MySpace has been hot news over the past year or so.
I’ve got a profile, but I have to say that I’m not using MySpace much. Like my Live Space, it basically points back here.
What’s wrong with it? For a start, the interface is terrible. The customisation features are poor and there’s next to no (easy-to-find) help. There doesn’t appear to be a way to subscribe to a MySpace blog using a feed. I have no idea how to get at the email without going through the MySpace site.
Ted Demopoulos appears to agree.
So – what is all the excitement? Do you have a MySpace profile? Do you like the interface? Someone explain this to me!
(oh, and if you are on MySpace, feel free to friend me!)
Technorati tags: MySpace, profile, social networking, blog
[…] Original post by Andy Piper for Myspace News MySpace – what’s all the fuss? […]
I pretty much despise everything about myspace, but yet I have a myspace profile. 🙂 Their interface is *terrible*, the design of the system is *terrible*, there’s a cottage industry around truly gross myspace web design, etc.
The fuss is over the 120 million users with new ones signing up at 250,000 every day. Everybody I know has a myspace page. Everyone they know has a myspace page. People I knew 20 years ago have a myspace page. And so on.
That’s really why all the fuss. Myspace did one thing right that no-one else had really done, and I think it was by accident: they gave you “friends” and put pictures on them. Look at sites like Xanga where you just have links and they’re not “friends” they’re “subscriptions”. It’s a simple difference, but to people it’s a big one.
They did one other thing right which is get really really lucky, I think.
I’m not surprised you don’t see it – neither do I, or most of the people I know. But I think it’s simple – we’re just not the target market. Teenagers (who are the target market) are notoriously self-centred, obsessed with everyone knowing who their favourite band is, putting their top 10 films list up for public consumption, etc. MySpace caters for this perfectly. Like Ebay, it illustrates that the interface doesn’t have to be tip-top: it just has to do the job.
I too have a personal myspace profile, but I hate it!
It is too ugly, it is not customizable, it is just dreadful…
Ah but what happens when the teenagers grow up? At what point do they reach a level of sophistication where MySpace is no longer cool?
I think Andrew hit it on the head … you are too old and too techie to grok MySpace. The target audience is non-technical teenagers to twenty-somethings. My son (25) and his friends use it as a dating service. My daughter (17) uses it as an extension of IM. They have no concept of good or bad web design, or interfaces, it just IS for them.
So I think you “age out” of the system, or you “tech out”, once you get a little more knowledge.
I had a MySpace page, but didn’t feel motivated to update it. It’s not just about how “pretty” it looks but, it’s certainly what’s visible and available.
“Minimal Web 2.0” design isn’t as visually stimulating as having pictures plastered everywhere.
And how social networking goes: those invite-a-friend things can go a long way, or at least joining a service because it’s got some kinda gravitational weight and all your friends are already on it!
Which brings to mind contemplating who the serious MySpace competitors would be, that bring similar — or better — functionality to the table, and provide more prettyness too.
Predictable they’d leverage themselves to poke fun at MySpace’s bad looks, I’d think.
But sometimes there’s comfort in circa-1995 web design. 🙂
Thanks for all the comments, people! I certainly feel old now, and don’t feel so bad about not feeling engaged by MySpace. Phew!
Anyone else having bother with myspace or is it just my pc?
Last couple of days it seems it wont let me download any song from anywhere.
Anyone having same bother – or anyone how to sort it?
See this article – looks like the free music ride may be over.
Hey as a person who is currently on myspaceI must say I do enjoy all the things I can get for my MySpace but yes I agree the help you want can’t be reached. Maybe if there wasmore helping guides everyone would ok. But for you all I have to say is that I do agree with you. But even you know that there are alot of great features on myspace too. So maybe you should also write about the goods things for everyone. Teens to Adults.
But to you also feel free to add me to your friends list.