Myspace: A Global Community Myspace.com

Myspace: A Global Community

Myspace.com is a pantheon of social interaction. It is like the Mecca of the digital social scene. Everyone who is anyone has a myspace page. Originally set up as a place for unsigned and independent bands to showcase their music, it has developed into one of the most highly populated social, professional, artistic, and romantic networking hubs on the internet. Probably encouraged by the scintillating announcement that the person's profile you are currently looking at is "in your extended network," there is a sense of community among these millions of people. Since every profile is "in your extended network" Myspace is truly the development of a genuine global community.

Though there are tons of great things about Myspace, but one of the best elements is the potential to build some great relationships. If you build a profile on Myspace you'll almost immediately begin to get emails and chat invitations from people all over the country. The friendliness of most of these emails are nearly overwhelming, and the fact that strangers can be so warm is quite heartening. Not only will you get people interested in just having friendly conversations with you, but you'll also be invited to join groups with like-minded people, and you could even be informed of some amazing employment opportunities as well. Some people have dedicated their entire profile to helping you find a job that you can work from home and make thousands of dollars a week. The willingness to help out strangers can really help you regain your faith in humanity.

Beyond the overwhelming friendliness there is, of course, the opportunity to find romance. How could you not find that perfect someone on the world's fourth most popular website written in the English language? (Alexa, 2006). The quality of individuals that you can meet on Myspace is superb, and the wealth of information that you can learn about someone from their profile page is far more than you could ever learn about them from one of those online dating sites. They say that you can tell the quality of a person from the quality of friends they keep, and what speaks better about someone if they have hundreds of friends listed on their profile? Not only this but Myspace is an excellent avenue to help keep a long-distance relationship as intimate as a local one since you can see every conversation your new beau is having with her friends right there in their comments section, and you can keep up with all they do in their every day lives by reading their blog. You can even use someone's Myspace profile to help you know for sure whether they are returning your affection or not since the status of your own profile being moved up to the top eight can speak volumes without ever saying a word. And who needs class rings and letter jackets when the world can clearly see that you're that person's official boyfriend or girlfriend just by taking up that coveted #1 spot on the friends list. Just in case anyone has any questions about whether you're just a good friend or a significant other, they can always check that all-important profile box that states whether they are in a relationship or not. All of this is practically like wearing a t-shirt or getting a tattoo with your significant other's name on it, but not nearly as lame, or as permanent.

There are always concerns in online environments that you're not chatting with the person that you think you're chatting with. Well, Myspace has some strict policies that keep the creeps away. You always have the option to set your profile to private, so only the people on your friends list can view your profile. Also, during the sign-up process you are required to give your age, and this is listen on your profile as well, so if you're a young person and you see that the person who is sending you a message is older, you can simply ignore them. The sense of community on Myspace will help to keep you safe as well. People on Myspace strive to present a clear, honest picture of themselves so they can find kindred spirits to network and bond with. Seeing as this is the spirit of Myspace there seems to be no room for dishonesty or bad intentions. The connectedness of the site really appeals to a general sense of integrity that most human beings have, so it's an unspoken rule that profiles are an accurate snapshot of the real person. Lying or doing anything particularly underhanded or illegal (or just dirty) goes against all the Myspace is about (Lapinsky, 2006).

All of the socializing is fantastic, but let's not forget the main reason why Myspace was invented to start with: the music! Not only can you locate your favorite band's website and send them a friend request, but you can discover new music as well. Tons of unsigned and independent artists have profiles on Myspace that tells you all about the band members, their influences, they upcoming appearance schedule and tour dates. The best part of this element is that most bands also have a Myspace player added to their page so you can listen to samples of their work. If you just fall completely in love with a band you can also add their song to your own profile so it plays while your friends browse your page. You can also add comments to the band's page, so it's just like sending fan mail, but faster, and you know they actually read it!

These features are not only available to the signed musicians, either. Anyone can put up their music on Myspace and share it with the world. Considering how huge and popular the Myspace site is, the chances of being discovered from putting up a Myspace profile are so much bigger than just playing at your local seedy bar. The recordings don't have to be fancy, and many artists simply record themselves straight on to their computers and upload it to the site. Can you beat such instant recording and publishing ability? Though the recording itself may be a little rough, the quality of the music and the abundance of talent on the site cannot be denied.

Of course musicians are not the only people who can be discovered on Myspace. There are artists of all mediums and genres to be found on Myspace. Visual artists can upload pictures of their work, and have people comment about it on their site. Writers and poets can place their work in their blog or their profile for everyone to see. Even dancers and actors can put headshots and even video of their performances on their profile. You just never know who may be looking at these things, and you could get a publishing deal or some kind of contract or offer that will lead to fame and fortune. There really is no question about the ease and beauty of this element for artists of all kinds because placing your work on your Myspace profile is so much easier and faster than sending out queries to publishers, portfolios to galleries, headshots to agencies, or attending auditions. This information gets to far more people on Myspace as well, so it just makes sense if you're an artist of any kind to put your work out there.