I can't exactly remember when I joined the "mega" social network of Myspace, but I do know I was one of the very last ones in my circle of associates to make a profile. I also wasn't keen or hip to joining Facebook as well, but I did get a Facebook account before I stepped over to Myspace.

Myspace has been an enjoyment to say the least. I was able to find classmates from almost a decade ago, people I hadn't even thought of in years, but once I pulled out my old yearbooks it was only a matter of typing in their names and pressing the search button. I found an old "boyfriend" from fifth grade, the same guy who helped me to the nurses office when I tore my leg open in 4th grade and had to get stitches. He's a drummer in a band now.

Funny I remember riding my bike to his house on occasions and listening to him play the drums. I found a young man whose grandmother attended the same church as my grandmother and they were always trying to "hook" us up, he goes to the same college my dad attended in New Mexico. Looks a lot different than he did in his younger days. And I could go on an on about the countless number of profiles I have come across by people that I know in my younger days.

Thanks to Myspace I was able to get a slight glimpse into their adult world. In all my reluctances to not set up a Myspace profile I must say I'm glad I eventually did. But wait, in all it's glory and helpfulness, Myspace has it's own way of reeling you in and trapping you. And it can become pretty "nasty".

A few examples:



1.The battle between who will be your "top friends" and especially the vow for that number one spot. The ALMIGHTY #1 spot on your "top friends". It would not surprise me one bit if friendships have been lost, out right vanished over the misusage of the #1 spot on someone's "top friends" list. Just imagine if you have your best friend (or who you THINK is your best friend) as you #1 on your friends list, but you go to that friends page and you are #2 or even worse #3 on his/her "top friends" list. I can see the caption on the YouTube video already "Girl/Guy fights best friend in Wendy's parking lot, because of Myspace error". Personally I have my cousin Gaby as my #1 friend and my best friend as #2. Only because she has her husband as her #1, obligation I suppose.

 

2.Messages on Myspace. You send someone a message and they fail to either ever reply or take days to reply. Is it just me or the general population on Myspace who will phone up the said "friend" and ask them WHY they haven't had the time or put in some effort to respond to my Myspace message. Who doesn't like to see the little red envelope saying you have "New Messages"? Admit, by the time I've called them I could have also already asked them or said what I've said in the infamous Myspace message I sent, but it's NOT the same, I want to see my RED
envelope!!

 

3.Friend requests. Does the lack of friend requests really tell you how popular you are on Myspace? When I first set up my profile I had hundreds of friends to add, and it was like I either sent out at least five (5) requests to be someone's friend or at least got three (3) requests to be someone else's friend. But then sadly those friend requests just disappeared, I thought to myself, surely 176 is not going to be the number I'm stuck at, I KNOW MORE PEOPLE THAN THAT! Next to receiving a New Message when I signed in, having a friend request was the highlight of my Myspace experience. It's been about three (3) months since my last friend request came in, and that was only because an old friend has his account hacked and had to rebuild his friend's list. Bummer.

4.Myspace music on profiles. Am I the only one who turns their speakers off when surfing profiles on Myspace? Too many times have I been startled by someone's unexpected tunes and almost fallen out of my seat. For example I visited the profile of a young lady who I had been an associate with in highschool, sweet and very respectful, at the time. I get to her profile and it's all dark and sad looking, and at that time I had my speakers up probably full blast, and was NOT ready for the grunge music that came blaring out of my speakers from Miss sweet and respectful in highschool girl. dern near fell backwards out my seat. I refuse to look at profiles with the speakers on. I don't give a care what song you have on your profile. Stop scaring me!

 5.Picture captions. Do photos really need captions? "Me at the beach", ok I can cleary see that, given the water and sand, but how about telling us WHAT beach and stop with all the obvious bullcrap. Give some detail if you are going to give a needless caption. Here's my favorite (sarcasm) "Don't I look sexy?" Are you being rehtorical? Heck if I ever found you to be sexy, why are you writing this stuff? And guys who never fail to have their shirt lifted to show their abs, "you like?" Ninja, do I like, do I like what? The fact that you have failed to find the auto picture button on your digi cam and have taken this same picture countless times in the bathroom mirror with that dern flash. Do I like? No. I hate it in fact, who cares that you work out? Is Myspace the new hangout for gym rats? Ugh, for the life of me, just put a photo up, DON'T pose and DON'T ask any stupid arse rhetorical questions!

6.Lying profiles. It is easier to lie of the internet. You can post whatever the heck you want to and really you won't have to defend yourself or prove yourself true. Especially so on Myspace. I can stand to read someone's profile and the jack up the truth. Someone in graduate school who hasn't even spent a semester in undergrad, but they working on a Masters or Ph.D? Somene who lives down the street from you, or works with you in lets say Houston, but their current location is Rome, as in ROME ITALY. What? Since when did you start liking the Italian way of life? And some people get so far into detail that they start to tell lies that even I get confused on and start believing. "I'm a muscian and I am working on getting a demo cut, or I've been asked to audition in New York for my creative arts talent or some B.S like that", I can't give a real example without actually going to those said pages and pulling them directly from their profiles. Even know a dude who can't be no more than 5′5 maybe pushing on 5′6, but he's 6″1 on his profile, and I swear that ninja look as if he's standing on his tip toes in his picture (caption: How tall DO I look?). Moving on.

 

7.Bulletins. Is there a way to just delete the entire bulletin board off my homepage? Though I will be guilty of using this meaningless feature to have people read this when I post it to my Myspace blog.

 8.Cluttered pages. Learn some freaking HTML first and foremost if you are going to put all that crap on your page. And the fact that you even have the audacity to put all that interactive crap on there thinking I'm going to play with your little mock fridge and magnets annoys the heck out of me. Why you think you so special that I don't have anything to do but to play on YOUR Myspace page? And if one more page crashes my dern internet browser I will PERSONALLY hack your sh*& and delete your account, that's all thank you.

9.This goes hand in hand with #6: Myspace profile ages. Fill in your birthday correctly with the right year. Children who are I know at least five-six years younger than me have somehow become within two years of my age range. I have a 13 year old cousin who, on their profile, is 18? And a friend who I swear is pushing 30, but she's 24? HELLO I'm 23; how can you possibly be 24? Myspace is NOT the fountain of youth, nor is the opposite of the fountain of youth. Oh wait it's not some darn fake ID, it's Myspace.

10.Deleting a friend. How often do we do this accidently on purpose? Friend makes you mad, and you delete them off your friends list...ooooooooo the damage. I'm guilty. Hahahaha. But you could like really aide soemone to commit social suicide if everyone got together and deleted them off their profile. Tempting. Cyber-bulling is no punk. No pun intended.

Bonus: No profile picture. Don't even ASK to be my friend. Period. Who the heck are you?

Thanks to these guys for one of my pictures.