IM (Instant messaging) - A way in which two people online at the same time can send real-time messages back and forth to each other. In addition, people can put up "away messages" to alert friends where they are when they are not at their computer (college students will often be "signed on" 24 hours a day). Users have a "buddy list" alerting them when their friends are on, and kids commonly will IM numerous people at a time. The most common instant messengers are AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), Yahoo Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger.

Web Videos - Often taken by webcam, these are user recorded videos that are posted up on the website to share with the friends. Some videos can also be used to be put in social networking profiles. The most common video upload website is http://www.youtube.com/.

Chat Rooms - Similar to instant messaging, chat rooms allow users online at the same time to send real-time messages. In chat rooms, however, the conversations are not limited to just two people. This used to be the way to meet new "friends" online, although they are much less popular now with the advent of social networking.

Podcasting - A way to transmit media files (pictures, audio, video) automatically to interested users. The user signs up for the "podcast" through one of the podcasting services (iTunes, Google Podcasting, Yahoo Podcasting, etc.), and they are notified and can download new content added as soon as it is added. The content then can often be downloaded on to the users' computer and even transferred onto an audio player.

Blogs - A site where anyone can sign up for their own space and use it as a journal to let friends and/or strangers know their thoughts or what is happening in their lives. Users write entries in an update page, and they are published to the blog page automatically. Pictures and video and links can be attached to these entries. In addition, you can "friend" other blogs so that you can read a page of all the latest entries from a variety of different blogs. Popular blogging sites are xanga, blogpod, blogger, livejournal, etc.

Wikis - An interactive online encyclopedia. Here, users define and update entries, meaning you almost have a community voice on what something is. However, as entries are defined by users, they cannot always be trustworthy, and sometimes you can get personal attacks on wikis. There are general wiki sites for everything (http://www.wikipedia.org/) and then there can be more specific subject/social group wiki sites.

Social Networking - A site that combines a lot of the above elements into one general site where users can post profiles to advertise who they are and connect with new people online. You can create your profile, list your interests and taste, connect with your friends, and then search other people's interests or connect to new people through your friends' friends (your "network"). A lot of social networking sites will also allow you to instant message and blog. By far the most popular site is Myspace (http://www.myspace.com/), although facebook (http://www.facebook.com/) is the popular choice among college students (232 young Sanford alumni are currently on it). The phenomenon started with "Friendster" (http://www.friendster.com/), but that has died out a lot and was only really used by the 20-something crowd. For an excellent overview, see MySpace Nation from the June 21, 2006, issue of PCMagazine.

Generation M Trends