“I don’t get MySpace.”
Recently, the following came up on the mailing list void:
Vaughan wrote:
Can someone explain to me why MySpace is so popular? I've had a look at a fair few MySpace pages, and I just don't get it. What's the attraction? It just looks a service where you can have a badly designed webpage that people can add comments to. Surely there must be some sort of additional magic. What am I missing? Vaughan
I wrote a small essay on the subject as a reply, which a few people have since asked if they can reproduce.
Vaughan,
You’re missing the cult status element, and the sheer accessibility of
it. Being the outrageous internet socialite that I am, I’ve plastered my
way shamelessly through a fair few of these social networking sites (RIP
Friendster) and it’s safe to say that what makes MySpace “better” than
any of the others is absolutely nothing except for it’s twisted history:
some bugs which have become features, a whole bunch of lucky timing, and
a momentum that would have made Newton proud before rolling him flat.Back in 2002/2003, which is when I registered on there, MySpace was very
badly coded. It arguable still is (but arguably that doesn’t matter any
more). At the time, you could put any HTML in your profile (including
<script> and <embed> - which have since been filtered) thereby tweaking
your page to be ‘different,’ in the teen angst sense - but most people
didn’t realise you could do this. You could even put HTML in your name,
to make it <blink>, and on other people’s pages in their comments
(I’m sure we’ve all had fun using CSS to position a picture of a penis on top
of someone’s profile pic. … yes, anyway). A whole sub-culture of
profile-tweaking teen-underground knowledge came about, a bit like those
people in Second Life[1] who charge money to make clothes and tables and
stuff for your virtual character, I suppose.MySpace and things of that nature tend to spread very rapidly amongst
loose knit internet communities whose members have no easy way to stay
in touch (I speak from experience of various forums and radio stations
I’m involved with). You can think of it as having the attractiveness of
a buddy list or address book for the users of services which don’t
provide such a thing (or provide one that’s sub par), but with the
*important* addition that you can browse other people’s buddy lists, and
their buddies’ buddies, ad infinitum. This is the key
“social-networking” ingredient that sets MySpace and similar sites a
league apart from Outlook’s Address Book, or AIM’s buddy list. The other
key ingredient is of course that if nobody’s using them, they’re
worthless, so you need a near universal userbase… and for some
unfathomable reason, everybody’s using MySpace. Even people who’ve
deleted themselves off it previously seem to keep reappearing on there[2].I tend to find that people on there have 3 modes of use for that place:
‘friend whores,’ ‘promo whores,’ and people who just find it convenient
to keep track of their friends.You’ve all seen the promo whores: spurred to action by tales of whatever
that bloody band was called who did all their promo on MySpace and then
got to number one (Northern Monkeys or something), every small band,
every big band, every DJ, every promoter, every club night, every bar,
every radio station, and every one of their agents are all clambering to
get a captive mailing list. It’s practically a no brainer. Conversely,
for punters and music fans, it’s much easier to search for people on a
search engine that only searches people. It’s also much easier to
subscribe to updates when the method of website utilisation is
consistent across the board. Not really a win for Web 2.0, but there’s
definitely a lesson to be learned there somewhere. These people commonly
have thousands of people on their lists, and post a lot of rubbish self
serving bulletins that would make a city copy-writer cry.The friend whores are another phenomenon. Depending on which internet
circles you spin in, MySpace is fabled for its abundance of goths and
emo kids, or for its abundance of DJs, or for its abundance of hot
girls. Whichever way you look at it, there are plenty of friends to be
made. In fact, it’s extremely addictive for this fact alone. I get
better results off MySpace if I’m looking for the instant gratification
of somebody completely random to make friends with (for whatever reason)
than I do by leaving my house, using Google, getting on IRC, or posting
on forums. These people typically have anywhere from 500 to a thousand
friends.The third type, of course, are the people who don’t really get it, and
there are a lot of them. 20 or 30 friends is about the same size circle
as people you might see in a month, including your brother and sister,
mum and dad and all your work colleagues. I guess for some people it’s
convenient having all your messaging and diary-writing in one place.I’m somewhere in between the first type and the 3rd type. As I said, I’m
extremely net sociable. I have been at various times a usenet addict,
IRC addict, mailing list addict, forum addict and now I’m unashamedly
amused with MySpace. I have been DJing weekly on an internet radio
station for the last 6.5 years (listeners figures have grown from 50 to
800) and it’s very convenient to try and get my listeners to add me on
MySpace - great way to keep track of them, great way for them to keep
track of me. Likewise, I manage a music forum with 50k members; the kind
where there’s a post or two every time you refresh the page, and the
addicts from there are all on MySpace too.The one thing I’ve learnt over the last decade is how some people don’t
want to make themselves available, but some people get no end of delight
from it. I’m definitely one of the latter. The other thing I’ve learnt
is that within topical circles, the same people revolve around every
corner of the internet. I bump into the same 100 to 200 people on almost
every service I come across, and even out and about on the street. It’s
a funny world, it is.But I digress.
So, what distinguishes MySpace from any of the other cheap-looking
profile page sites with comments attached? Well, that’s a bit like
asking what makes Google better than MSN Search: Many small technical
things separate them, but those do not account for the discrepancy. The
real imbalance is due to the popular perception that one of them’s first
best and the other’s not; that one of them is a lifestyle icon; and that
the other is not.No other service that I know of has spawned so many hilariously
stereotypical songs and videos about itself and it’s users, from John
B’s hilariously self-deprecating electro-drum’n'bass make-up-wearing
smasher “I’m Stalking You on MySpace”[3] to the hilariously amateur
“MySpace The Movie”[4]And so ends my essay on MySpace and why it’s popular.
–
Ben XO[1] http://www.secondlife.com/ is a MMORP-Life-Simulation. You can fly.
It’s bizarre. I’ve been offered DJ gigs inside that game in one of their
virtual clubs… but that’s a topic for a whole ‘nother post.[2] several of my friends were like “this is scary. i’m gone.” then a
year later they were like “ok well I’m back now because I heard about it
on the BBC news and now it’s cool.” O, for the fickleties of a Nathan
Barley lifestyle.[3]
http://www.betarecordings.com/store/index.cfm?act=shop&process=full&id=103
They don’t seem to have tune in stock yet, but they have the T-Shirts…
I have borne witness to this tune “going off in clubs”. I know the
tune’s out soon because the promotions guys said they couldn’t send it
to me yet but that they would during the week.[4] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ_dam5DmsM . This video is a parody
of the best kind - the kind that gets the people who it’s sending up to
laugh at themselves, without realising that that’s what they’re doing
until it’s too late. Unfortunately, that includes me. The scene with
‘the girlfriend’ saying “why aren’t I in your top 8?” … lets just say that I’ve
been there.
For any of you who made it this far - add me! lol.
June 12th, 2006 at 7:30 am
A fascinating and well-written article. I’ve been trying to get my head around MySpace for a while now - perhaps I’m too old (and not looking for gratification) to spend time on their myself, but I can see why everyone under the age of 25 in our office is hooked. Can be a massive time waster - but then again so can IM, blog reading and any form of social net use.
Best,
ddias
July 19th, 2006 at 2:08 pm
You forgot to mention that most people have crap taste and low standards so the sheer ugliness of MySpace doesn’t drive them off. If anything it makes it that much more kitsch.