# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/101 "2006-08-16T02:02:21Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] As a MySpace user, I’d question the statistical basis of this claim!! 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. [/QUOTE] Is Facebook any better? Will they split, like MTV and VH1, eventually? ( I know that Facebook and Myspace are two different things, I’m just thinking out loud here). If it helps you keep in touch with people that you otherwise wouldn’t, then more power to it (and you). I am a bit leery of posting alot of personal stuff online–in some ways it is so ephemeral, but stuff can also live forever and take on a life of its own in cyberspace. I’ll just have to keep diaries, which my progeny can find, tied in blue ribbons, in the attic, long after I’m dust… ---
**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, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/102 "2006-08-16T02:04:53Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] …all around me I see trash and call it that…or something like that. [/QUOTE] I’ve always seen trash, since childhood, and I’ve always known it as such. Trash is omnipresent and everpresent. The human being is the primary vector for trash…No, the human being is the _only_ vector for trash. And who else but human beings use myspace? ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/103 "2006-08-16T02:27:13Z")
Point. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/104 "2006-08-16T02:28:10Z")
[QUOTE=guizot] I’ve always seen trash, since childhood, and I’ve always known it as such. Trash is omnipresent and everpresent. The human being is the primary vector for trash…No, the human being is the _only_ vector for trash. And who else but human beings use myspace? [/QUOTE] I disagree. Trees litter all the god damn time, and nobody ever calls them on it. Dropping leaves all over the ground, willy-nilly. Someone should pass a law! ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/105 "2006-08-16T02:40:55Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] As a MySpace user, I’d question the statistical basis of this claim!! [/QUOTE] I’m more likely to believe that 15% are between 14 and 17, 35% are between 17 and 35, and the other 50% are likely bands. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/106 "2006-08-16T02:59:21Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] I disagree. Trees litter all the god damn time, and nobody ever calls them on it. Dropping leaves all over the ground, willy-nilly. Someone should pass a law! [/QUOTE] That’s…that’s _arborealist_, dude. \ ---
**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, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/107 "2006-08-16T09:59:36Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] Is Facebook any better? Will they split, like MTV and VH1, eventually? ( I know that Facebook and Myspace are two different things, I’m just thinking out loud here). [/quote] IMO, Facebook seems to target specific demographics, whereas Myspace is more a ‘anyone welcome’ attitude. Each approach has benefits and drawbacks. > [@](#): > > I am a bit leery of posting alot of personal stuff online–in some ways it is so ephemeral, but stuff can also live forever and take on a life of its own in cyberspace. Understandable, and I am careful about what I put on Myspace - the same as I’m careful what I put here, or anywhere else. Not that my Myspace page is anonymous and without photos, but there’s no pour-your-heart-out blog entries, either. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/108 "2006-08-16T10:25:53Z")
[QUOTE=dropzone] I think it’s like LiveJournal except with more pederasts. [/QUOTE] Shut the fuck up, Donny. 😉 ---
**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 16, 2006, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/109 "2006-08-16T18:55:34Z")
A (short) List, by Equipoise 1. Except for the last link, these are all musician’s pages. First, since my mention of “good music” was called into question and second, because I consider it an invasion of privacy to put up links to individual people’s pages to satisfy doubters. Most of these people’s fans are the opposite of those people (rightly) held up for ridicule in this thread. 2. I only chose pages that are styled in some way, some very simple, some more elaborate. In a way, that rule was a shame, music-wise, because so many good bands/artists that I wanted to list don’t have their pages styled at all and for whatever reason have decided to stick with MySpace’s white/orange/blue color scheme. My opinion is that Tom made the default pages so ugly to encourage people to trick up their own. It’s certainly not his fault if some people go apeshit while doing it. 3. This took me, all told, a few hours to compile, but I was constantly hijacked into listening to the music. Not all of this music will appeal to everybody, and of course, “not appealing” is not the same as “bad.” _ **I** _ like all this music, but then I’m weird. I never would have heard of 85% of these people if not for MySpace. Even if they all had their own web sites, how would I have known to go there? MySpace brings a lot of unknown talent into one place. 4. Time prevented me from finding more non-music pages, but there are thousands worth checking out. Ballet/dance companies, Art museums, film makers, authors, comedians and on and on and on can be found there. 5. I didn’t think to make note while I was compiling how old these artists were. They range, but more than you’d think are probably between 25-50 with some older. In general, the older artists attract older fans who don’t stink up their personal pages with crap. 6. This list is woefully short. Anyone who thinks that this list is all I could come up with should challenge me, and see what I come up with after several days of adding to it. The point is that I could go on and on and on and on. Given the sheer time it would take to copy and paste the links, I could come up with thousands. I’d rather not do that, in hopes that I will have made my MAIN point, and that is that there IS a part of MySpace that isn’t filled with jerks and idiots and doe-eyed bimbos. I rarely see that side of MySpace because I choose to stay where it’s friendly and interesting. I know that other side exists, just as I know that high school cafeterias with giggling airheads and tough jocks exist, but I have no reason to go visit high school cafeterias, just as I have no reason to visit the high school/asshole part of MySpace. MySpace is what you make of it. You can choose what you’re exposed to and who you interact with and generally who interacts with you. People into good music (yes, my definition) are in the best position to have a good time on MySpace and ignore the rest. **Misc. Music:** [Jane Siberry](http://www.myspace.com/janesiberrysheeba) Canada’s National Treasure, though not recognized as such [Bjork](http://www.myspace.com/bjork) Love her or hate her, that’s a nice page [Judie Tzuke](http://www.myspace.com/tzuke) Wonderful singer from England [Imogen Heap](http://www.myspace.com/imogenheap) Up and coming musician with a lot of talent [Woodstock Taylor](http://www.myspace.com/woodstocktaylor) Cracked pop from Scotland [Lunabee](http://www.myspace.com/lunabee) Trip-hoppy band from Belgium [The Shakers](http://www.myspace.com/nashvilleshakers) Folk-rock band from Tennessee [Azam Ali](http://www.myspace.com/azamali) Electronica, fantastic voice. Busy lady…is also with [Vas](http://www.myspace.com/azamalivasmusic) and [Niyaz](http://www.myspace.com/niyaz1) [Myriam-qui-chante](http://www.myspace.com/myriamquichante) Jazz singer from France [Louisa John Krol](http://www.myspace.com/louisajohnkrol) Ethereal pop from Australia (I can’t stand fairie crap, but I like the music, and the page is pretty and readable) [Piera Gulli](http://www.myspace.com/pieragulli) Very nice folk rock from London [Alice Peacock](http://www.myspace.com/alicepeacock) Folk rocker from Chicago [Hooverphonic](http://www.myspace.com/hooverphonicofficial) Electronica/soul from Belgium [Annette Peacock](http://www.myspace.com/annettepeacock) Experimental jazz [Midnight Serenaders](http://www.myspace.com/midnightserenaders) “Where the Grand Old Opry meets Tin Pan Alley” [Datri Bean](http://www.myspace.com/datribean) Folk-jazz from Seattle [Neco Case](http://www.myspace.com/nekocase) Americana rock (might have the opacity turned down a bit low) [Barb Jungr](http://www.myspace.com/barbjungrchanson) Excellent cover/original singer from the UK [Bill Frisell](http://www.myspace.com/billfrisellofficial) Great jazz guitarist [Nu Skiffle Brigade](http://www.myspace.com/nuskiffle) Freakin’ good time music from Norway (page looks half-finished though) [Rosie Flores](http://www.myspace.com/rockabillyfillyrosie) Rockabilly [Cat Martino](http://www.myspace.com/catmartino) Indie Blues/Americana from NYC [Martha Wainwright](http://www.myspace.com/marthawainwright) Folk/rock/alternative. Rufus’s sister (warning, first song is profane) [Gretel](http://www.myspace.com/gretelmusic) Really wonderful folk/folk rock from Boston (listen to “Wolves”) [Joy Askew](http://www.myspace.com/joyaskew) Pop/folk/rock from New York [Marcy Levy Band](http://www.myspace.com/marcylevyband) Great blues/pop. Formerly “Marcella Detroit” from Clapton’s band and Shakespear’s Sister [Rebekka & The Mysterybox](http://www.myspace.com/rebekkaandthemysterybox) Trip-hop from Norway [Bei Bei](http://www.myspace.com/beibeizheng) Chinese woman living in LA, plays a Gu Zheng (Chinese Zither), melding with Trip Hop [Adiemus/Karl Jenkins](http://www.myspace.com/jenkinsadiemus) “Classical/New Wave” [Krista Detor](http://www.myspace.com/kristadetor) Beautiful soft country-rock from Indiana [Bomb The Bass](http://www.myspace.com/bombthebass) Beats electronica [Sol Seppy](http://www.myspace.com/solseppy) Ethereal electronica pop from London [Joe Satriani](http://www.myspace.com/joesatriani) Rock Guitar God [Cara Dillon](http://www.myspace.com/caradillon) Pop folker from Ireland [Bijou Phillips](http://www.myspace.com/bijouphillips) Lounge pop (dad is Papa John) [Kiran Hungin](http://www.myspace.com/kiranhungin) Acoustic folk/pop from London [April March](http://www.myspace.com/aprilmarchchickhabit) Fun Retro Pop/Rock from France (was an animator for Ren & Stimpy!) [KT Tunstall](http://www.myspace.com/kttunstall) Great Rock/Folk [LumAine](http://www.myspace.com/lumaineword) Female Trip/Hip Hop/Rap from France [Sandra Nkake](http://www.myspace.com/sandrankake) Jazz/R&B/Soul from France [Angela McCluskey](http://www.myspace.com/angelamccluskeymusic) Alternative pop [Ane Brun](http://www.myspace.com/anebrun) Acoustic folk from Sweden [Jennifer John](http://www.myspace.com/jenniferjohn) Acoustic soul [Hisato](http://www.myspace.com/djhisato) Alternative/DJ from Brazil [Natacha Atlas](http://www.myspace.com/natachaatlas) Electronica/Afro Beat from Egypt [Lisa Lynne](http://www.myspace.com/lavenderskymusic) Celtic Harpist [Zoe Keating](http://www.myspace.com/zoecello) Experimental Cello [Delerium](http://www.myspace.com/delerium) Ambient Trance [Melody (Gardot)](http://www.myspace.com/melody) Indie blues pop [Edie](http://www.myspace.com/ediep) Folky blues/Pop [Darcie Miner](http://www.myspace.com/darcieminer) Alternative Country Folk [Sarah Fimm](http://www.myspace.com/sarahfimm) Alternative/Rock [Adrina Thorpe](http://www.myspace.com/adrinathorpe) Ethereal pop [Samantha Hooey](http://www.myspace.com/samanthahooey) Acoustic/Folk pop from Canada [Kaki King](http://www.myspace.com/kakiking) Shoegaze/Experimental/Instrumental [Idiom of Sad](http://www.myspace.com/idiomofsad) Ambient/ Down-Tempo with female vocals [Alana Davis](http://www.myspace.com/alanadavis) Pop/Rock [Sinem](http://www.myspace.com/sinem) “Bossa Nova and Pop with Turkish Influences” [Missy Higgins](http://www.myspace.com/missyhiggins) Alternative/Indie/Acoustic from Australia [Petracovich](http://www.myspace.com/petracovich) Electro Folk [Carla Werner](http://www.myspace.com/carlawerner) Alt Folk from Australia (“Ghost Road” belongs in a Tarantino movie…haunting) [Laura Jansen](http://www.myspace.com/laurajansenmusic) Acoustic Indie [Unto Ashes](http://www.myspace.com/untoashes) Ethereal Gothic “neo-Medieval dirge band” [Krista Hartman](http://www.myspace.com/kristahartman) Pop/Folk from Canada [Kathleen Edwards](http://www.myspace.com/kathleenedwards) Folk rock from Canada [Sarah Slean](http://www.myspace.com/sarahslean) Rock from Canada [Devon Sproule](http://www.myspace.com/devonsproule) Folk Pop [Kristy Krüger](http://www.myspace.com/kristykruger) Alternative Americana (“Dark Stranger” is very cool) [Harland](http://www.myspace.com/harland) Trip Hop/Electronica [Emma-Lee](http://www.myspace.com/emmalee) Acoustic/Soul/Jazz from Canada [Feist](http://www.myspace.com/feist) Indie/Alternative goodness from Canada [Chanting Stones](http://www.myspace.com/chantingstones) Instrumental electronica [Cariad Harmon](http://www.myspace.com/cariadharmon) Acoustic Folk [Katie Herzig](http://www.myspace.com/katieherzig) Indie Pop (I love “Sweeter Than This”) [Leni Stern](http://www.myspace.com/lenistern) Nu-Jazz/Blues [Suzanna Choffel](http://www.myspace.com/suzannachoffel) Interesting Folk/Rock/Pop [QNTAL](http://www.myspace.com/qntal) Classical electronica from Germany [Signe Tollefsen](http://www.myspace.com/signetollefsen) Folk rock/Pop from the Netherlands [Joy Williams](http://www.myspace.com/joywilliamsmusic) Pop/Rock [Tina Dico](http://www.myspace.com/tinadico) Acoustic/Pop from England [Lori Carson](http://www.myspace.com/loricarsonmusic) Indie/Folk Pop [Alex Shapiro](http://www.myspace.com/alexshapiro) Experimental/Classical/Electronica [DNA5](http://www.myspace.com/danielanardi) Jazz/Pop from Canada [Karras](http://www.myspace.com/karrasmusic) Experimental Ambience from Mexico [Hayley Hutch](http://www.myspace.com/hayleyhutchinson) Acoustic Folk from the UK [The Ditty Bops](http://www.myspace.com/dittybops) Retro Acoustic/Jazz (lots of fun!) [Catherine Duc](http://www.myspace.com/catherineduc) Ambient/Electronica from Australia [Paul van Dyk](http://www.myspace.com/paulvandyk) Trance/Techno from Germany [Ember Swift](http://www.myspace.com/emberswift) Folk Rock/Jazz from Canada [Katie Chastain](http://www.myspace.com/katiechastain) Breathy Pop [Sepideh Vahidi](http://www.myspace.com/sepidehvahidi) Persian folk [Hindi Zahra](http://www.myspace.com/zahrahindi) Jazz/Pop from France [Hilary York](http://www.myspace.com/hilaryyork) Folk/Pop [My Brightest Diamond](http://www.myspace.com/mybrightestdiamond) Pop/Rock band with female vocals [beach](http://www.myspace.com/beachnz) Breathy pop from New Zealand [Pamela Means](http://www.myspace.com/pamelameans) Jazz/Folk [The Roulette Sisters](http://www.myspace.com/theroulettesisters) Retro Folk/Pop/Blues with wonderful harmonies [Songs For Ice Cream Trucks](http://www.myspace.com/songsforicecreamtrucks) Very silly, but as somone who used to drive an Ice Cream Truck, I think this is hilarious [The Puppini Sisters](http://www.myspace.com/puppinisisters) A love’em or hate’em retro covers band **World Music:** [Niyaz](http://www.myspace.com/niyaz1) World electronia, with the phenomenal Azam Ali on vocals [Moya Brennan](http://www.myspace.com/moyabrennan) Celtic-influenced pop (formerly Maire Brennan, from Clannad. Is Enya’s sister) [Mari Boine](http://www.myspace.com/boine) Legendary singer from Samiland [Garmarna](http://www.myspace.com/garmarna) Folk/Pop from Sweden [Oumou Sangare](http://www.myspace.com/oumou) Afro Beat from Mali [Muzsikas](http://www.myspace.com/muzsikas) Hungarian Folk. Colorful page but readable. [Marisa Monte](http://www.myspace.com/marisamonte) Latin lovely (ok, the text could use some ‘breaks’) [Violeta Parra](http://www.myspace.com/violetaparrahomenaje) Folk from Chile **Linked Links:** I love how when you find something interesting, you can find other interesting people from their Friends lists. [Karine Polwart](http://www.myspace.com/karinepolwart) Extremely talented singer/songwriter from Scotland. [Corrina Hewat](http://www.myspace.com/corrinahewat) Folk/experimental Harpist/singer from Scotland [Annie Grace](http://www.myspace.com/graceannie) Wonderful singer/musician from Scotland And hey, they not only play solo, they play together! [Karine Polwart, Corrina Hewat, Annie Grace](http://www.myspace.com/girlytrio) **What “Gothic” should be:** [Dead Can Dance](http://www.myspace.com/deadcandancemyspace) Lisa Gerrard. 'nuff said. [Laurie Ann Haus](http://www.myspace.com/laurieannhaus) Repetitious to some, still an amazing voice [Monica Richards](http://www.myspace.com/monicarichardsmusic) Interesting Gothicish (from Faith & the Muse) **Fan pages:** [Kate Bush](http://www.myspace.com/ktbush) A bit over-the-top perhaps, but beautiful, and caters to fans [Happy Rhodes](http://www.myspace.com/happyrhodes) Self-serving, since it’s my page, but I believe in her [Mary Margaret O’Hara](http://www.myspace.com/marymargaretoharafan) Overlooked singer-songwriter from Canada [Maria McKee](http://www.myspace.com/absolutelymariamckee) Great voice that shouldn’t be forgotten [Alison Moyet](http://www.myspace.com/moyetalison) Great voice, formerly of Yaz [Mary Hopkin](http://www.myspace.com/maryhopkins) 1960’s Folk [Yma Sumac](http://www.myspace.com/virgenesdelsol) Vocal phenom from the 1950’s (wow, video and a documentary on that page!) **Classical:** [Tosca String Quartet](http://www.myspace.com/toscastringquartet) [Sarinda String Quartet](http://www.myspace.com/sarindastringquartet) **Kids Today:** Here are some young people doing something very interesting, even if they and some of their fans are spelling-challenged: [Nuttin But Stringz](http://www.myspace.com/nuttinbutstringz1) Young, fun and soon to be a phenom, maybe (I’m terrible at predicting such things) [Lily Allen](http://www.myspace.com/lilymusic) **Tribute pages** By fans for artists no longer with us, to be re-discovered on MySpage: [Ma Rainey](http://www.myspace.com/marainey) [Billie Holiday](http://www.myspace.com/billieholiday6) [Nina Simone](http://www.myspace.com/simonenina) [Sister Rosetta Tharpe](http://www.myspace.com/sisterrosettatharpe) **Big names:** [Alannah Myles](http://www.myspace.com/alannahmyles) (it’s really her, and she has 5 pages!) [Janis Ian](http://www.myspace.com/wwwmyspacecomjanisian) [Rickie Lee Jones](http://www.myspace.com/dutchessofcoolsville) [The Dixie Chicks](http://www.myspace.com/dixiechicks) (That song/video is amazing, and makes me tear up.) [Emmylou Harris](http://www.myspace.com/emmylouharris1) [Lisa Loeb](http://www.myspace.com/lisaloebmusic) [Crystal Gayle](http://www.myspace.com/crystalgayleofficial) [Sparks](http://www.myspace.com/allsparks) (Back, and fun as ever) **Non-musical:** [Ballet Nouveau Colorado](http://www.myspace.com/balletnouveau) [Madlab Art Gallery-Columbus, Ohio](http://www.myspace.com/madlabgallery) **As far as people having things to say:** [Maria Danes](http://www.myspace.com/mariadaines) An older woman with a great voice, they use their Music page for animal rights issues. [Bridget Gray](http://www.myspace.com/bridgetgraymusic) Experimental/Hip Hop (GREAT “letter” to hip hop taking them to task) [moby](http://www.myspace.com/moby) Electronica, Trip Hop. His blogs are often political, always interesting [Rachel Kann](http://www.myspace.com/rachelkann) Experimental. First song is about gay rights (I love her Friends list) [Robby Merkin](http://www.myspace.com/robbymerkin) Well-known (in certain circles) composer/producer with a fascinating blog series on the music business [Mamadou Diop](http://www.myspace.com/sabardrumming) Reggae/rock. His Friends list is a great place to peruse [Monkeys Who Dream](http://www.myspace.com/monkeyswhodream) A musical coalition, and interesting political blogs [David Lynch Foundation](http://www.myspace.com/davidlynchfoundation) The only official David Lynch page, and it’s about Transcendental Meditation [RAINN](http://www.myspace.com/rainn_dc) Sexual abuse help network And some bands/artists ARE willing to call out those who write like morons: From [gamine’s](http://www.myspace.com/gamineuk) blog: > [@](#): > > For those of you who speak other foreign languages, please feel free to communicate in them. The few languages we don’t understand are always humourously brought to life with those easily found universal translators, aren’t they? One language we are baffled by, though, is that used by barely literate youngsters on their mobile telephones. If we see the term ‘ur’ our minds automatically go to ancient Mesopotamian towns, and since it only takes 0.6 of a second to type ‘you are’, (less if you use the contraction ‘you’re’), rather than the 1.75 seconds it takes us to stop thinking of old cities and then translate ‘ur’ into English, we would prefer you to use the Queen’s English (though there is obviously no need to put on her funny German accent). Further to this, the more grammatically correct you are, the better chance you’ll have of our giving you a relevant answer. Here’s an example of a **personal page** (not mine) that’s WAY over the top, but in a most interesting way. It’s going to take ages to load up, but the beautiful pictures are worth the time, if gorgeous art is your thing: [The Wahtry Taht](http://www.myspace.com/thewahtrytaht) ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/110 "2006-08-16T22:20:01Z")
My goodness gracious. What can I say? Some of those are wonderful–I didn’t have time to look at all of them, never mind listen to all! That must have taken you days! :eek: And I feel bad that you went to all that trouble over such a minor thing. But you are completely correct–there are good sites on myspace and ones that I would enjoy (and even maybe want to meet the people). Thewatrytaht one–she’s a bit too sentimental for me, but I am intrigued by the concept. I do like some of the art work, a great deal-especially the nature pics. Thank you–I have bookmarked it for future use. And thank you for the links to Irish folk etc–I like that kind of stuff, but never seem to do anything about it. I am so un-savvy re computers and the internet, I don’t really explore around and maybe I should. So, thanks again, **Equipoise**. Crow is good with hollandaise sauce. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/111 "2006-08-16T22:30:38Z")
My favorite "feature’ of MySpace is when I want to read my sister’s latest blog entry, and it tells me I have to log in to do that, and so I log in and it takes me to my own profile instead of back to my sister’s blog. ---
**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, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/112 "2006-08-16T23:23:07Z")
[QUOTE=Phase42] My favorite "feature’ of MySpace is when I want to read my sister’s latest blog entry, and it tells me I have to log in to do that, and so I log in and it takes me to my own profile instead of back to my sister’s blog. [/QUOTE] I had this problem a while ago - a thorough cleanse of every cookie and password solved it. Not to say it isn’t a problem, but that there is a cure. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/113 "2006-08-16T23:25:13Z")
Its truly sad that you spent so much effort on knocking down a complete straw man. ---
**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 16, 2006, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/114 "2006-08-16T23:39:25Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] And thank you for the links to Irish folk etc–I like that kind of stuff, but never seem to do anything about it. I am so un-savvy re computers and the internet, I don’t really explore around and maybe I should. So, thanks again, **Equipoise**. Crow is good with hollandaise sauce. 🙂 [/QUOTE] _laugh_ thank you. I’ll look for some more Irish folk for you. There’s tons of it. [QUOTE=Apos] Its truly sad that you spent so much effort on knocking down a complete straw man. [/QUOTE] The main knocks I heard were: 1. All the pages are badly designed See my post. 1. Everyone on MySpace is a brain-damaged teenager See my post. 1. The music is all bad See my post. What strawman? Anyway, I didn’t do it for you. It didn’t take me very long, and I had a great time listening to lots of good music while I was doing it. That’s not sad at all. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/115 "2006-08-16T23:49:33Z")
[QUOTE=Equipoise] A (short) List, by Equipoise 1. Except for the last link, these are all musician’s pages. First, since my mention of “good music” was called into question and second, because I consider it an invasion of privacy to put up links to individual people’s pages to satisfy doubters. Most of these people’s fans are the opposite of those people (rightly) held up for ridicule in this thread. [/quote] Personally, my complaint with MySpace is certainly not that the music is bad (is this anyone’s complaint, for that matter?); after all, how could it be, since such diverse music is represented on it? Some of it’s great, some of it’s crap, as with just about every channel for accessing music. But I still believe the site is horrible, and this has nothing to do with the people on it. None of my following comments relate to the music or people, therefore, since this has nothing to do with my dislike of the site; I’m just going to have a look at the first bunch’s visual appeal. [Jane Siberry](http://www.myspace.com/janesiberrysheeba) - funny, I was going to link this earlier as an example of a tasteful design. It’s quite nice. [Bjork](http://www.myspace.com/bjork) - love her, hate the page. Dark grey text on darker grey background? Pretty but unreadable. [Judie Tzuke](http://www.myspace.com/tzuke) - Red on black a personal peeve; makes my eyes itch. Unreadable, especially in tiny italic font. [Imogen Heap](http://www.myspace.com/imogenheap) - Inoffensive colours, usual arbitrary MySpace layout. [Woodstock Taylor](http://www.myspace.com/woodstocktaylor) - ditto [Lunabee](http://www.myspace.com/lunabee) - Blech, scrolling text on static background. Parallax headaches. Text unreadable depending on position. [The Shakers](http://www.myspace.com/nashvilleshakers) - Just the usual MySpace layout nonsensicality. White-on-black never fun IMO, but eh. [Azam Ali](http://www.myspace.com/azamali) - Pretty background, doesn’t exactly help readability though. [Niyaz](http://www.myspace.com/niyaz1) - Nice enough colours, still poor text contrast. [Myriam-qui-chante](http://www.myspace.com/myriamquichante) - pleasant enough, but really only by comparison to the MySpace average. It surely says something that I can open up a page whose only real stylistic advantage is neutral, decent-contrast colours, and be actively surprised. [Louisa John Krol](http://www.myspace.com/louisajohnkrol) - Have to disagree with “readable” - find the text very low contrast. Causes my browser to stutter on scrolling, it’s so image-heavy. Animated gifs all over the shop. Geocities for the modern world. [Piera Gulli](http://www.myspace.com/pieragulli) - Black on _bright purple_!? Argh! [Alice Peacock](http://www.myspace.com/alicepeacock) - Pleasant colours. Only the usual layout issues. [Hooverphonic](http://www.myspace.com/hooverphonicofficial) - Eye-gougingly terrible. Semi-transparency reduces browser to a crawl and leaves content unreadable. Why why why? [Annette Peacock](http://www.myspace.com/annettepeacock) - Pink on black again not exactly eye-friendly. Links hover to black, unreadable. Genius. [Midnight Serenaders](http://www.myspace.com/midnightserenaders) - Tolerable. [Datri Bean](http://www.myspace.com/datribean) - Link colour near-unreadable on red background, otherwise all right. [Neco Case](http://www.myspace.com/nekocase) - Like you say; why semi-opaque? Why this option at all, in fact? Surely the stuff on top is what we’re supposed to be reading? This is a perfect example of an artist who I really like having an absolutely godawful MySpace page. So, I’d say roughly two thirds of those are poor to nasty, roughly a quarter are tolerable by MySpace standards, and the rest are just awful. Just my opinion, sure, but it’s not a great running average. Their benefits are that they are all in one place, and that they have the flash music previewer. Without wanting to be antagonistic, do you _really_ think that most of those sites you linked to are well laid-out, readable pages, with accessible information? > [@](#): > > Here’s an example of a **personal page** (not mine) that’s WAY over the top, but in a most interesting way. It’s going to take ages to load up, but the beautiful pictures are worth the time, if gorgeous art is your thing: [The Wahtry Taht](http://www.myspace.com/thewahtrytaht) Argh! This is precisely what the design critics are talking about. I killed the page load after 12MB (twelve!) of random images. Are they the artist’s art? Are they random animated gifs cribbed from the web? Who knows? With the user-abusing default layout and complete lack of structure that is typical of a MySpace page, I have absolutely no idea what I’m looking at, and have to wait for _every single bit of content_ to load on one page before exploring by scrolling at random across an absolute vomit of images. This is like going to an art gallery and discovering that they’ve ripped everything out of the frame and chucked it on the floor for the visitor to sift. These may well be awfully nice people, and awfully talented. All I know is that their MySpace page makes me want to take away their computer for ever. Why don’t they have an image gallery, like normal people with images? Why must they show them to me all at once? I will name an advantage that MySpace has over all the other social networking sites, however: to the best of my knowledge it has no “spam your friends with invites to sign up” feature. This is bliss. I’m sick of people I once met inviting me to expand their arbitrarily defined online sphere of “friends” on hi5, facebook, blah blah blah fucking blah. MySpace at least lets you sign up if and only if you bloody well feel like it. ---
**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 17, 2006, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/116 "2006-08-17T00:10:53Z")
Well, I will admit that a few of those I put simply because I loved their music and hoped that a few people would actually listen (for instance, Judie Tzuke and Piera Gulli), but on the whole I don’t find them as terrible as you do. Maybe my brightness is turned up more. Maybe the pages look different in different browsers. Lunabee’s page, for instance, I have no trouble reading, but I suppose I can see where some might. If I’d had more time I could have picked better examples, but I said it was coming, then was away from my computer. Ah well. Music is my everything, and I don’t pages against the artists. And I still think they’re miles better than average. I wish I had not put a link to The Wahtry Taht’s page, as much as I love it. If anyone friends her then snarks about her page I think I will never post on The Straight Dope again. I am very very sorry I did that. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2006, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/117 "2006-08-17T00:42:35Z")
[QUOTE=Equipoise] If I’d had more time I could have picked better examples, but I said it was coming, then was away from my computer. [/quote] Well sure, but I think the selection you picked illustrates the argument perfectly. You’ve picked some better than average MySpace pages, by and large, and yet most of them are by normal standards pretty poor on grounds of both colour, layout and general usability. You could’ve selected more carefully, and come up with a list of sites that were maybe okay, but that would just have proven the point again; it takes some real effort to find MySpace sites that are merely “acceptable” by reasonable design standards. Clearly the site overcomes these massive shortcomings thanks to its networking facilities (and IMO, primarily the ability for personal users to have music play on their page), but that still doesn’t make the design nice. It just means it isn’t awful enough to counteract the advantages. My main problem is that there’s simply no structure; you’ve just got one page, and you have to scan the whole thing to find out anything of interest, or maybe peruse an entire blog’s posts for info. Any decent site would have sections to group this together; gigs, photos, samples, what have you. In MySpace it’s all in a heap, and a different heap depending on the artist, with a whole bunch of incidental crap like the umpteen “friend” avatars you have to load next to the “thx 4 the add” inanities. It’s not designed for people to look at; it’s designed for people to collect evidence of their circle. And that’s fine, but as far as disseminating information goes, it’s rubbish. > [@](#): > > Ah well. Music is my everything, and I don’t pages against the artists. And I still think they’re miles better than average. Well, they’re arguably not much worse than the average custom-designed musician’s page (and I don’t hold those against the artists either; it’s not like most of them have anything to do with it), but this is an oeuvre practically famed for its obtuseness (ever check out Radiohead’s excuse for a site?). Again, for musicians’ purposes the streaming technology is ace for getting previews out there, and that’s the site’s main advantage, but generally speaking it’s a nice feature mired in a slurry of hideousness. > [@](#): > > I wish I had not put a link to The Wahtry Taht’s page, as much as I love it. If anyone friends her then snarks about her page I think I will never post on The Straight Dope again. I am very very sorry I did that. I don’t know if you’re implying I’d do that or not, but I have literally no idea why you’d assume I might. I think MySpace is a horrible website; I’m not a social reprobate, for crying out loud. ---
**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 17, 2006, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/118 "2006-08-17T00:52:41Z")
[QUOTE=Dead Badger] I don’t know if you’re implying I’d do that or not, but I have literally no idea why you’d assume I might. I think MySpace is a horrible website; I’m not a social reprobate, for crying out loud. [/QUOTE] No no! Not at all. I should have made that clear. Sorry that it came out that way. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2006, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/119 "2006-08-17T01:13:42Z")
Gentlemen(?): I am something of an internet neophyte. I can get here and do email and google and wiki almost anything, but that’s it. I have just switched to Apple and am learning my new system etc–I don’t even know the names for half this stuff. I am perhaps coming to this from a completely different POV than either of you. I loathe the way news is now presented on Fox etc–the many little boxes, the streaming content etc. I also don’t like garish anything–unless it’s in passing. Myspace suffers from the more is better mentality (some or most pages do), just like cable news nowadays. A myspace page, to me, is more like a snapshot of yourself, but with some text. You should approach it as you would meeting a new person or even a job application–in a way. IOW, to me, it is NOT the place to put your innermost sexual fantasy–not even your celebrity “crush”. This harkens back to what **dropzone** was saying re the generational thing. It’s TMI. I liked the pages that **Equipoise** linked to because for the most part, they weren’t garish or too personal or conceited as hell (do you really think we want to know that you love cats and that your fav color is pink? Oh, yes, your pic is so hawt). These pages he linked to have another focus, one that I can appreciate and explore (if I had more time). I liked the watrytaht site, very much. Disorganized and in a heap? You bet. But I don’t know enough to know a better way of doing it (and maybe you can’t on myspace). There is an appeal to the disarray, though. Her taste in pics is not fully shared by me–there are too many pics celebrating the Mystique of Woman-all rococo and art nouveau, for one example–but there is stuff there to take in–if the mood of the websurfer is right. There are days when I can see myself enjoying the poems etc, and days that I would be impatient with the whole thing. It’s enough for me, the casual viewer–I don’t need the artwork compiled and organized. If it were a different type of page, I would. I also hope that no-one snarks any of the sites linked here–but given this board, someone will. \ **Equipoise** --I like Mary Chapin Carpenter and the Talking Heads and John Lennon and the soundtrack to Bend It Like Beckham…sounds like there might be alot out there for me. But to be honest-it’s all I can do to keep up here. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2006, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181/120 "2006-08-17T01:23:53Z")
I liked the hooverphonic one. I see your point about the semi-opaque, though. Maybe young eyes can see it better? Hell, I’m only 44… Maybe it’s just utilitarian–is it possible to design better pages, within the cofines of the site’s parameters(if any?). I probably couldn’t be arsed to do so–i bet most people are the same. Pick a background, font, etc and let it be. (just wondering if this is the practice). I like being able to see the artist and the selections. I am not sure what you mean be the page layout? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myspace-can-someone-explain-it-me/368181.md?page=7)