Stuff

[burendasan4]

Harry Potter Update:
-As some of you know, I have my web browser open up to the Yahoo Directory page that posts daily (except on weekends) blog entries with links related to a particular theme they happen to choose. Well, today they have links relating to Harry Potter spoilers, which will probably be up all weekend. Needless to say ask.com is now my browser's "home page"...at least for a few days anyway ;-)
-Last night I got that magical email from Amazon saying that they're preparing my book for shipping. Considering that almariel got hers the day before, I probably won't get my book until Monday at the earliest :-P

On to another subject...
"The Decline of MySpace"?

The whole social networking phenomenon started while I was in Japan...and at the urging of some of my friends, I joined Friendster (why Friendster fizzled out can be another question to look into...). After I returned to the US, I joined MySpace. Back then, Facebook was supposedly for college students only, so I stuck to MySpace, the "working adult" option. I signed on almost every day and ended up meeting a very special person in my life ;-) Well, as of almost a year ago, I technically became a "college student" again, so, again at the urging of my friends, I joined Facebook once my busy fall semester was over.

Lately, I've noticed myself signing on to MySpace a lot less often and signing on more often to Facebook, which I joined only a half a year ago. And lately, I've been finding that a lot of people I know have been joining Facebook...people that I wouldn't have expected...such as some of my cousins...or people whom I wouldn't have expected to join an online social network in the first place! And last time I was on MySpace, I noticed that a "Status Update" feature like the one on Facebook had been added. MySpace actually trying to catch up to Facebook...Interesting considering that only a few months back, MySpace seemed untouchable. They were the ones setting the standards. Today, I came across this article. Unfortunately the article veers off on the subject of a woman's controversial blog entry about why this shift from MySpace to Facebook is taking place. But it made me realize that the social networking migration wasn't just my imagination. So for those of you who are on MySpace and Facebook: Do you see the same thing happening? If so, why do you think it's happening?

I, for one, am beginning to find that a lot more people I know are on Facebook, particularly my classmates, with whom I interact with in person more often, whereas on MySpace, most of the people on my friends list are people that I don't keep in touch with that often, so I don't send messages to them as often. Second of all, a very big flaw I have been finding on MySpace lately is that it is incredibly slow. I keep having to hit the "stop loading" and "refresh" buttons on my browser over and over again in order for a page to load completely. Right now my time is valuable so I can't deal with having to wait five minutes for a MySpace page to load. And I hate to say this, but Facebook's "Mini Feed" and "Status Update" has worked to its advantage in that people can find out how their friends are doing or what they are up to...and not necessarily in a stalkerish way (even though actually talking to someone in person to find out is preferable). One advantage that MySpace has is the access you have to music and other forms of entertainment through the MySpace profiles of bands, comedians, and other entertainers. I also like the bulletins feature...and not to mention that yes, you CAN find love on MySpace *nod to NG* ;-) [But do proceed with caution on that one in case you are looking for someone that way]. Then, there's the whole argument about the kind of people that use Facebook vs. MySpace...but that's something I may or may not go into later (feel free to comment about it though)...

But anywayz, this whole social networking phenomenon is going at quite a fast pace and it will be interesting to study it in the future. Who knows how things will turn out?

Comments

[intothebluagain.livejournal.com]

Hmm interesting. I'm not very privy to many of these social network pages (being an LJ rookie as well), I've just poked around the pages a bit. I definitely agree tho, MySpace was THE thing maybe even just four or five months ago. I think it's gotten a lot of negative publicity lately with stalker/child sex issues, that might have driven a few people away, but I honestly think it might be more that it's just petering out rather like Friendster.
I guess I haven't jumped on the bandwagon b/c I think it's rather trivial and tedious having four or five different places where you update your own life details. One site is fine (which I'm hoping LJ will suffice, altho even thus far it seems like only a few people read this), but even for close friends I find it difficult to justify bouncing around four different sites for each person just to find the same details. I certainly wouldn't want to put in the time to write them on said four or five websites. Maybe I'm just not realizing the full potential of these sites, but I don't think they're for me. As you said, the best way to keep people informed is to talk with them! In person, on the phone, IM, keeping in touch with people real-time is best!

[burendasan4.livejournal.com]

The sexual predator problems on MySpace have defenitely not helped the site at all. Not to mention the spam that most members of MySpace receive. As far as keeping up with several social networking sites, I would have told you that being on one, particularly one that has the most participation is sufficient. But then it occurred to me that because the popularity of social networks keeps changing from one year to the next, you could decide on one social network because it's so popular only to find later on that no one goes on it anymore...So yeah, I can see why you're hesitant on joining any social network at all...

[burendasan4.livejournal.com]

One more thing...of all the "social networks" you could have chosen, I'm glad you chose LJ ;-) I think it's a much more close-knit and personal kind of network...or as personal as an online network can get! ;-)

[slashtacular.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm sure a lot of it is just because the novelty of MySpace is wearing off, which is probably the same thing that happened to Friendster.

Additionally, I know a lot of people dislike how much customization MySpace has, especially in terms of page design and CSS. Not that customization in and of itself is a bad thing, but the unfortunate fact is that most people are not natural graphic designers, and in their rush to create something that's "unique", they also wind up creating something that's ugly. (This is also partly due to all the stupid shit you can do in CSS, and how it's human nature to try out everything you possibly can the first time you hear about it.) Contrast that against Facebook, which has only one design for everyone, but it's a much cleaner, simpler, and prettier design.

But yeah, no worries about not having Facebook. I've kept in touch with some people from Michigan through it, which is cool, but again there's no reason that I couldn't have done that through email. And I do have to say that Facebook still has a sense that your friends list is almost more of a trophy case than a list of people you actually keep in contact with. It's like "Look at all these people I've found!" and you never ever talk to any of them. Such is social networking, I guess.

[burendasan4.livejournal.com]

Yes, I think a big part of it is simply that the novelty of MySpace is wearing off...that it was simply a "trend", not the "revolution" it was claimed to be. And yes, the customization is not a good thing on MySpace because people ABUSE it like crazy!
However, I do think that social networks will become an important part of our online communications. It's just that at this time, it's quickly evolving and we're figuring out what works and what doesn't. In the end, I think there will be a "standard" of what a social network should be like. We'll be down to two or three that will become the "go-to" networks that everyone will join and there will be those that will be targeted at particular user populations.

[intothebluagain.livejournal.com]

I'm DEFINITELY hoping that day comes sooner rather than later so I can join in! Thanks for the input guys

[(Anonymous)]

I just had a quick look at facebook.... not an expert there by any means, but I will give my 10 cents worth anyways. I don't think myspace is going through a decline. I just think facebook is becoming rather popular in america... I mean I did a search for my NZ highschool, and it wasn't searchable... eg, no one from my high school has indicated that is where they are from. I think the second thing to note, is that myspace and facebook are 2 different entities... myspace provides a great networking opportunity for bands and other artists, while I get the impression that facebook is really a 'friendship' kinda place to for people to keep in touch. I think myspace is truely international, where facebook is at this point in time quite american. Compare them in a couple of years, I reckon myspace will still be around based on the use of this medium for the purpose of advertising bands. I think the reason why myspace is slow, is it grew too quickly. Right now there must be far more users at myspace, which will slow it down compared to smaller things like facebook.

lol.... I could completely wrong about all of this, won't be the first time, but I do think myspace is still gonna be around in a couple of years, but the facebooks and friendsters will come and go. bebo is very popular in NZ right at the moment. The preference of myspace or these other more freindship based things are kinda down to whether you are interested in interacting just at the level of friendship, or if you have other motives like discovering new music.....

and that was my 10 vents worth....

NG.

PS.... I guess there is always going to be a special place in my heart for myspace, as I did meet someone very special within the first couple of days of opening an account ;).... so bias for myspace is natural...

Watch out for joe bloggs :P