Friday, December 01, 2006

My Myspace Addiction

This was going to be a lot more fun before Jamison became an addict as well, but so it goes.

About a year or two ago I signed up for a myspace account on a whim. I think, at the time, I was looking for other blog type places to do my writing and I knew a few folks with myspace accounts. Mainly I just wanted to see what all the noise was about.

It didn’t seem like much. Almost unanimously all of the sites looked terrible. Backgrounds were often loud, obnoxious and obscured the actual text. They were often way too busy with screaming, flashing lights, multiple videos and slideshows rolling at once and really annoying music would start playing even though I didn’t ask it to.

When I began trying to set up my own little space I could see the problem. The Myspace template sucks eggs. They give you little boxes to fill in such creative things as favorite movies, music, and books, but no tools in which to add anything interesting. They do allow you to add your own html and embed things like slideshows and youtube, the their organization is such that anything you add will look like crap. And it often does.

The only way to create something interesting is to know a lot of coding and have mad design skillz. Obviously, most people don’t have these things and so we get millions off awful sites. Including my own.

Well for the last few months I have quickly become very addicted to myspace. What it lacks in design, it makes up for in usability. I now check my myspace page two or three times a day. It has become nearly as addicting as e-mail.

Why you ask? Because everybody is freaking on it. They allow you to choose what schools you have gone to and then search for other folks from that school. Once I let everyone know I graduated Faulkner it became this big FU reunion. Kellie J is there, Scott Mobley, Helen Wishum, Devon Griffith, Jason Gray and even the freaking Gordon brothers.

It’s like I’m back in college without the crappy dorm rooms, curfews and studying to deal with.

So sign up people, and join the crap.

14 comments:

JS said...

Here here... I say with my tail tucked...

I always said I'd never make one for the reasons Brew said; all the pages are butt ugly and annoying as crap... plus it had a negative social stigma from the media...

More and more old time friends (Kellie J the main one) kept telling me to get on, that Ill love it! After thanksgiving, I made one, after my brother showed me his myspace site. The dude is 38 and on myspace, so it isnt for kids.

Ussually the kids sites are the ugliest... they figure more is better. Ive found that the templates Ive used are very clean. I have no videos and no music. I have a cool little applet that scrolls through my zazzle art, I have the facial hair poll, and 41 friends! Friends from high school that I dearly miss (the few of them) and my dearest friends from college that I havent spoke to in ages. Like Brew said, it is like being at FU, without the crappy parts (like class).

I will not tell anyone to get on myspace, but i will say I enjoy it... almost addicted. However, you dont have to be addicted to enjoy it. it is overwheleming for the first 2 days and I sort of felt gross (for lack of a better word) for having an account. but when all the friends started pouring in, i felt better.

Stubbs has one, i have one, brew has one, mullins and jules have one, some people have solo accounts (like me and brew, stubs, Diana, Ryan F, his wife, etc) ot=jhers do couples or family accounts. I like it (And thought id hate it), but I wont push anyone to get one.

JS said...

FWIW (for what it's worth) www.myspace.com/jamisonab

Kellie J has a very cool looking myspace page. She is me and brews friend so check hers out too. Though, she ranges from day to do whether her page is private or public. Mine is public today just for the poll, but it ussually set to private (meaning, if you aint my friend, you cant see my page)

bigsip said...

What do you do on there?

Most of the ones I've seen just have people come on and leave some sort of one-liner like, "Hey, man! How's it going?"

I have considered getting one, but I barely have time for the blog...

I probably will get one soon, though.

kellieja said...

I will go public for you today Jamison. I decided to go private since I added the webcam chat hoping to wrangle in only the people I know and not the weirdos from stickam.

kellieja said...

Adam's(my husband)page is coolest!

I was skeptical at first. I originally saw a blog posted by James Birch about two years ago. At that time, I didnt realize it was on myspace. I assumed it was a blogspot.
Now being signed up for a year I still love it. I have found half of my graduating class from highschool and 80% of my friends are from FU. I cant get away from that place.

kellieja said...

oh, and myspace led me to your blog in a weird way :)

Mat Brewster said...

You don't really have to "do" anything sip. It's mainly a place to say hello to friends.

You definitely get a lot of generic "hows it going" comments, but that's just the nature of it. Just like in real life you see casual friends and say 'how you doing man?'

but there are ways to privately talk to folks and usually in those spaces things get a little more personal.

oh and also the comments are goofy because I go to your page and comment, but then you have to go to my page to reply and so forth. So looking at one page seems really one sides and confusing.

Mat Brewster said...

An odd thing I've found is that lots of people will come out of the woodwork (and I'm not just talking about the sexy spam shebots) and want to be your friend, but then say absolutely nothing to you.

several faulknerites have done that. we're friends but have said nothing to each other.

bigsip said...

I might get one later...

Actually, I think I had one at one point, but cancelled it because I had no time for it.

If I get some free time, I'll get one, I guess.

JS said...

Kellie, youll go public for ME? But... im on myspace as you know... i just cant access it from work, which is probably a good thing.... myspace is blocked since all the kids would get no work done if they could get to it.

kellieja said...

It is GOOD that they block it at school. I fear the day I have kids. Will they learn from Mommy's poor computer habits?

You are right Jamison! Everytime I go private now I dont have to think that I am blocking you out.

bigsip said...

Jamison, I think you should grow your beard loooong. Become a lumberjack and wear flannel.

We could go to Luverne and chop wood!

JS said...

Mullins, ive spend 3 days in solitute, meditating and trying to find the inward part of myself that can answer why your wife hasnt yet accepted me as a friend... likewise with Dianna...

I have given up and have chosen to accept these events.

Mat Brewster said...

I think they are afraid of all that facial hair.