So what's the deal with this Myspace thing? How come everyone is jumping on the bandwagon and creating their own stupid little page? And how come Caws Pobi has 40 friends while I only have 21?
Shucks, kids. Everyone is jumping on the Myspace bandwagon because that's what the internet is all about: information. Since the dawn of man, the world-wide-web has always been the easiest source of information on products, places, public icons, music, academics, economics, entertainment, porn, stadium mud buggies, crazy hats, jazz flute, and everything else. Thus, it is a logical step that it become your premier source for finding information on random people.
It was Momus who first said the "everyone will be famous for fifteen people" quote that I love so much. It suggests a leveling of the social spectrum brought about by the age of information. Fame become relative. The more you know about people, the more interesting/famous they become to you. Regarding his song The Age of Information, Momus wrote "Maybe the new transparency will mean a new tolerance for the complexities of human behavior. Nixon got impeached when people heard his secret tapes, but the more people learn about Clinton's immorality, the more they seem to like him." If this is getting too far from the subject of Myspace, let's all look at some lyrics from the song:
...Your reputation used to depend on what you conceal, now it depends on what you reveal.
...Somebody's hand is in your tin of Netscape magic cookies, but relax: if you're an interesting person, morally good in your acts, you have nothing to fear from facts.
...These are different times, now the bottom line is that everyone should prepare to be known. Most of your friends will still like you fine.
You are given the free opportunity to customize a profile of yourself, complete with pictures, interviews, hobbies, pet names, favorite song, favorite works of art, who you'd like to meet, what kind of food your dog likes, or how often you sneeze, all in the anticipation that people you know (or people you don't know!) will read about you and become fascinated. There are many who really become quite narcissistic with the whole thing, such as the guy I love to hate, Number1Hater. This guy isn't on TV or even radio because, seriously, he's a complete tool. But he's got 253987 friends, and to all of them, he's famous.
In contrast, I give you this girl, who has set her profile to 'private'. Apparently she doesn't want to be famous. Myspace is a useful networking tool, allowing you to arrange a small (or large) online community with which to keep contact with and alert of events or gatherings, so creating an extensive profile is optional. But it makes you wonder; what aspects of this girl's life is she so afraid of revealing? Perhaps she just created the page to poke around at the profiles of her friends while she chooses to remain anonymous, closed and uninteresting.
webspace...
...myspace
When I first created my profile I didn't see much of a point to it. I took my time making it look visually pleasing, but when I was finished it simply gathered e-dust. I didn't need to update it, because nothing about me was changing very drastically. It wasn't until I found the 'music' section of Myspace that I really saw the significance of the whole system. If you're an amateur musician, the one thing you need is an easy way to get your music and your band info to the world. And here it is: an easy-to-make profile that allows you to upload 4 songs for visitors to listen to. It's simpler than a band homepage; more like an apartment-page. Small, practical, and cheap, not to mention easily refurnished. A musical act without the website expertise to build a homepage can easily 'rent' a Myspace site and start networking. The best and most addictive part of this whole thing for me is browsing through other musicians pages. By searching for other experimental groups in Oregon I discovered the strange songs of Anbot Rodroid and Antonio Granite. I mentioned that Caws Pobi has 40 friends, and 12 of them are strangers and musicians who apparently found my music interesting enough to invite me to be their friend. How refreshing to know that there are other unfinanced young people making great music! You're finished, MTV! I prefer Squeeze Me I Squeak and The Stan McMahon Band to your boring bands!
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