MySpace (1 Viewer)

[Abby_B]

So I just read an article that quoted a survey that said that MySpace is the hottest site on the web right now - past Google and Yahoo even. (The article is here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...Story/Business if you are interested in reading more.) I think that's amazing, I was really surprised. I think social networking sites rock, anyway - but I never would have expected that one would blow up that big. But, I do like it - it's let me get back in touch with some people I thought I'd never talk to again, so thumbs up there. I also like that the site is actively trying to change the perception that it's crawling with internet predators, i know that it teamed up with NCMEC to do online safety awareness ads, and recently made it, so when you report inappropriate content to MySpace, you can also report it to the Cybertipline hotline. I think that'll be very convenient for helping to bust some of the pervs around there, which will be good for everybody.

Anyway, time to fess up, who here's on MySpace? Or any of those other sites like it?

 

[Ruz-El]

I was going to set up an page just to blog on. But I've found I can be even MORE intrusive to people I don't know by basically blogging in forum threads around the interenet.

 

[Holadem]

No page yet, but I just might. This thing has evolved beyond the high-school and even college crowd into my sphere...

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H

 

[Zen Butler]

When I'm not here I'm there. The site rules! I always know when/where something is going on. From a close friend's party to an underground punk gig. It's great for band networking too. And as Abby mentioned, just keeping in touch with distant friends.

 

[ThomasC]

I'm a member of Facebook (high school and college networking), Friendster, and MySpace. I rarely sign on to MySpace because the look of most of the pages I go to kills my eyes. Mainly, it's the background blending in with everything else, which is a really bad idea. The look of Facebook is SO much easier on the eyes, so I go there at least a few times a week. Friendster is in the middle of the road in terms of looks, and looks like it's no competitor to MySpace. If MySpace could clean up its look, I wouldn't mind frequenting it.

 

[Scott Simonian]

I am hopelessly addicted to Myspace!

Log on more than 10 times a day.

I know...I'm sad.

 

[tyler payne]

I go through little phases of MySpace addiction. Sometimes I am on there constantly, and then I go through weeks where I don't log on.

I agree with the rest of you that said it's great for finding old friends. Most of my friends from high school scattered after graduation. With MySpace I have been able to talk to people I lost touch with a decade ago. See my signature below for a link to my page.

tyler payne

 

[Holadem]

I don't get it. I have a very bare-bone page on a similar, admitedly inferior site, and it's helped reconnect with a lot of old friends. I've certainly spent a couple of hours on there browsing contacts of contacts of contacts. But nothing to the level you guys are suggesting (addictive?!).

So, those who spend a lot of time on MySpace, what exactly do you do?

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H

 

[MarkHastings]

I'm curious too, what is there to do???

 

[Ricardo C]

That's been my experience as well. Beyond the multimedia features, I don't think it's any different from livejournal.

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

Yup, I'm on My-Space as well

As for what there is to do, that makes me check it several times today, there's the blogs of my friends, the bulletin board which is like the forwards of emails...
...leaving notes, and or sending messages to people...writing my own blog...
...and I have to say it is a good way to get in contact with people you haven't heard from in forever especially classmates. I was contacted a couple of months ago by someone I hadn't seen since Junior High.

 

[Ricardo C]

But that's the thing... Every feature MySpace offers is already available in the form of email, instant messengers, blogs, etc. The idea of concentrating all those social tools in one site sounds appealing on paper, but I find most MySpace pages so bloated and sluggish that I hardly bother. My two best friends are on MySpace and I usually end up emailing them or chatting with them on Yahoo or MSN rather than sending them MySpace messages.

I guess I'll have to wait till Google inevitably moves in on their turf and creates "GoogleHub" or somesuch :b

 

[JoeyR]

http://www.mydeathspace.com/

click on latest deaths, some guy on another forum had the link in his sig, there are a few members too that have killed other members.

 

[MarkHastings]

Yeah, it's like HT-in-a-box. It may do the job, but I'd rather do everything individually.

 

[Ravi K]

Some of them are eyesores, huh? I never thought I'd have to see another poorly designed webpage...and then MySpace became popular. The music and YouTube videos make it worse. I never bothered to design my page. Everything is on the default setting.

I only check my MySpace page if I get an email telling me I have a new comment, message, or friend request. Facebook doesn't notify me if I have new messages, so I check it once or twice a day.

 

[Jason Harbaugh]

I absolutely hate myspace. One of the worst designs on the web since Geocities. Never have I seen such a collection of annoying pages, most of which are impossible to read.

The networking function of it is pretty cool, but nothing that hasn't been done before. It just happened to spread like wildfire.

 

[ThomasC]

n/m

 

[Citizen87645]

Most of the complaints about the appearance of MySpace really have to do with the customization by users, most of whom have no basic design sense. People who know better either leave it as-is or actually make the page look decent. The default is not exactly pretty like Friendster, but it's not like the nightmares most pages have been customized into.

Over half of my "friends" are musicians or actors. Many of the The Office cast have pages, my favorite being Pam/Jenna Fischer's.

I've made a few local acquaintances through MySpace, been flirted with a bit, and been solicited for visiting Web cams . I know a couple who met through the site, so there's the dating element too.

 

[tyler payne]

Well, I got onto MySpace because a lot of my co-workers were on it and said they had fun on it. But lately I have been using it as more of a network tool for acting. I mean my agent informs me of all the local stuff, but I have been able to be in a few student films from my contacts on MySpace. I mean they're short films, and non-paying gigs, but when this student becomes the next Tarantino or such, perhaps they will remember they guy who was the crack dealer in their first film.

Besides I can now honestly tell people that Shakira is my "Friend".

tyler payne

 

[Craig S]

I've visited MySpace several times, but have never seen anything close to a "decent" looking page. It's like this nexus where every bad web design idea (and bad taste in general) has all coalesced into a giant festering sore on the internet.

Anyone have any links to MySpace pages that WON'T make me want to jab sharp sticks into my eyes???

Edit: OK, Jenna Fischer's page (mentioned by Cameron) must be the default, as it's clean and readable. She also gives good blog...