I signed up for MySpace when I found that my nephew was on it – pretty much to keep an eye on him. Recently two of my younger cousins showed me their MySpace pages and that of another cousin. I knew MySpace was popular and has been reported as being all the rage for teenagers and twenty-somethings but I hadn’t thought, “Hey my cousins are on there.” That’s primarily because I have been out of touch with the young cousins. After inviting them to be my “friends” I looked for other young cousins and sure enough they are on here too. So MySpace has helped me get in touch with my long lost family members. I’ve also found some former classmates as well.

In spite of that, there are some things that I really hate about MySpace (more so what I am finding on there). Here’s a list:

1. Spammers and scammers. People are hacking people’s MySpace accounts to post stupid spam messages in my comments and in bulletins. Some of then have malicious code in their profiles (or profiles they hijacked). A popular one is a window comes up and blocks the profile saying that you need to download a special viewer to see the profile. I am certain that clicking on this link will download some malicious code onto your computer especially if you are using Internet Exploder (better known as Internet Explorer). Another thing I noticed is that some of the profile code from various websites can change links on your profile to point to malicious code. I have been to profiles and clicked on a link like “Send Message” and it went somewhere else. That’s scary. Be careful what code you put on your MySpace profile.

2. Everyone is trying to sell me something. Constantly spamming me is not going to make me want your CD. People really need to learn what networking is. For the uninitiated, networking is building relationships; the relationships may pay off in the long run but trying to get a pay off in the short run will most definitely prevent any relationship from being built. You get what you put into it. If you post a comment on someone’s MySpace page it should at least be relevant. Simply promoting your products is not proper etiquette. How would people like it if I only made posts about how I do web design and development? I know how; they would treat me the way people treat people always talking about some multi-level marketing scheme (*ahem* Amway). Also if you really want to sell your CD, sign up for MySpace Music. Then if someone is looking for your particular style of music they will find you.

3. Booty booty booty booty everywhere. I am really confused at how people are willing to show their butt cracks on the internet for an international audience. Don’t get it twisted, anything on the internet is available for anyone to see. So when you go in for a job interview as teacher, loan officer, lawyer, or what have you and they have a print out of your MySpace profile, what are you going to say? Just recently Miss Nevada lost her title because of pictures found on the internet. What if your parents or (depending on your age) your children found your profile? What about church members or your co-workers? What irks me the most about this is that I get friend requests from guys who have nothing but women showing their butts in their main profile pic.

4. MySpace shows your age. I’m over 30 and I readily admit it but does MySpace need to plaster my age all over the place? Most people that I know don’t think I am as old as I am and I am fine with that. While this makes sense for the teenagers especially with all the predators lurking in the shadows. But after a certain age, I don’t think it matters anymore. I would love for them to just show 30+.

5. People don’t read your profile. I read somewhere this guy was complaining that girls have half naked pictures but complain that guys are reading their profiles. Well, I am fully clothed in my pics but people aren’t paying attention to what my profiles says. I’m not on here trying to meet anyone but am trying to hook up with people I already know. Therefore, I am not looking to have the most “friends”. I value quality over quantity.

6. I can’t read your profile. If I can’t understand your profile or can’t read it I most likely won’t add you as a friend. I am amazed that with so much information and reference materials available that people can’t freaking write their profile in a way that is understandable. No 1 iz 2 l33t 2 uz da n4m8shun @ dictionary.com or thesaurus.com. Aight. In a text message I can see the usefulness but on a keyboard it actually takes extra effort to do this.

7. The freaking music. Oh my goodness. Don’t try to go to a MySpace page at work because you will cause a spectacle when crazy music starts coming from your computer. I never go to MySpace from work but I am annoyed at home when crazy music starts blaring from my computer. I imagine I would get kicked out of the library, Panera, or Barnes and Noble if I went to a MySpace profile while there. It’s fine to have music on your page (I had it about 10 years ago) but MySpace (or whoever is serving the music) should give an option not to play it immediately on load.

8. Gratituitious use of the N-word. People it’s 2006; must that word still be used? Must we promote self-hate?

9. MySpace is not all that. It is a fad. There’s nothing revolutionary about the technology that is being used. As a matter of fact, I get unknown server errors quite frequently on the site. What’s goes on on this site isn’t so different from what went on on AOL back in the 90s.

This list is not all inclusive and I will probably add more soon.

You might also be interested in:

• No Related Post