Social networking sites are quickly becoming the most popular types of websites on the web. The most popular of these sites, Myspace, Facebook and now Twitter, are poised to rise to the top of the rankings of the most visited sites on the Internet. Details from Alexa.com, a company that publishes web traffic reports, collected around May 2008 by Carter, an author for ¬¬Phi Delta Kappan, reveal that Myspace.com is the sixth most popular website. (quoted in Carter) Although the throne of the most popular social network is now Facebook (quoted in "Facebook dethrones Myspace"), social networking sites are still among the most visited sites on the World Wide Web. Students will need to weigh the benefits. and the disadvantages of using social media technologies and evaluate them for themselves. This article will help students evaluate different types of social media sites and decide whether to use them. Traditional social networking sites include Myspace, Facebook and Twitter. Millions of people use these sites every day and many people spend hours online there, chatting with friends, sharing photos, playing games, etc. Carter, author of Phi Delta Kappan, observes that Myspace had more than 200 million accounts as of December 2007. (quoted in Carter) With the growing popularity of social networking technologies, this number has surely increased over the past two years. Carter also notes that social media is becoming increasingly popular among the "millennial generation" (those born between 1982 and 2002), that is, teenagers and young adults. Thus, more and more students become members of these sites. It can benefit or detract from their studies, depending on how they use it or how much time they spend... middle of article... March 2, 2010. Maggie Thompson. “Punishing students for their activities on the websites is inappropriate.” Issue: Should social networking sites be banned? Ed. Romain Espejo. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2008. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Internet. February 27, 2010. Marklein, Mary B. “Connected in Two-Year Schools.” Gannett News Service November 15, 2009 National Newspapers of the United States, ProQuest. Internet. February 13, 2010.Messner, Kate. “Nice to tweet you.” School Library Journal 55.12 (2009): 44. MAS Ultra – School Edition. EBSCO. Internet. February 27, 2010. Smith, Ashley. “Facebook is not yet a factor: area schools are not considering prospective students’ pages.” News-Sentinel, The (Fort Wayne, IN) February 12, 2010: Newspaper source. EBSCO. Internet. March 2, 2010. “Web 2.0 is the key to collaboration and agility,” says United Planet. » M2PressWIRE (2010): Newspaper source. EBSCO. Internet. February 13. 2010.