I started a MySpace site some time ago, but did nothing with it. Recently, I posted a couple of blog entries there and now even have a few ‘friends’. I might try to upload myself reading a few poems, but not today.
There’s not much there to occupy your time, but if any of you have a MySpace account and want to add me to your list of friends, then please go ahead. It will make a change from most of the requests so far, which have been from young women using their MySpace sites as a cover to refer people to rather naughtier places. I’m not sure what attracted them to me. Maybe they are closet poetry fans. Or maybe they are simply friends with everyone.
7 comments:
Have added you, Rob.
MySpace has always passively disgusted me too much for me to make much use of it. Perhaps I ought to start doing something with it.
James
I loathe MySpace, but I do have an account, so I just friended you.
I'm really unsure about MySpace. James and Harry, what do you dislike about it?
I find it quite weird. But it's too early for me to make any clear judgement. I still haven't understood what it's all about.
I hate the way it's organised—the user interface is a messy piece of shit and the navigation is crappy. Even the default design is ugly and while I don't object to people who choose to make their page ugly, it's almost impossible to make it look attractive. The fact it allows people to include embedded music in their profile is really irritating. Basically it's ramshackle, half-baked and chaotic. And it's buggy as hell, too.
If you compare it to Facebook, which is MySpace done a bit more carefully and thoughtfully, you get a sense of how shoddy MySpace is.
The blandly tasteful visual style that Facebook imposes is a mixed blessing—I quite like the chaotic folk art quality of MySpace customisation—but the whole experience of using it just less irritating.
More or less what Harry said. Half the pages are completely unreadable and, casually surfing around, your ears get battered by a confusion of good and terrible music in equal doses.
The whole site also has a tremendously high moron concentration -- lots of teens putting up photos of themselves in the hopes someone will pay them compliments.
James
Thanks, Harry and James. I can't disagree with you.
I find the concept of "friends" a bit weird too. Am I the only person to feel that?
Asking people to be your friend feels like appropriating them in some way. For instance, I saw Mark Doty on MySpace. I like what I've read of his stuff. He is a good poet, but asking him to be my friend would be a bit weird, as he will never have heard of me. Of course, he could read my profile and decide. But what's the point? What do these ever-expanding networks do for anyone?
Or perhaps I should just do what Jen H.E. said - relax, enjoy myself, and it will all become clear. I always have too many questions about everything.
The only thing it seems useful for is PR -- plastering all of your "friends'" message bits with ads for such-a-such. For genuinely keeping in contact with friends, facebook works much better.
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