Slashdot Mirror
The MySpace Generation
theodp writes "They live online. They buy online. They play online. Their power is growing. BusinessWeek reports on The MySpace Generation, aka Generation @, for whom being online is a way of life. Preeminent among the virtual hangouts is MySpace.com, who boasts 40 million members and claimed the No. 15 spot on the entire U.S. Internet. And in When murder hits the blogosphere, MSNBC reports on MySpace's sometimes surreal role in popular news stories."
I've been trying to write an article about MySpace for about 6 months, with the community changing faster than I can assimilate those changes into the article. MySpace is the ultimate free market in socializing, and it (or a system like it) has potential to being a huge part of every day life.
All my teen employees in my retail stores are on MySpace. Most of my adult employees are, as well. At first, the dame and I thought it was just a hook up scene (it is, though). We were laughing at how we knew some parents of kids on there who thought their kids were 100% puritan, and the messages led us to believe the opposite. The average poster also leads me to reinforce my belief that the laws against non-violent voluntary action between two humans (drug laws, prostitution laws and others) are completely unnecessary.
MySpace's greatest potential is beyond just the ability to moderate other people. MySpace offers everyone this amazing ability to be open about themselves, reduce embarassment, and even become more honest as a person. When I was in high school, cheating on your girlfriend was common, but secret. Today it is called hooking up and generally not frowned upon. Is this the direction society needs to head? I don't know, but I don't think this "freeing" of embarassment is a bad thing -- isn't sex always the leader in a societal change?
MySpace is powerful in many other ways, connecting cliques with one another to create what is one of the most powerful non-corporate marketing forces ever. My brother's band increased downloads of their music almost 100-fold, and their concerts are significantly more populated by people who are friends-of-friends-of-friends. I also have found that kids as young as 11 won't buy Sony because their clique is connected to another clique that is boycotting the company. How awesome is that?
Right now, MySpace is complete anarchy. Guess what? It works. For an anarchocapitalist such as myself, MySpace combined with eBay could be the utopian anarchist paradise we always dream of, at least in electronic form. Copyright is not a concern (have you seen the reckless abandon of music, video and image piracy? I love it). Sharing of information is open and natural. If someone hurts another person in any way, you can be sure that it will get through all the various local cliques and the offender will be castigated and watched more closely. Even peer review of one's actions is instant. One person can post an angry comment about another, and the "jury of one's peers" comes into action, either defending that person or realizing that the person is probably guilty of the action first posted.
I know that when I was a teenager there were numerous things to be embarassed of. If I had known that others existed with similar emotions or thoughts or habits, I think I would have matured at a faster past (although it can be argued that today's teenageres are very immature but I completely disagree).
MySpace is a profitable venture, slowly taking the place of schools, the law, the mall and even e-mail and IM. Parents need to be aware of it, too. I believe that those who think we need more government in our lives should carefully watch as the next generation gets along just fine, pushing together their millions of decisions and beliefs in the free markets trumping of democracy.
Hope you like giving away your hard-earned works for free to Fox.
From the TOS: By posting Content on any public area of MySpace.com, you automatically grant as well as represent and warrant that you have the right to grant to MySpace.com, an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, fully paid, worldwide license to use, copy, perform, display, and distribute such information and content to MySpace.com and that MySpace.com has the right to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, such information and content, and to grant and authorize sublicenses of the foregoing.
Check out my website: Playfully Clever
Myspace Suicide
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I use MySpace regularly, mostly to meet chicks in my area (and it doesn't work all that well, but it's free), but I don't trust the site to hold a lot of formal personal information about me; just informal stuff.
Fox purchased MySpace, and I wish it was someone else like Google. The site is a mess with all sorts of useability and performance problems. It would be nice if someone just setup a good new framework for it, and then "imported" everyone's crap into it. The current MySpace framework is like some student's school project grown out-of-control. Maybe it is.
So anyways, it's really 'Not My Space' for a lot of people. Just a place to waste time. I wouldn't expect it to become somemore more than that.
I just dont understand how people can think it looks good to have bright pink text and a purple background overlayed with a floating image while forcing you to listen to music and squint past the animations. As a college student I get to use the Facebook which is similar in the social networking but different (and I applaud them) in the fact that THATS ALL IT IS. There is no ability to make your profile bright and unreadable. There is no way to play music...etc. They are adding new features but I hope they stay true to their ideal...
I once made a myspace account to look at a friends (I believe mine is titled "myspace sucks" if anyone wants to hunt me down) and even though I have always known hers as a nice, smart, intelligent girl (well, she is kind of a whore but...a smart one). I look at her profile and though she has abstained from the completely unreadable format, I read all of the things her friends have written on it and they are like "Aw damn gurl joo be shakin on HOTT" and unfortunately have the ability to choose thier own color schemes. Within a few days of making my account, putting in nothing more than a little basic info that they asked for when I made it, I got several friend requests from people I went to highschool with that I probobly hadnt talked to since my sophomore year. It's amazing that they check enough to decide "hey this person wasnt my friend and I will never see them again but they JUST made a myspace account so I should friend them"
Bottles.
It's widely known that sites such as MySpace and the forums at GameFAQs.com are "infested" with teens who would appear to lack basic textual communication skills.
Have any researchers who study education performed reviews of such sites? How do such children and teens perform in high school? Is their inability to write sensibly only exhibited online, or does it also creep into their school work?
Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
2ch (2 channel) is a Japanese forum (more similar to slashdot then typical forums) that has over 10 million members from all different walks of life (not mainly teenagers like myspace). There is a US variant (an imitation not related directly or anywhere near as popular) 4ch that gives a good idea of the format. It's an interesting concept due to it's broadness in topics and people who use it. Although myspace seems to be pretty popular with people who aren't computer experts.
In undeveloped countries, the consumer controls the market. In capitalist America, the market controls you.
I just don't get it. Myspace is Friendster, only instead of yuppies, hipsters, and college students, it's populated by complete morons. All my friends from college and high school are on Friendster and/or Facebook.com. MySpace gets the lowest-life, most guido New Jersey and Long Island trash people I've ever seen, the teenagers who are too dumb to know any better, and a couple of pervs I know in their later 20s who just go there to pick up on dumb 17 year old girls.
I actively choose not to be associated with MySpace. Why? Because it's about as low class as anything I could imagine. Call me an elitist yuppie, but I would never want to be caught with a profile on that site, until they manage to improve their image massively, i.e. get rid of the massive guido overload factor in their userbase.
Please reference the number of pics of dudes in sleeveless wifebeaters with muscle shots, tatties and gang slogans in their profile for evidence. So terribly classless.
At least Orkut had geek chic before it was overrun by the Brazilians.
What about World of Warcraft and the burgeoning MMORPG space? There are 5.5 million subscribers to WoW, and in total, maybe 20 million people who play these MMORPGs worldwide, from games like Lineage to EverQuest.
I don't think myspace deserves to be associated with a "generation" because myspace hasn't generated its own unique subculture. And it's not really a "generation" as a large portion of the traffic on myspace is by older men looking for skanks.
The WoW and gamer culture, on the other hand, has its own languages and inside jokes. Plus guilds are way more cohesive than these loose organizations or "networks."
I'm creating a social network just for gamers, and WoW players specifically right now: Leetster. This is a link to my profile: pakhuda
Philosophistry
Myspace is a club. And just like real world clubs, its popularity will be transient. In 3 years, there will be some other Internet social scene that will dominate. And 3 years from then, another one. The existence of this BusinessWeek article alone makes myspace that much less cooler to be on. Remember Friendster? That was becoming like what myspace was, until myspace became cooler. Now Friendster's going bankrupt.
Communication tools, on the other hand, stick around. Look at AOL Instant Messenger. Crappy tool, but still the most popular. I even think facebook will survive this social networking service bubble. Facebook is also like a tool in that it functions as your school's better yearbook/directory.
Quality tools and services are long-term. Clubs and social scenes are ephemeral.
Philosophistry
Judging by how readily they'll buy the RIAA's latest shit albums for $20 a pop and how they'll click next through their EULAs faster than an AC posting a stupid fad joke on Slashdot, I'd have to say that they definitely are used to giving away their rights. If they gave a damn about their rights, we wouldn't have nearly as much shit we deal with these days...
'Yes, firefox is indeed greater than women. Can women block pops up for you? No. Can Firefox show you naked women? Yes.'
I've been on MySpace for just about 2 weeks now, after first regarding the site as an jumble of crappy pages a few months ago, I've learned it can be a very unique and enjoyable place for the average computer user or guru both. A few notes:
The code is buggy as can be but primarily works after reloading the page a couple of times.
Great social networking factor. I've messaged friends I haven't talked to since high school and chatted with college friends whom I've already lost touch with.
For new bands this is really an invaluable resource for which to create a simple website that informs fans and create evangelists of your music.
Being a part time concert photographer I've already received orders for prints of my photography as well as met may others involved or wishing to be involved in the field. I've also made contacts with a number of bands and old friends involved in the music industry whom I've also been out of touch with.
I wish Google would have purchased the company, but let's hope Fox does a decent job with it.
Try it out, you just might like it
-Chris
http://www.myspace.com/concertphotos
For you myspace nay-sayers, I recommend repeated listens of the first track on Bob Dylan's 3rd album.
On one hand, I totally agree. Myspace is a giant pile. It's not reliable, the UI is horrible, every other member's site is littered with windows media files, it's owned by News Corp, etc.
On the other hand, all of my old college friends are on MySpace. I've been able to keep in contact with people that I would have otherwise never heard from again.
Unlike Friendster or Facebook, MySpace simply let people sign-up without jumping through hoops. You didn't have to be attending a university, you didn't have to be invited by a current member, etc. Consequently, a TON of people seem to be on MySpace now.
The ability to see you friend's address books is a great idea.
Now, if someone could make it less crappy, I'd be happy as hell. (google?)
"Things are more moderner than before- bigger, and yet smaller- it's computers-- San Dimas High School football RULES!"