Commentary
Facebook Soars, MySpace Shrinks
- by elizabeth , October 11, 2009
After reading an article with the statistics backing Facebook’s popularity, I found myself not at all surprised. When Facebook began, it was restricted to college students only – sort of a rite of passage. From my experience, I remember getting my Facebook page was much more exciting than when I got my MySpace page. As a matter of fact, shortly after I was on Facebook, I deactivated my MySpace account. After a few years, Facebook became so popular that it spread to high school students and now even to those well beyond their college years.
But why is Facebook so much more popular than MySpace? Curious to find this answer, I began to ask around. It seems, according to the college population with whom I spoke, Facebook is more user friendly; it looks cleaner. It’s easier to navigate to photos or friends, and you don’t have to wait that long to upload a friend’s page. Also, Facebook is more “welcoming.†When you join Facebook, it’s not only easier to network, but now friends can recommend friends, and before you know it, you’re in touch with hundreds of people, ranging from classmates and family to friends you haven’t seen in years.
In both their basic sense, Facebook and MySpace offer the same thing – social networking – but Facebook found a better, more appealing way, which is evident from the statistics.
Do you think that myspace is still important for people who are more into the music connection? Facebook is leading the social networking trend, but myspace still seems relevant for people looking to connect with music and bands. Love to know your view on this.
I think MySpace has it's niche in music and will continue, at least for a time, to dominate that sphere. they haven't done enough. in my opinion to secure that market and leave themselves open for a more targeted network to sneak in and steal their only viable course there.
As for another reason why Facebook is better then MySpace. Less and sometime better advertising. Unlike the large flashing banner ads and the effusive spam messages on MySpace, Facebook has been good about limiting and targeting their advertisements. They also do a good job of screening and banning accounts that spam marketing messages. Action which MySpace has tried but seems to be finding overwhelming.
Do you think that the incredible popularity with the broad audience has made it less "special" for college students?