MySpace Is Good

I would never be mistaken for someone with a lot of computer savvy, particularly when it comes to the internet. During high school, I resisted making a myspace page, or AIM account reasoning that, if I want to talk to someone I'll call them on the phone and go hang out at there house, instead of living vicariously in some virtual realm. Gradually, the myspace craze seceded into facebook hysteria, which I again resisted, for the same reasons that I boycotted myspace and AIM.
Finally, after holding out for two long years, my lack of being in the know about social events, and what my former classmates were doing pushed me to join facebook. I soon saw what a powerful tool the internet is. Minutes after joining facebook my inbox flooded with messages from old friends, dating as far back as elementary school, old pictures that I had long since forgotten about began to show up on my profile, it was great. I had been bitten by the facebook bug, and didn't mind one bit.
Whitney's presentation about facebook, myspace, twitter, etc... provided a lot potential ideas for how to build a fan base through the internet. I enjoyed listening to her suggestions and critiques about what makes a good myspace account including the obvious like, not using any obscene or offensive gestures, and the more subtle of keeping your profile human because ultimately, facebook, and myspace are a social network. (I also found it interesting that facebook will kick you off there site if they suspect you of using it to shamelessly promote yourself, especially given the ammount of daily junk I get in my inbox from the same people.)
The one aspect of internet networking that I'm still not entirely sure about is twitter. I recognize the importance of being able to track what people are saying about you, and about building buzz surrounding your music. I'm just not sure how to utilize it in the most efficient way. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm open to whatever you got about this one.
Basically, the most important aspect of these social networks is to use them to promote yourself, and build a strong fan base. As the cliché goes, in the music business any publicity is good publicity, especially if it's free. So get out there and make a myspace. One more thing, there's an interesting interview with Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records about building a strong fan base at http://www.artistshousemusic.org/videos/chris+blackwell+on+how+to+build+your+fan+base, that I thought was pretty nifty.