# Myspace: can someone explain it me? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 10, 2006, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181 "2006-08-10T18:05:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/81 "2006-08-14T23:41:13Z")
I give up. People are bound and determined to find the crap pages and hold them up as a mirror to the entire site. I’m content to know that in my sphere of MySpace, pages are generally decent-looking if not downright classy, and intelligent people with good taste abound. Not that there aren’t design gone wild pages, but they’re on a different level from the hearts and flowers types people are talking about. MySpace is NOT a generational thing. The average age in my sphere is, well, I don’t know what it is, but I’d say 30’s to 50’s, with many 20-somethings mixed in. And I’m not just talking about a few pages, I’m talking thousands of pages. They pretty much know how to spell, use grammar, not abbreviate words (like u for you, r for are) and have clear thoughts and things to say. I think it has to do with the types of music in my sphere. People who have crappy taste in music usually also have crappy taste in design and Friends. People who have good taste in music care more about other things surrounding them, such as design. What’s clear from this thread is that people who have made their minds up cannot be swayed, because being snarky is more important than being right. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/82 "2006-08-14T23:51:32Z")
This is where I made up the design of all my pages (I have 5): [http://www.mygen.co.uk/](http://www.mygen.co.uk/) I went to the Profile Editor up in the top left. There’s a real-time preview so you can see immediately what the changes do to your page. You don’t have to log in to use it. You don’t even have to have a MySpace page to check out how it works. There are a ton of profile editors out there, but so far this is the only one that give you a decent real-time preview so you can see what bone-headed mistake it would be to use blue text on blue background or somesuch. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/83 "2006-08-14T23:52:10Z")
Oh, baloney. Why don’t you show us some of these stellar, intellectually challenging, tastefully designed sites, then? “good music” has to be one of the most subjective issues there ever was–kind of like food tastes. Show me some concrete evidence that these music aficianados display to advantage and I’ll change my tune. (pun not intended). I can certainly see the use described above for myspace–and for long distance friends, it makes alot of sense. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/84 "2006-08-15T00:29:51Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] Oh, baloney. Why don’t you show us some of these stellar, intellectually challenging, tastefully designed sites, then? [/quote] There’s already links in this thread. Unfortunately for you, some of us don’t fancy putting links to our MySpace pages in this thread ourselves. > [@](#): > > “good music” has to be one of the most subjective issues there ever was Which is precisely why MySpace is great! I’ve found music, musicians and composers through it, music which I really really like, who/which I would not have otherwise encoutered. Whether their pages adhered to strict aesthetic guidelines _does not matter_ - see the link somebody posted ages ago about the ‘MySpace problem’, that there’s situations where poor design isn’t actually a barrier. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/85 "2006-08-15T02:46:51Z")
But that is my point–I haven’t see any mspaces here make me sit up and say, “hey! I want to meet this fine person who is so fascinating!” I cannot say the same for the SDMB–I would like to meet lots of the folks here, you included. (don’t run away, I promise I don’t stalk…much). 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/86 "2006-08-15T02:57:42Z")
I’m working on a post with actual links, but I’ve had to do other things. It’s coming though. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/87 "2006-08-15T03:42:43Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] But that is my point–I haven’t see any mspaces here make me sit up and say, “hey! I want to meet this fine person who is so fascinating!” [/QUOTE] That’s just because you haven’t met [these fine folks.](http://www.somethingawful.com/index.php?a=3396) ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/88 "2006-08-15T15:48:21Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] But that is my point–I haven’t see any mspaces here make me sit up and say, “hey! I want to meet this fine person who is so fascinating!” [/QUOTE] Give it up, **eleanor**. It’s a generational thing and we are on the wrong side of the gap. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/89 "2006-08-15T17:47:16Z")
[QUOTE=dropzone] Give it up, **eleanor**. It’s a generational thing and we are on the wrong side of the gap. 😃 [/QUOTE] Hey there, fellow Lombardian!\* I know I should just give it up. Guess I don’t like being told that it’s me that suffers from the lack of an open mind when all around me I see trash and call it that…or something like that. What we were discussing again? **Sublight** --the link is to an oddly dressed young man, for whom I am embarassed. It’s not that I don’t like the snarky remarks regarding him and his er, ilk. I just don’t have time for all that. I can’t be arsed, to borrow a phrase. (I wish I had that kind of time). \*I’m not from Lombard, but I am giving kudos because I actually know where Lombard is! BTW, how have you been? Haven’t seen much of you round these parts. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/90 "2006-08-15T17:51:34Z")
Been dandy! You? ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/91 "2006-08-15T17:53:37Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] \*I’m not from Lombard, but I am giving kudos because I actually know where Lombard is! BTW, how have you been? Haven’t seen much of you round these parts. [/QUOTE] Greetings from down the street in lovely Downers Grove. Oh, and so this isn’t a hijack, yeah there are a lot of crappy profiles on myspace, but I still like the site. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/92 "2006-08-15T18:03:13Z")
Homewood, here. (and don’t tell me you can’t find it on the map–go look!) 🙂 I’ve been good–good and busy, **Mr DZ**. I 'm guessing that myspace is supposed to be like this little interlude here, but with pics and TMI(?). Heh. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/93 "2006-08-15T18:46:36Z")
I think it’s like LiveJournal except with more pederasts. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/94 "2006-08-15T21:54:38Z")
Yet another login-related thing MySpace screws up: the “Remember Me” box doesn’t actually make them remember you; you still have to log in all over again every day. I guess the box is actually meant as a poll question, asking **you** whether you remember **MySpace**. I wish I didn’t. (eBay does the same thing, but at least eBay has a good reason to log you out as soon as possible: someone who accesses your account without your knowledge can place bids in your name and rack up charges. Someone who logs into your MySpace without your knowledge could… um… fix your style sheet? Tell your friends they have ugly hair?) ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/95 "2006-08-15T23:25:06Z")
[QUOTE=dropzone] Give it up, eleanor. It’s a generational thing and we are on the wrong side of the gap. [/QUOTE] No it isn’t a generational thing. I was reading an article in today’s paper and it said that **15%** of MySpace users were between the ages of 14-17 (those under 14 are not supposed to have a MS page, though of course we all know that kids lie about their ages), and **35%** of the users were between the ages of 17-35. Get it? A full **50%** of MySpace users are OVER the age of 35. [QUOTE=eleanorigby] I know I should just give it up. Guess I don’t like being told that it’s me that suffers from the lack of an open mind when all around me I see trash and call it that…or something like that. What we were discussing again? [/QUOTE] You do lack an open mind, or at least, one not capable of believing fellow Dopers when they tell you it’s not all trash, and I don’t know if it will change with my next post\* but I hope so. (\* which I’m not done with. I had to go to Cook County Hospital and have an Endoscopy. I had to be there at 6:30am and I just now got home, so I haven’t had a chance to work on it. It’s my frickin’ birthday and I had to get a tube shoved down my throat. Blah! The drugs were nice though.) ---
**Author:** ![hawksgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed655f/32.png) [@hawksgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawksgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/96 "2006-08-15T23:28:54Z")
[QUOTE=Equipoise] (\* which I’m not done with. I had to go to Cook County Hospital and have an Endoscopy. I had to be there at 6:30am and I just now got home, so I haven’t had a chance to work on it. It’s my frickin’ birthday and I had to get a tube shoved down my throat. Blah! The drugs were nice though.) [/QUOTE] Hey! Its my birthday too! I didn’t get a tube down my throat though. Meh, I don’t think its all that bad. Yes, its gaudy, but I tend to not get hung up about stuff. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/97 "2006-08-15T23:43:29Z")
[QUOTE=Equipoise] No it isn’t a generational thing. I was reading an article in today’s paper and it said that **15%** of MySpace users were between the ages of 14-17 (those under 14 are not supposed to have a MS page, though of course we all know that kids lie about their ages), and **35%** of the users were between the ages of 17-35. Get it? A full **50%** of MySpace users are OVER the age of 35. You do lack an open mind, or at least, one not capable of believing fellow Dopers when they tell you it’s not all trash, and I don’t know if it will change with my next post\* but I hope so. (\* which I’m not done with. I had to go to Cook County Hospital and have an Endoscopy. I had to be there at 6:30am and I just now got home, so I haven’t had a chance to work on it. It’s my frickin’ birthday and I had to get a tube shoved down my throat. Blah! The drugs were nice though.) [/QUOTE] Great–now I’m AND close-minded. :rolleyes: And I can’t even beat you up with “verbiage” because you are post-scope(there are those who would, but I’m not one of them). Hope you’re feeling fine and that the results were negative. If you go back, you’ll see that I never said that myspace was trash --I was the one who questioned the egos of those who use it. It was pointed out by another Doper that it is often used by some to keep in touch with RL friends–a use I hadn’t thought of, since I tend to email those folks or, I dunno–call them on the phone? I did say, and will reiterate, that the myspaces seen here are indeed trashy, vulgar and common. That doesn’t mean there aren’t great ones–I look forward to seeing your example. I’m kinda likening myspace to a Camaro in my head–you can get one in the soberest of Navy blue, but it’s still a loud statement, nonetheless… But I am willing to have my mind changed–not that I’ll get a space anytime soon or anything. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/98 "2006-08-15T23:44:58Z")
Oy. That should say: Great. Now I’m old AND closed-minded. Now I’m absent-minded as well. \ ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/99 "2006-08-16T00:22:02Z")
[QUOTE=Equipoise] A full **50%** of MySpace users are OVER the age of 35. [/quote] As a MySpace user, I’d question the statistical basis of this claim!! [QUOTE=eleanorigby] If you go back, you’ll see that I never said that myspace was trash --I was the one who questioned the egos of those who use it. It was pointed out by another Doper that it is often used by some to keep in touch with RL friends–a use I hadn’t thought of, since I tend to email those folks or, I dunno–call them on the phone? [/quote] I can’t come up with a particular defence of MySpace. But what I will say is that I’ve kept in touch with people who i’ve failed to keep in touch with even by text message, never mind the people I’ve met whose music I’m very interested in. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/100 "2006-08-16T00:58:31Z")
[QUOTE=Equipoise] If you only drove through the slums and red-light district, and only visited a few people who lived in apartments decorated with things that make you roll your eyes, such as hearts and flowers wallpaper surrounding a creepy doll collection, or a NASCAR and beer bottle collection, or posters of dirty rock stars everywhere, and the only houses you noticed were painted orange with pink flamingos on the lawn, or had trash scattered around and cars up on blocks… [/QUOTE] That sounds like _my_ neighborhood. :sigh: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181.md?page=6)