Zack Rippy

In case you are not familiar with MySpace.com, it is the incredibly popular social networking site that seems to be the online destination right now. Basically, you sign up for a free account and then you have several options. You can post information about yourself – your likes/dislikes, favorite music, etc. You can upload pictures and link to audio/video files. That’s it. You’re all set. From there, you can search for friends of yours who are also members of Myspace. You add them to your “My Friends” list, they add you to theirs and so on. That is the main feature if Myspace ?? the friends list. The “social networking” aspect is immensely popular. It is easy to use and it just works.

Myspace does one thing very well ?? it lets you create a browsable friends list and it is incredibly simple to do it. Anyone can create an account and use the site almost immediately. There is no technical knowledge required. That is a good thing. All technology should be so easy to use. If “Web 2.0” is ever going to truly reach everyone and succeed, it will have to move beyond the technically-savvy who actually care about things like Technorati tags and AJAX and be as accessible as Myspace. I admire the simplicity.

The appeal of Myspace is easy to see. It offers a simply, non-technical way to keep up with friends and family online. It is also completely free. I have spent some time jumping from one friends list to another, finding people I used to know. It can be quite interesting and useful in finding people with whom you have lost touch.

Having said all that, I personally hate Myspace. I really do. I am not totally sure what my problem is with it, but I do have some specific complaints. First of all, it is ugly – plain and simple. All the pages are ugly. I have yet to see one that was not. Some pages are better than others, but they are all tacky (just messing with Shaun since he made his intentionally ugly, but at least Josh/Wencke have decent pages). For the most part though, it is like the 1990′s “Free Homepage” craze crash landed and Myspace picked up the pieces. They are hideous. Sure, people can customize to a certain extent, but there is not much to work with. They look like the old AOL 4.0 members.aol.com pages. Bleh.

Secondly, when you have your Myspace account, you can link to your own audio and video files. “Wow, that is so cool.” There is just one problem – they play automatically when you browse someone’s page. A HUGE no-no in my book. I can’t stand that. Seriously. I despise it. OK, maybe I found Hamsterdance mildly amusing back in 1998, but the novelty of, “Ooh, this webpage plays music” wore off sometime around the time Ricky Martin’s 15 minutes ran out. Sorry, but I just don’t really want your life theme song playing whenever I visit your page. Have it there ?? fine ?? but give me the option to listen to it. The way it is now, every time you go to a Myspace page with music, you have to endure their song while rushing to find the Pause button.

I have often described Myspace as the “Eastdale Mall on Friday Night” website. There is a ton of stuff and a million people there. You will probably find what you are looking for…you just have to wade through all the 13 year-olds clogging up the place.
“Like, OMG, UR so kewl. CU later. lol. rotfl.”

Perhaps I just don’t get all the hype? I admit that it interesting to go on there and find people from your past. But do I really want to be in touch with them? Anyone who I don’t see/talk to on a regular basic AND that I actually have a worthwhile relationship with, I communicate with directly via email, IM or whatever. I suppose if I had some great friend that moved away when I was twelve; it might be cool to find then and catch up. Good friends from high school and all though, I am still in touch with them. We email or call occasionally, or if they are in town, we get together. If I have to resort to Myspace to “find” or communicate with some with whom I was friends recently, what is the real value of that friendship anyway? If we had not bothered to keep in touch in the first place, is some shallow Myspace reunion really worth the effort? I’m not necessarily saying that it isn’t, but I think it is worth asking. I have had one friend with whom I had lost touch contact me via the internet, and it was via the comments pages here on my own site. That was very nice. It is true though that Myspace would have provided the same opporunity if I had a page over there.

Myspace does offer some voyeuristic (for lack of a better word) capability. You can easily see what other people are doing and what is going on with them. What to know what that old acquaintance or ex-whatever is up to? Hop on Myspace and you can probably find out. It offers you the opportunity to see a glimpse of someone’s life without actually being a part of it. Intriguing for sure…and just a little bit creepy.

I am not saying that Myspace is without merit. I know of a situation where a friend was able to find an old classmate who had just lost his father and he was able to reach out to him and offer his friendship during a very trying time. Also, with so many teens actively participating in Myspace, it is advantageous for many youth pastors, teachers and others individuals that deal with young people to have accounts. Those pastors/teachers/leaders need to maintain instant and constant communication with a large number of people to whom they are very important. I can completely see the value of utilizing Myspace in that way.

I am sure I probably sound like a real jerk. I have several good friends who use Myspace. That is fine. I am not trying to insult or offend any fans or users, nor am I trying to convince anyone not to use it. It is just not for me. Maybe it is just an extension of my personality. Myspace just does not appeal to me. If I found someone on there that I wanted to contact, I would leave them a message with my email address or something like that. If you use Myspace and love it, then that is awesome. More power to you. I hope it is a great avenue of communication for you and that you really enjoy it. It just isn’t for me. No offense intended.

Tom Is Not My Friend T-Shirt

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 30th, 2006 at 12:47 pm and is filed under Commentary, Reviews, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.