MyAmbivalence
I’ve had a MySpace profile for a long time, but never really did anything with it.
At the time I registered, I remember thinking that MySpace felt like a lame Friendster knock-off. But as we all know, MySpace is now the Google of social networking, a billion dollar eye-magnet. The difference is, I like Google, and I kind of despise MySpace. Yet the reasons why I dislike it are largely why it’s been so successful.
Visit any random profile on MySpace, and you’re instantly beamed back to the Bad Old Days of web design, with flashing graphics, unreadable text and — worse — random songs that start playing unbidden. It’s not that the underlying template is ugly. It’s blah but inoffensive. The ugliness comes from how easily an individual user can modify it, cramming it with non-scrolling backgrounds and multiple video streams.
(The fact that MySpace can handle the load is testament to some serious hardware and deep pockets.)
Because most people have terrible design sense, most profiles look pretty terrible — but they look exactly how the user wants them to look. This element of self-expression is a large part of why teens and tweens and twentysomethings love their MySpace.
And that’s probably the crux of why I don’t like MySpace: I’m too damn old.
It pains me to admit that, because I’ve always prided myself on being able to understand the social culture of younger generations. I was never part of the rave/club scene, but I could appreciate it in a non-judgmental way. Hell, I wrote a movie about it. Similarly, I never felt the burning need to pierce anything or text message all my friends, but it was always clear to me why someone would think it was essential.
If I revert to the 15-year old version of myself, it’s easy to imagine why I’d love MySpace. In high school, I remember talking to friends on three-way calling for hours every night. Add typing and graphics, and these phone calls would become a sort of social video game: Popularity Pac-Man.
Or perhaps the better analogy is my other high school mainstay, Dungeons & Dragons. Just like you could equip your character with the perfect mace for smiting kobolds, on MySpace you can fine-tune the virtual you with better photos, better favorites, and better friends. You can try on new identities, and focus on different attributes.
Basically, you can keep rolling for 18’s.
Back in high school, my friend Jason’s dad would often wander in during a marathon D&D session and ask, “Who’s winning?” We’d roll our eyes and groan. He just didn’t get it: You play D&D, but you don’t win it.
While I understand MySpace on a technical, social and cultural level, part of me wonders — worries — if I haven’t already become Jason’s dad. I can appreciate MySpace, but I don’t love it.
Which means I really don’t get it at all.
And maybe that’s okay. There are a great many things in life which I don’t fundamentally “get,” yet wholeheartedly accept as valid: electromagnetism, quantum theory, the GDP, Adam Sandler comedies.
That’s why I still have my little beachfront. You’re welcome to visit. Just be careful not to trip over my ambivalence on the way in.
Articles
April 10th, 2006 at 3:17 pm
More proof that those D&D geeks all grow up to be millionaires.
April 10th, 2006 at 3:19 pm
I’m glad I’m not the only one that feels this way about myspace. But with two children (3 and 5) I have a feeling I better get up to speed with what’s hip with the kids (I know that makes me sound old and lame, but I’m a dad isn’t that what I’m supposed to do?).
April 10th, 2006 at 3:24 pm
I couldn’t agree more. And I am mid-twenties.
April 10th, 2006 at 3:30 pm
Google pages is looking like the more promising alternative.
http://pages.google.com
It’s minimalist by comparison, but I think that’s what you’re getting at. Also, most people aren’t exactly wordsmiths, which is why they cram pages full of anything and everything but.
The more interesting question is will the web eventually evolve away from text in favor of 60-second google videos, webcams, wowee graphics, and podcasting? Could happen. If it does it could drive us all back to books.
I’ll go first.
April 10th, 2006 at 3:37 pm
MySpace is good for “Networking”, but really, no one seriously uses it for that. I myself use it mostly to stay in touch with high school friends and such. It’s been a great tool in that area.
April 10th, 2006 at 3:45 pm
I have a different problem with MySpace, and blogs in general. I tend to want to say something one day, perhaps after a little drinking, and the next day have one of them “Damn! Why did I say that??” moments.
I’m not sure I fully appreciate whatever benefit an online journal carries, compared to a traditional private journal. I’m one of those twentysomethings, but I guess I value privacy more than others my age.
I do like your blog, John. It’s highly informative.
April 10th, 2006 at 3:57 pm
Ha ha! Quite a coincidence that you and I would blog about MySpace at about the same time!
R
April 10th, 2006 at 4:40 pm
I’m 18 and I can’t stand to go to a profile and be blasted with some punk rock song and then race to either find the mute or pause button. What has Tom released into this world? But then again I’m just not such a huge MySpace fan in general, or a fan of other stuff that most of my age bracket finds interesting. All of these evil ploys to distract me - I have a screenplay to write.
April 10th, 2006 at 5:23 pm
And that’s probably the crux of why I don’t like MySpace: I’m too damn old.
You say “too old,” I say “too visually literate.” Most of MySpace makes my eyes bleed.
More proof that those D&D geeks all grow up to be millionaires.
Ha! If only.
…
Idle curiousity: Did you ever play any tabletop RPGs other than D&D, John? My day job was RPG design before I moved to LA for the MFA program at USC, and it’s still paying the bills.
April 10th, 2006 at 5:25 pm
Dungeons and Dragons is a mixed bag when it comes to veterans of it. They’re either very rich and successful people, or still playing the game in their basement alone. If that’s even possible. John is obviously a mix between both. Successful, but I’ll be damned if he doesn’t visit his basement some nights and enter the dungeon.
Although, that could mean a great many things out of context.
April 10th, 2006 at 5:35 pm
I read this article recently which gets at the idea that teens love MySpace not so much for creative expression, but because of the lack of any common space. As more and more teens are driven from malls, parking lots, parks, etc., they’ve congregated in a wholly new kind of public environment. And it’s more efficient than just being ’seen’ at the mall; when you browse someone’s profile, you’re instantly being stamped with whatever identity they want to present.
Here’s the article, and a quote:
http://www.danah.org/papers/AAAS2006.html
“Youth are not creating digital publics to scare parents - they are doing so because they need youth space, a place to gather and see and be seen by peers. Publics are critical to the coming-of-age narrative because they provide the framework for building cultural knowledge. Restricting youth to controlled spaces typically results in rebellion and the destruction of trust. Of course, for a parent, letting go and allowing youth to navigate risks is terrifying. Unfortunately, it’s necessary for youth to mature.
What we’re seeing right now is a cultural shift due to the introduction of a new medium and the emergence of greater restrictions on youth mobility and access. The long-term implications of this are unclear. Regardless of what will come, youth are doing what they’ve always done - repurposing new mediums in order to learn about social culture.”
April 10th, 2006 at 6:01 pm
I smirked at this, because I’m a twenty-something college student and I think MySpace is tacky as all hell. I don’t like it at all. It baffles me (and a fair number of my friends, as well) that it’s become so popular.
And I normally like Web 2.0 social or news networking fads like last.fm, Facebook, or digg (which I visit at least daily). I agree that it’s just plain irritating to look at most MySpace profiles. If the obnoxious emo punk music, embedded YouTube skateboard wiepout videos, and flashing heart backgrounds against which no text can be read don’t do you in, the terrible standards of grammar and spelling will.
I can see why it’s popular, too. But it’s just another example of the mass public’s total lack of appreciation for good taste and restraint. It’s like the Xanga nightmare, only even more obnoxious. It’d be pretty neat if it was nice and elegant.
April 10th, 2006 at 6:25 pm
Jeff Tidball –
I was mostly AD&D, but I also played some Top Secret and Gangbusters. I really liked the DC Heroes game, but could never get my friends on board. I had the books for Warhammer and some other ones, but never played.
And no, B. Taylor, I don’t go down to the basement. But we have a dirt crawlspace, so it wouldn’t be conducive on any level.
April 10th, 2006 at 8:37 pm
I’m 27 and I don’t really understand the joy of MySpace. I have a page because a friend of mine has one and you can’t post comments unless you’re a member, but I don’t use it for much else. I have my idiot blog for the ranting, raving and complaining.
I don’t understand all the recent fuss over MySpace either, all the stories on the news about it. There’s a very simple solution if you don’t want your child to get involved with some online pervert or whatever: pay attention to your child. You just gotta look after the kid, whether the kid likes it or not.
My family got AOL when I was about 12 or 13 and my dad always knew what I was doing, because he’d bug me about it every day.
April 10th, 2006 at 10:50 pm
When I was a kid, I also had A.D.D. and… wait… what were we talking about again?
April 10th, 2006 at 11:09 pm
There’s something hilarious about the image of someone playing D&D in a dirt crawlspace by themselves. It’s kind of the epitome of loneliness. Although if you brought a torch and a wooden sword in with you, it’d be awesome.
I’m not bashing D&D (or you, John) it’s just that typically people seem to find the game solely for nerds. Obviously it has a large nerd fan base, but I think some people can take it too seriously. But, that’s true with everything.
I think I lost my decisive point on the right turn at Albuquerque.
April 10th, 2006 at 11:20 pm
I’m 23, and you can count me squarely in the ‘cant stand myspace’ camp. Checking out links of real-life friends who have upwards of a hundred or more ‘myspace friends’ makes me sort of teary-eyed. And the ability to play any music you want without warning is an evil, evil thing to do.
April 11th, 2006 at 12:18 am
Seriously, I’m 27 and I get it. I don’t even remember signing up for MySpace, but when I got a “Friend Request” from an old HS friend back in December, I got hooked … for about two months. I’ve reconnected with about a dozen people from High School, which I thank MySpace for. But now I have their e-mail addresses and phone numbers, so we communicate more directly.
On the idea of Personal Journals online. I don’t get it. Most of the people I know mock me for having a blog, especially since I have so many opinions against the “Online Journal”. But, I don’t really remember the last time I used my Blog as a place to vent my emotions and personal beliefs … that’s what the stack of marble notebooks on my floor is for. (truly unfortunate rhyme, i’m sorry)
That said, I like the idea that you can have a web presence to keep your friends near and far up-to-date with what you’re up to, or your interests. But the minute I have a Dancing Jesus or Flashing Palm Tree on my site, report me to whatever organization moderates those things, because I should be removed from the internet entirely …
April 11th, 2006 at 12:24 am
http://www.facebook.com is a popular website started at Harvard and aimed at college and high school students. It’s essentially MySpace, but without the ability to modify anything but the text and your photo albums. It works like a charm. Unfortunately, it’s not available to the general public… yet?
April 11th, 2006 at 2:16 am
whats myspace?
April 11th, 2006 at 2:17 am
Put it this way. If Jon Lovitz can have a MySpace, anybody can.
(I, for one, still refuse to.)
April 11th, 2006 at 2:32 am
Thank you ScriptWeaver…you stole my line.
I started a myspace about a year ago and became thoroughly annoyed with it after about a month and tossed it like day old chinese food. I decided that reading books and being with people in the flesh was so much more invigorating.
April 11th, 2006 at 4:53 am
Out of curiosity, why do you have a MySpace profile when you have a website of your own?
April 11th, 2006 at 5:22 am
John, I think you’re missing the obvious reason why aspects of youth culture are starting to slip by you. You’re a dad now! Any day now you’re going to wake up, look at the longest pair of black socks you have and say, “hey, those would look pretty nice with shorts.”
April 11th, 2006 at 6:44 am
This is random–I’m reading your blog about myspace, the radio is running a story about myspace and in my other tab, I’m marginally spamming people on my space about the new episode on my video podcast.
(BTW, Our website is CigarVideoPodcast.com and you can click here to launch and subscribe via iTunes Up in Smoke Video Podcast on iTunes if anyone’s interested)
But really, I agree with all the sentiments about the poor design et al. but it works. I haven’t found a better way to find random old friends. Even after my little sister tried to turn me on to Facebook…
April 11th, 2006 at 7:01 am
I couldn’t agree with you more John; however I wonder about the irony of complaining about MySpace on a Blog…
April 11th, 2006 at 9:45 am
Wait a minute. Looking at your myspace page, I now know you’re NOT watching Veronica Mars? Seriously?
April 11th, 2006 at 10:04 am
I was “Jason’s Dad” when I was a kid… When everybody in the 80’s got those little Nintendo Donkey Kong hand-held thingies, I told them (aged about 8!) it would never catch on and wouldn’t play them. The real irony is just recently I got commissioned for - wait for it - a video game.
April 11th, 2006 at 10:25 am
Well, I’m mid twenties and I like myspace… but I hate face party and all that stuff.
I like it because I found lots of people there from my area that are actually intelligent and arty. It’s like they’ve all being hiding away somewhere until now… there are even a few local screenwriters.
I found out that where I live has an underground musical culture far greater than I’d ever known… and as I studied acting and knew lots of media students in college, I also got asked to be on the production team for a movie that a friend of a friend is making this year.
Terry Rossio even has a myspace and it’s got a really insightful blog about the filming of potc from a writers perpective.
Like anything in life, you just have to ignore the crud and look out for the stuff of interest I guess.
April 11th, 2006 at 1:44 pm
John,
Why do so many Hollywood screenwriters have so few credits ?
April 11th, 2006 at 1:59 pm
Hey John,
I wouldn’t worry about it. I’m 22 and I hate MySpace too.
Cameron
April 11th, 2006 at 2:27 pm
Does anyone know the average or median age of MySpacer? Youth/inexperience/unevolved taste would help explain noisy/garish design.
FWIW, this appeared in the LA Times a couple of days ago.
Headline: Testing the Bounds of MySpace A writer learns a lot from an experiment with the popular social networking site — especially about her 13-year-old daughter.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-myspace8apr08,0,4387666,full.story?coll=la-home-headlines
April 11th, 2006 at 3:02 pm
Alright John, so how many “friends” did you have before this post?
April 11th, 2006 at 6:03 pm
Yeah, MySpace is the worst looking web page in the world. I’m in my twenties and all my friends use it and it’s torture. I get an email message saying I have a “new comment”, so I click the link and wade through pages of haphazard ads and nonsense links before getting to my page, which is equally screwy.
With Ajax and all the other nice new developments in web design out there, I hope that something slightly less hideous and more user friendly steps up to the plate. In the meantime, at least we can thank myspace for the 10,000 new shitty bands we’re all being made aware of.
April 11th, 2006 at 6:09 pm
Jess:
Five.
Joan:
I saw that article as well, and thought it was well-done. For those who haven’t read it (Joan has a link), the author let her teenage daughter go on MySpace, but made her sign a contract first about what she was and was not allowed to do. Which all seems really smart and fore-thinky. Yet it still ended badly.
April 12th, 2006 at 12:10 am
I’m a graphic designer by day, and MySpace is the most offensive assault to the senses I have ever experienced. I’ve seen scores of MySpace profiles, and every single one made me want to jam my Wacom stylus through my ocular orbits.
My theory is this: MySpace is the online equivalent to a teenager’s bedroom. Random posters on the walls, music blasting, photos of friends plastered everywhere — the purity of teenage self-expression, in all its tasteless horror. Growing up, we all expressed ourselves by how we decorated our rooms (and our lockers, notebooks, backpacks, etc). MySpace is just an extension of that impulse to let the world know “who you really are” … as if a 13-year-old girl really has that level of self-awareness.
In related news, go see HARD CANDY immediately. MySpace is known for being the hook-up spot of choice for pedophiles. HARD CANDY shows what happens when things don’t go exactly as they planned. That’s all I can say without giving away the plot, but holy shit, what an intense piece of writing it is. Ellen Page, who plays the lead girl, deserves an Oscar. Her performance is flawless.
April 12th, 2006 at 12:15 am
I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels the same about the myspace phenomenon. Being 22 years old, I’ve tried to jump on that bandwagon many a time before - often driven by the fear that if I don’t conform soon, I’ll be left behind as the new frontier of online social networking advances without me. But if this is where the future is headed, I think I’d rather walk.
Don’t get me wrong. I think myspace is a useful site for bands to promote themselves and keep track of fans. But as a personal blog and ‘all-things-me’ hub, it makes me wanna puke. It’s promise is akin to that of Henry Ford’s “any color, so long as it’s black”. Well, your myspace can be anything you want it to be, so long as it’s ugly.
By the way John, I graduated from Trinity in ‘05 and I was extremely upset to find out from the school newspaper that you had just been invited to speak to students at Professor Henderson’s request. If only they had cool people like you as guest lecturers when I attended, I might have stuck with that Comm major. I’m still pursuing those filmmaking dreams of mine, but I can’t really say that I have Trinity to thank for that. I’m glad that the program is showing improvement. (sorry for the tangent)
April 12th, 2006 at 8:38 am
What the hell does MySpace have anything to do with screenwriting ? This a blog for screenwriters, why everyone all tripped on a stupid social-networking site, this is supposed to ge one of best places on-line for screenwriters to meet and talk and instead you writers want to the lack of pretty graphics on MySpace ? What a waste of energy. Why aren’t we discussing the birth and death of stories, do a screenwriter knows if the script was a hit when he wrote it ? Who deversed the Oscar instead of the winner ? This is supposed to be a blog filled with energy and excitement. Who gives a shit about MySpace, in a few years there’ll be another fad. It’s like the latest porn star, five years later, she’s history. Lame topics. Let’s talk about geography in screenwriting, can you a write a film script on Irish gangsters if you’re originally from orange county, etc. This is the best site I found for screenwriting on-line, let’s not waste it on trivial, pettiness. John August, bring some fire to the profession of writing films. How about the history of cinema ? There’s so much more to learn, than a teen-hang out online called MySpace.
April 12th, 2006 at 10:07 am
I’m probably gonna get jumped on here judging by the comments so far… but I really think it’s abnormal to treat a 13 year old as in the article. At 13, myself and most people I knew were out all night drinking beer and hanging out with friends. Is contractual agreements with your children an L.A. thing? Breaking them into the industry young?
I do agree tha the internet can be dangerous for kids as regards the weird people but I think education is a far greater weapon than cencorship. Kids will email the same chain mails, and swear in school. They watch TV and movies with sexual content and swearing… If they have a camera then they’ll just take pictures pulling the finger and show ther mates anyway.
I dunno the answer but I do know that kids will always find a way, you just won’t know about it — surely that’s far more dangerous in the end.
April 12th, 2006 at 10:29 am
Okay, I’m 30 years old and I’m guilty of enjoying myspace. If it buys me any cred at all, I also played D&D for a while (though I prefered Vampire: The Masquerade and making up my own RPG’s).
I use myspace to check up on friends myspace profiles. I post all my heavy, intellectual stuff on blogger/blogspot.
I’m also guilty of having a song, rudely blasting anyone who comes to my profile and doesn’t find the pause button in time. But seriously, you can disable songs from starting automatically in your privacy settings.
I only started myspacing about a month or two ago, as I had tried to stay away from it before then. Now, it’s another link on my (bordering on OCD) web rounds - along with johnaugust.com and Josh Friedman’s seldom updated blog.
April 12th, 2006 at 11:21 am
John,
I am a huge fan of your blog, and your myspace entry was on point… In addition to being a television writer, I also play for a rock band, The Mornings. Myspace largely grew out of band culture, serving the need to promote and publicize independent music…
Then myspace was adopted by young america who saw it as the next malt shop…
What is terrifying to me(28), is that I actually believe the social networking phemonenon is changing our culture, eroding traditional social boundaries…
I have a popular theory: one cannot be in a relationship and on myspace simultaneously… The self-expression potential, and the ability to have immediate access to anyone at anytime has forced many “new adults” to ween themselves off traditional social roles in favor of the “virtual community.”
Akin to the recent popularity of reality television, and the loathing our young america has for anonymity, there is a deep seated need for self expression that myspace caters to, but also spoils with wreckless abandon.
Oh… and I am addicted to it.
James
April 12th, 2006 at 1:01 pm
I’m 18 and I hate MySpace. I think that officially places me as the youngest hater so far in the comments. I have another friend, same age, studying design, and he hates it too. He and I both have a thing for design - we like things to look good as possible, and we’ll waste as much time as we can making things look unnecessarily good. But we can’t do it with MySpace. You CAN’T make it look good. That and the god-awful overplayed Simple Plan song jumping through your headphones when you’re already listening to Zeppelin really isn’t tasty.
I think this may be all part of that ‘old people just don’t get us’ thing. I’m prematurely old, methinks. I know maybe 5 people who listen to music from before 1996, and they’re probably the same people who know movies from before 1996, know what they want to do as a career and can hold conversations with people older than 22. But if this is the youth of today, I’m happy to be an old codger.
Old people don’t need to ‘get you’ to know thet you’re a pretentious, ignorant brat.
This could be why I wasn’t incredibly popular at school.
April 14th, 2006 at 7:32 am
Sadly, I joined msypace when I learned there was an entire club devoted to bashing my then 12 year-old son. The club has been disbanded and the school at least talked to several of the kids.
Tragically, a girl I know, whose mother is an actress, was kidnapped by a man she met through myspace. It sounds surreal but it’s not. The girl, Tina Colon is a sweet, naive girl. The guy whose name is most likely Mike Downing, looks scary as shit. Truly, truly scary. His account on myspace was opened with a fake business address (which the police found out, not myspace) and all sorts of other fake stuff.
I’ll post the link to Tina’s listing on a Missing Person’s page. I don’t know how to paste the picture to Mike Downing, but I’ll try to link to a friend’s myspace blog where he posted the picture and info about Tina’s kidnapping. The scary thing is, Tina probably thought they were in love and running away together. They’d even met twice before in person, even though her mother told her not to. But when Mike came to take her, he had her erase her cell phone contacts and leave the phone at home AND had her erase their computer exchanges. That doesn’t sound like someone with good intentions to me.
Kristina (Tina) Colon http://nvfc.us/content/view/2164/70/
Mike Downing http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=20845305&blogID=109593929&MyToken=972a1016-5c7d-458e-8313-975e768d052f
April 15th, 2006 at 10:03 am
Anonymous. Please, please breed. The future needs your genes.
April 17th, 2006 at 3:15 am
Don’t feel too bad, I’m 25 years old (which I think would still be considered young) and I’m not a fan of MySpace either. I find it to be overflowing with a bunch of crap and a lot of people with nothing to say. No offense to the deep MySpacers.
April 17th, 2006 at 3:29 pm
Not every page on MySpace is as horrible as you all are describing. Are you designophiles just clicking on the profiles of random teenagers, clucking your tongues, and frantically tabbing over to eamesoffice.com to wash the filth out of your eyes?
This whole comment thread is shaping up to be an exercise in proclaiming y’all’s superiority over, and greater mental age than, your fellow folk.
There are fascinating people all over MySpace, and they are vastly outnumbered by the clueless jackasses, just like real life.
All I’m saying is, don’t judge a tool by its most incompetent users.
April 18th, 2006 at 6:26 pm
I am not the same Tim as the one who wrote the comment above. But I can sympathise with his plight. Also I am more useful: is useful for us old folks who like things to be pretty.
April 18th, 2006 at 6:28 pm
Ok wait, maybe I am less useful. That post was supposed to say is useful for us old folks who like things to be pretty.
April 18th, 2006 at 6:29 pm
I give up. Just click the link.
April 21st, 2006 at 8:59 pm
Not loving MySpace is proof that you DO get it. Everytime I’m cohersed into visiting the site, I cringe with a deep sense of disappointment and occassional disbelief. I WISH my reaction was solely due to my disappointment in the technological failings of its users.
My favorite tagline is “MySpace: For adults who want to go back to high school.”
May 18th, 2006 at 7:36 am
to be honest i’m not keen on any of these sorts of sites and never have been. The only reason i ever use them is to keep up on old friends that i haven’t spoken to for a while, maybe display some of my artwork, and write a few blogs of film reviews etc. The reason most people have awful (and from the link you provided, it would seem tasteless) layouts is because most people are in fact morons. My own reason is because i don’t care enough about Myspace to care.
Having said that i still like to pick out songs for my main page, though i usually try and find something soft to respect people that, like you, do get annoyed by it. Oh, and i also added you to my friends list.
June 15th, 2006 at 7:16 pm
I’m a teen and I don’t understand Myspace! ^^ (Of course, that doesn’t mean I don’t have one. I just use it as an extention of email.)