MyBook [COMM 203]

Social networking has become a huge phenomenon in American culture. I began using an online social network when I created a Myspace account in 2005. I did not create a personal account simply because I didn't feel that it was necessary. The majority of my friends did not have Myspace profiles, so I figured it would be pointless. At the time, Myspace was a very great way to promote our music on the internet. We instantly had a web presence where we could showcase our band and keep everyone up to date on upcoming shows, releases, and progress. Within the next six months to a year, it seemed that everyone began creating their own Myspace profiles. We would send out friend requests to all of the people we knew, and then in turn they would send their friends links to increase the traffic to our page.

Everything was great for a year or two, but then "Myspace Bots" started becoming widely used. Myspace Bots are essentially an application that automates the process of sending out friend requests, messages, comments, event invitations, and bulletins. We then became flooded with a ton of spam, and at this point we had so many friends that it became time consuming to remove the bot users, and even when we did we would still receive spam. The problem was that bots were so widely used that we would receive friend requests and messages from people/bands that we didn't even know. This led to a ton of frustration, and Myspace began to lose a lot of the communication methods that we grew to love. Many people stopped using Myspace because of the spam issue. Bands began using bots so much that profiles would become flooded with advertisements or pointless and generic comments. By 2008, the majority of our friends began switching to a then lesser known social network called Facebook.

Facebook is a great alternative to Myspace for communication purposes. Facebook is structured in a way that prevents bands from simply fishing for an audience, and it also prevents many other spam problems that were present on Myspace. I no longer use Myspace because Facebook is more user friendly and it is a great way to keep up with friends and family. When I log in to Facebook, I am not greeted by massive amounts of notifications sent to me by people or bands that I know nothing about. Instead, I can see information posted by people I actually know and like.

When I am performing or promoting a show, I can create an event and simply invite people that would like to come. The people I invite can then RSVP to the event, so I know how many people can be expected to show up. Then, anyone that is invited can invite friends that they believe would be interested. This is much the same as the events platform on the Myspace network, only users are generally spammed so much that they simply hit ignore. I have noticed that Myspace has recently began making drastic changes to their network in an attempt to compete with Facebook, but it is still designed more for the use of an artist as opposed to an individual. Myspace can continue as the spam playground as long as they want, I just really hope none of the space rubs off on my Facebook.