Just when we started figuring out exactly what the heck MySpace really is, now it’s destined for the trash heap. At least that’s according to some of Jeff Utecht’s students:
�It became something you HAD to do, people were going crazy, and you had to write something or people would say �Yeah, you haven�t written anything all week.� it just got to be a hassle.�
From the conversations, I get the feeling the students ran into blogger burnout. They got to a point were they were forced to write do to peer pressure rather then having something to say. The blog postings become so diluted that they were boring to read. Having to write something just for the sake of writing something so you are cool, is not cool.
That’s a pretty sit up and take notice point, I think, and it goes to the discussion we’ve been having of late as to the motivations of blogging in general. Jeff, as always, makes some interesting observations about how important purpose is to the writing, and how quickly things can change.
MySpace and Xanga aren’t going away any time soon, but I would be surprised if they keep adding over 250,000 users a day, as MySpace did a couple of weeks ago. What I’m wondering, as is Jeff, is what’s going to take their place.
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The same thing has happened at our school. Just like our internal forums two years ago, the mySpace rage appears to have run its course. From my point of view, the reason is that its popularity was driven not by its capabilities, but rather by the mentality of a social group. Students joined up solely because it was trendy. Once they found out it really wasn’t that interesting, they dropped their accounts. A certain number of students will continue to use mySpace indefinitely, but for many students, they are on to the next thing … whatever that is!
I do believe that MySpace did grow due to wanting to be popular socially and be trendy. But as a member of MySpace myself, I think it also serves as a purpose to keep in touch with people you know. So many people are connected through MySpace and it’s a easy way to literally “see” how someone is from pictures you can post. The blogs, I think, are fun and interesting to read other people’s responses. Students will continue to use MySpace but I think that for college students, Facebook will become more popular. Not only is it safer because you can only have an account if you’re a college student, but it is fun to check Facebook every hour to see if a friend has written on your wall.
I found the next best free tool. This is way better than myspace. You can create your own website with as many links as you want. It’s bascially a tool for comunication, but it also has all of those networking tools that other site have. They encourage you to write down everything on your mind and create a blog. The site is MindDeposit. http://www.minddeposit.com
Well, i understand exactly how you feel. Myspace has gotten way out of hand! that is why i now tried http://www.minddeposit.com is way better! try it out! believe me is better than MYSPACE….