Text Box: Text Box: Text Box: ‘The MySpace Phenomenon’ 10/5/07 The internet in Britain has really taken off over the last few years. Gone are the days of hearing that tedious dial-up tone and waiting an age for the modem to connect, since 2001 more and more Brits have been joining the broadband revolution and now it is virtually unheard of for someone to be connecting at a lesser bandwidth. Companies like AOL, BT, Wanadoo and now even Sky have joined in, and now fast, cheap internet connections are logging millions of Brits online everyday. The introduction of such speedy services and less download time has given rise to websites with vast multimedia content and one of the most popular of these types of sites is MySpace. But what is it about this site that has gained it so much media attention? Well quite simply MySpace and other sites like it are windows into people’s lives. Unless their profile is set to private, you can view personal photographs, listen to their music and read their blogs. The reason sites like this are becoming so popular is for a number of different reasons. Famously MySpace has been known for a number of different reasons, both good and bad. Most recently it was cited as the reason why a house party thrown at a middle-class house became out of control and attracted a large, varied, anti-social guest list. But what MySpace is more renowned for is the way it helped change the British music scene- in particular Sheffield starlets, Arctic Monkeys who managed to score a Number One single, even without a record contract. Musically MySpace is a godsend for budding musicians. The site allows you to upload songs onto its integrated media player and if people like it they can find out about upcoming gigs, albums and even add the songs to their own profile to spread the word. Indeed bands like Babyshambles and Lily Allen have hosted “MySpace-only” secret gigs and after-show parties. And for fans it’s a good thing too as not only can they show their support but they can get closer to their favourite artists. The updated bulletins which appear upon login to the main screen are used to portray the latest information and alert fans to any off-the-record developments. In essence it really is such a simple idea which works so well. Since web-hosters started charging ridiculous fees to users running sites, these types of “reunion” servers have flourished. By giving you one page to personalize it opens so many doors, both to people you would never have met to people you have lost touch with. It is so easy to search for people including by name, email address and geography. Once you have found them you can leave them a comment on their page, send them a personal email through the internal server or even request to add them as your friend for the world to see. But surely it can’t all be bright and rosy for the future of MySpace? Well as a matter-of-fact it is, their constantly evolving software is both user-friendly and rewarding. The only problem to note would be their insistence on using HTML to create your page. Although quite simple, this is alien to most computer users and the fact that it doesn’t have an internal site builder is a stumbling block. Luckily simply ‘Googling’ “MySpace editor” will soon have your page glittering with the best of them but it is this fundamental error which may see it lose ground to some of the other upcoming “friend sites”. Its main rival is probably Facebook, like MySpace it plays on its linking of people and to be fair in many ways this feature of it outshines the site. Other rivals like Where Are You Now? (WAYN), FaceParty and even the legendary Friends Reunited have registration fees and other hidden nasties sewn into their framework, denying access to its endearing features. Friends Reunited for example prevents you from emailing other members until you’ve signed up. So the world is definitely MySpace’s oyster, though whether its popularity will mean that it goes the same way as YouTube and Napster remains to be seen. Sadly many of the internet’s greatest sites seem to have to do this to ensure survival as they lose their identity to a larger company. Though whatever happens, MySpace will certainly go down in internet folklore as being an innovative part of online development. CM Text Box: Links and affiliates Contact Me