This is why I don't like MySpace

erik · Post by **erik** » 22 Jun 2007 5:53 am

linked story: http://www.rep-am.com/story.php?id=25853&p=0

MySpace was originally designed to promote bands. If you are a member and someone posts comments or becomes a "friend" you have no idea who they are or what their reputation is. There are sites dedicated to mainstream artists. One can not always tell if they are actually controlled by the artist or label. Members post their spam and copy-n-paste threats all over the site. Why do you folks allow this to occur on your page? If you have an official MySpace page at least have someone clean the bad posts off of it, PLEASE!

Dave Boothroyd · Post by **Dave Boothroyd** » 23 Jun 2007 12:02 am

There are criminals, paedophiles, drug dealers and racist thugs in my town, and I'm sure there are in yours.
But I don't have to associate with them.
Similarly my Myspace site allows me to associate with friends, my students and ex-students and fellow musicians in my area or whose music I admire.
If someone posts something not to my taste, they are gone with a single mouse click.
I wish I could solve the problem so easily in the real world.
It is interesting how the stupider members of the criminal classes are happily turning themselves in online when they cannot resist boasting about their exploits.
Long live online networking, I say.
How else otherwise could I be communicating with you?

Cheers
Dave
(a law-abiding English gentleman, so it is safe to talk to me, honest!)

b0b · Post by **b0b** » 23 Jun 2007 12:52 pm

I don't like MySpace because it puts ads all over my screen. I find it visually offensive. It just looks like crap to me.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 24 Jun 2007 3:02 am

I'm with b0b! "Myspace" seems like the low-budget, low-class version of youtube. (Of course, youtube isn't exactly the "Hallmark Hall Of Fame", either!) I also don't like that it requires for java and flash to be activated, whereas youtube doesn't.

Jamie Lennon · Post by **Jamie Lennon** » 24 Jun 2007 4:07 am

well i have met alot of other musicians\bands around the globe via myspace, so i see nothing wrong with it

Robert Jones · Post by **Robert Jones** » 24 Jun 2007 4:37 am

I agree with Erik and B0b. However I do have a myspace site that I built in memory of my bass player that passed away. I try my best to keep all the garbage off of it and only add those who I know will keep it clean for me. It's too bad that everyone else can't do the same. It isn't hard to do. I guess they just don't care what it looks like.Feel free to take a look at mine and tell me if you don't agree that it can look nice with just a little effort.

Steinar Gregertsen · Post by **Steinar Gregertsen** » 24 Jun 2007 7:16 am

I agree that there's a lot of crap on MySpace, and it took a lot of persuading from some of my (real life) friends before I registered there.

However, I came to the conclusion that I didn't really have anything to lose by joining, as long as I stayed in control of how my own site looks. And that's really not a problem, keeping your site clean is the easiest thing to do.

It's been worth it,- I've discovered many interesting unknown artists there, made some good friends, sold a few CDs (and bought even more), and a month from now I'll be joining blues great Tom Principato (probably best known for his duo project with Danny Gatton, "Blazing Telecasters") on one of his shows here in Norway. All thanks to the exposure on MySpace - yeah, I think it's worth it..

Steinar

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 24 Jun 2007 8:40 am

From July 2007, PC World magazine...

Kamkar created the first Web 2.0 worm - a vurilent bug that no firewall could block, which ultimately forced MySpace.com to temporarily shut down. The Samy Worm (named after Kamkar) was among the more prominent of a new generation of Web attacks that some experts fear may slow the fast-evelving collaborative model of Internet development known as Web 2.0.

Kamkar was looking for a way to circumvent MySpace's content-posting restrictions to jazz up his profile when he found a bug that essentially allowed him to control the browser of anyone who visited his MySpace page...Within 20 hours, the worm had spread to over one million MySpace users, forcing them to select Kamkar as their "hero" in their profile page. News Corporation, the site's owner, has to pull down MySpace to fix the problem.

"Heroes"? "Avatars"? Do we really need this kind of stuff in a content-based service? Or is it mandatory nowadays to have the "entertainment" aspect along with information? I'm thankful there's still a few sites that eschew this sort of stuff.

Food for thought, anyway.

Steinar Gregertsen · Post by **Steinar Gregertsen** » 24 Jun 2007 9:47 am

Donny Hinson wrote:Do we really need this kind of stuff in a content-based service?

No. And you don't need it on MySpace either, it's all up to the individual user. Check my MySpace site if you like: http://www.myspace.com/steinargregertsen

Steinar

b0b · Post by **b0b** » 24 Jun 2007 11:40 am

You've done a lot of work on your MySpace site, Steinar, but the first 3 things I see at the top of the page are a Flash animated ad for something called "Helio Ocean", followed by a Google bar (I already have one, thank you), followed by a navbar for MySpace itself. The page automatically starts playing your music which, as much as I like it, will interfere with anything else I happen to be listening to at the moment.

The bottom line is all MySpace pages, even your well crafted one, are just too "in your face" for me. I signed up for one because it was the only way I could view other people's pages. To me it felt like blackmail - I had to create my own MySpace page before I was allowed to view the content of other people's pages. Then it told me "You have 0 friends", as if MySpace was the only place where people can have friends. Grrr...

To me, it's annoying. Younger people obviously like it. I figure that since they grew up on ads for Capt Crunch and Fruit Loops, they are willing to tolerate more distractions than I.

Earnest Bovine · Post by **Earnest Bovine** » 24 Jun 2007 12:28 pm

b0b wrote:
The bottom line is all MySpace pages, even your well crafted one, are just too "in your face" for me. I signed up for one because it was the only way I could view other people's pages. To me it felt like blackmail - I had to create my own MySpace page before I was allowed to view the content of other people's pages.

Are you sure? I didn't sign up, and yet I can view other people's pages (and hear unwelcome sounds).

Steinar Gregertsen · Post by **Steinar Gregertsen** » 24 Jun 2007 12:41 pm

I have blocked the adds on top of my site in my browser, so I've completely forgotten how annoying they can be. I rarely see adds when I visit other members pages either, so it seems like both Firefox and Opera does a good job blocking adds - set them once and they deal with most of it.

As for the music automatically starting,- I can adjust that in my settings, but I've decided to have it on 'auto-play' for now. If a visitor don't want to hear it all he needs to do is click on the 'stop' button.

I agree that most MySpace sites (including mine) are very 'in your face', and I have mixed feelings about the whole thing - I didn't join MySpace expecting to find visually pleasing designs, that's for sure.... But as a musician wishing to build a network - as well as selling a product - I've found that it has worked to my advantage. So far... But you'll never find me on "Facebook", that's where I draw the line..

Steinar

Chris LeDrew · Post by **Chris LeDrew** » 24 Jun 2007 3:18 pm

I cancelled my Myspace page a couple of months ago. After email inquiries about how I managed to get so many gigs (they were all listed on the page, right up to summer 2008 ), I got an unpleasant awakening from the taxman that I have reason to believe was connected to these listings. I know it's important to advertise shows, but having a page that reveals personal information to the world is not always a good idea. I just got paranoid and pushed the delete button and rid myself of it.

erik · Post by **erik** » 24 Jun 2007 6:47 pm

Robert, your MySpace page is fine compared to others i've found objectionable.

erik · Post by **erik** » 24 Jun 2007 6:56 pm

Steinar, your's is very similar to Robert's and seems fine to me.

b0b · Post by **b0b** » 24 Jun 2007 7:49 pm

Now it says "b0b has 2 friends". I don't even know who those people are!! I guess it's better than "b0b has 0 friends". That was depressing.

Mike Shefrin · Post by **Mike Shefrin** » 24 Jun 2007 8:14 pm

deleted

erik · Post by **erik** » 24 Jun 2007 11:14 pm

Robert, I edited my comment to say I DO find it appealing. I made a mistake typing.

Rick Alexander · Post by **Rick Alexander** » 26 Jun 2007 8:05 am

MySpace may not be the most visually appealing site, but it does facilitate networking and hookups.
I have 2882 "friends", I have only ever turned 1 person down - a Michael Jackson tribute site.
It's good for posting tunes and videos - many people have heard my music that might not have otherwise.
Over 186 million people have access to it: http://myspace.com/rickalexander

YouTube is pretty cool, if only for the fact that you can post unlimited videos for free.
http://www.youtube.com/user/rickalexander47

Janice Brooks · Post by **Janice Brooks** » 26 Jun 2007 9:39 am

I have had MYSPACE since 2/06 and enjoy the networking aspects. It's a great way to tell folks what is happening with RAM Radio. While I put up with the ads I'm very cautous about friend requests and have met other interesting folks including artests family members.