predators that are preying on our youth. So how do we stop this? The only answer is to set guidelines and block the sites that younger children may view. Much of the time I place the blame on the parents when children are exposed to vulgar material on the internet. Kids are curious and parents need to be aware of what they are seeing on the screen in front of them.
As far as multitasking, I must say that I am completely guilty. It is very difficult for me to focus strictly on one thing. While writing a paper I take breaks every few minutes to check out other people's away messages. I couldn't care less what they are doing, rather it is simply a distraction that I feel is necessary. Normally when studying, I have the tv or my iPod playing. A bit of noise in the background really makes me feel comfortable. I definitely do my best work when there is some sort of distraction in the background. Neuroscientest Grafman brings up a good point in his segment on multitasking when he says, "You're doing more than one thing, but you're ordering them and deciding which one to do at any one time" (52).