So this week, at the urging of C., I finally got with the MySpace thing (www.myspace.com) and set up a page over there. I can't imagine I'll spend all that much time there, though. It's good if there's a little community of people there that you know - in my case, some folks from the message board of a certain pop group that I frequent regularly - but other than that, it's quite an odd place.
MySpace seems mainly to be characterised by two things:
1. Music: a lot of bands now have MySpace pages, and the site is becoming very influential in promoting bands, apparently. In some cases, songs are made available for members there before being released more widely. So if you're into music, it's a good place to be.
2. Popularity and Cyber-Flirtation: the average MySpace user is in his/her teens or twenties, so there's quite a high-school vibe. There seems to be a lot of emphasis on how many 'Friends' you have, as well as on the photos you post, which you can submit for ranking. Unsurprisingly, the most popular people with the highest rankings seem to be those with the most provocative pics. Given the age range, most people are also single, so it can be a bit of a meat market, to say the least.
I have submitted no photos for ranking, and my profile indicates that I'm married and only looking for friends, but I've already been approached by a couple of dodgy men. 'Dave', for instance, sent me an 'add request' (whereby I can approve or deny his request to be my 'Friend'). But on looking at his profile, I discovered he was 43 years old and mainly interested in football and bikini babes. As he already had a slew of Playboy-type beauties as his 'Friends', I figured he had no need for the likes of me, and respectfully denied his add request.
Beyond all that stuff, MySpace is also a bit of a technical mess. In the evening, especially, the site can slow to a crawl, and many features don't always work, depending on how many people are logged in. The blog feature there is especially annoying, so I definitely have no plans to move this blog over there - in fact, I've put in a link so that anyone who stumbles across my profile there will be directed here if they wish.
Anyway. It's early days, so we'll see how things go. In the meantime, if you, Dear Reader, happen to be on MySpace, send me your profile address and I'll add you.
2 comments:
I kind of figured (or rather, feared) that you might get some unwanted attention: that's, erm, quite a flattering picture of yourself you've got on your profile, there.
You are, sadly, not alone. Another friend of mine, who also has a MySpace profile, uses her blog to ridicule the come-ons from clueless horndogs she keeps getting there. (Hers, at least, are somewhat younger.)
Agree with you in re the technical messitude. But what's with the aquamarine on your profile? Yoiks!
To be honest, I find the approaches to be a bit of a laugh (and they have all been harmless so far). If I wanted to avoid that sort of thing altogether, I'd post an oogly or nonsensical pic.
Re: the background colour...it was meant to be a lovely shade of sea-green (which is my favourite colour). But I've discovered that, depending on your browser, it just looks sickly. I'll need to tinker with the backdrop a bit more; haven't found any templates I like yet, though, and I have neither the time nor patience to figure out how to design me own. If I did, I'd have gotten rid of the drab backdrop on this here blog ages ago.
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