Random Thoughts: Only On MySpace

So I finally joined MySpace. I had a Friendster page already and I really had no desire to go and create new profiles on other social sites. However with my job, being a user experience designer, I found myself more and more intrigued with the whole idea of social networking. What drives traffic? Why do people comment? What exactly is and isn't online social etiquitte? There is so much going on and I finally took the plunge and created a MySpace profile years after they have launched.

The first thing I noticed is how open people are on mySpace. This site by far has the least barrier of resistence when it comes to linking to other people. Total strangers will add you and invite you to join their networks. It's amazing how open this community is. I think the person who represents this attitude the best is Tila Nguyen... okay... Tequila, the crown princess of MySpace. Much like stopping by the Vatican in Italy, I had to make a stop by her page and check things out. It's crazy, she has like 2 million friends and is releasing a CD... WTF!? ... only on MySpace.

It's such a powerful marketing tool. For example, at work, There is a girl who leads a band of female DJs and she has like a fan base of 20,000 plus people. It's crazy. My mind is going crazy with how I can use this to drive traffic to my personal projects. Like, can I create a fictional character and have people add him as a friend and then eventually use his public exposure to endorse products, points of views or even create a sub-culture like Obey Giant? There so much you could do.

The other thing is that really amazed me is that I had the ability to reach out to people you'd normally would have no access to. Sandy and I have been watching The Search for the next Pussycat Dolls and I was rooting for Chelsea Korka, the once teased, overweight, halo playing (she grew up super close with her two brothers), X-Men comic reading girl (calm down fellas) with bangs who can belt out notes as good as anyone I've ever heard. In any case, she made it to the finals and didn't end up getting picked and man, you just gotta feel for her because she has the whatever it takes attitude.

When we were on the message boards, we learned that she just created a My Space page and it's one of those things that just amazes you because it's really only here where you can reach out to somebody who has or hasn't made it yet and send out a word of encouragement.

I can't wait to get a couple of days of open time and go and create something in this new virtual sandbox. It seems like a ton of fun and I can't wait to see what I dig up.