In January of this year I signed up to MySpace and I’ve logged in about a half-dozen times since to check messages, reply to comments, and upload a few profile photos.
Shortly after that I signed up to Facebook and did just about the same thing. I logged in from time-to-time to catch up on friend requests, see if I liked any of the new applications, and then logged back out.
I’m not even sure when I opened my LinkedIn account but I’ve never taken full advantage of what it has to offer. Many of my “connections” on LinkedIn were not really work related and so I felt my profile on LinkedIn lacked the legitimacy that LinkedIn was trying to build. I’ve asked LinkedIn to cancel my account, via email since that is the only option at this point, so we’ll see how long that takes.
Here is what I said regarding my intial experience with MySpace:
“But once you force yourself to get beyond that, there is a “valuable†service underlying in there somewhere. In amongst the error-ridden web site is a service that actually helps you to connect with people you wouldn’t have otherwise.”
I still stand by the above statement today. If you are having trouble finding the people you went to High School with look no further than using MySpace, and/or Facebook, because it seems that just about everyone on the planet with access to the Internet has signed up to either of these two services at some point.
My main reason for closing both my MySpace and Facebook accounts is because I believe that the value in these services is equal to the effort you are willing to put into them. As with any social network – you get what you put in. Unfortunately for me I’ve been unable to find the value in either of these services beyond the initial contact I’ve been able to make with those I haven’t been able to otherwise.
Side note: MySpace and Facebook have similar methods of deleting your account. I like MySpace’s method because they ask you for a reason, and I like Facebook’s method because they try to educate you on features they have based on your reason(s) for leaving. Pretty slick. LinkedIn, like Viddler, asks that you email them for deleting the account. As long as the response is fairly prompt, I think this method is fine too.
I’m not sure if this is a good idea or not, but I’ve been wanting to take this plunge since mid-summer and I’m relieved I’ve finally done it. There are a few other social networks that I am on the fence about, but they typically do something that other social networks simply do not do (or I use them a bunch) so I’m holding onto those accounts for a while longer. Have you ever thought about closing any of your social networking accounts?
Colin,
I partially agree with you on your statement, “that the value in these services is equal to the effort you are willing to put into them.” The only reason I say partially is because I leave my accounts open so that others can still find me. There have been plenty of people in the past that I have lost touch with. Some people that I would love to catch up with at some point again and yes, there are some that I would be happier if I never spoke to them. I don’t feel that it does any harm to leave my accounts open but it could help me in the future when an old friend looks me up on one of these services.
Just my 2 pennies.
-Jesse
I despise Myspace and “left” it back in the Spring; that is, I still have the account as a placeholder, and it directs people to my site or my Virb profile. I want friends to still easily find me, which is why I haven’t deleted it. Facebook and LinkedIn I’m content with.
Actually I’ve never thought about closing any of my social Networking accounts. I’ve been on myspace and facebook since 2004. Since I don’t have a cell phone and a lot of my friends have yet to start using twitter or refuse to e-mail it is my way of contacting and being contacted. I love both of these Networking sites but I wish Facebook would chill on some of the apps.
I actually had a Professor last semester who used Facebook to get in touch with the entire class and would post our assignments on a private Group. It was perfect and a great way to use Facebook instead of just poking people all the time.
Jesse (srcasm): Great point. The main reason I may not need to keep my accounts open for people to find me is because I use my real name online – and, searching Google for Colin will find me pretty quickly. My email address is on my about page, and so getting in contact with me could not be easier.
gRegor: With LinkedIn, have you gotten any work from it? I’ve found, and have heard, that if you use LinkedIn quite a bit and keep your profile up-to-date it can be a great way to find work.
iellie: That sounds like a great way to use Facebook. I’m glad there are those of you out there that use these services for something as valuable as that.
Thanks all for your comments so far.
So basically what you saying is that Viddler is the only site you should sign up for?
Excellent.
hey colin,
saw your post through twitter so i had to read your article! i recently deleted my myspace account as well. i liked that i could communicate with people that i don’t talk to on a regular basis, but so many people treat myspace like crack (i call it “mycrack”) and i just can’t get over the immaturity and drama it brings. people getting mad over reorganized top friends or comments left on others pages.
i have never used facebook, but i’m guessing same premise. and as for linked in, i have an account that i never check and it really hasn’t provided me any special opportunities or connections. maybe i am just expecting too much?
Rob Sandie: I think people should sign up for Viddler twice. Or, maybe one account for each day of the week even?
In all seriousness: I’m of the opinion that people should sign up for whatever services they think will be of use, or even fun, to them. MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Viddler – all have their place for anyone/everyone that can use them. I’m extremely happy that we’ve been able to help build some real value with Viddler for those who use it – and I hope that trend continues.
By the way, your “excellent” at the end of your comment – I just know you were doing the Mr. Burns finger-tip thing from The Simpsons. And don’t act like you weren’t!!
Colin: I think the reason that MySpace and Facebook are so frustrating in comparison to sites like Viddler and Flickr is because MySpace and Facebook are sites about nothing. All that you’re sharing there is a rough approximation of the kind of social interaction that you’d be better off having in real life. At Viddler and Flickr and sites like that, users are actually exchanging content. There’s something to talk about! What a novel f#$%ing concept! Rather than just hanging out and writing on each other’s “walls,” we’re having a dialogue about things that we’ve created.
That being said, I’ve just signed up for Facebook recently. I’m kind of lumping myself into the Kevin Smith school of self-promotion: put yourself out there, wherever you can.
But, when it comes down to it, I’m resolving to spend most of my online energy on sites like Viddler from here on out.
Blasphemy!
Remember this: blogs are the best open-source social network there is!
Chris Clark: Nice observations.
Mark Schoneveld: I completely agree! Blogs, FTW!
Dear Colin,
I have a myspace, viddler, and facebook account. I, however, have never heard of LinkedIn.
I hate myspace, but I still have a myspace account. The only reason I still have a myspace account is because my friends and cousins in Tennessee are still in the ‘myspace craze’ and will not join Facebook.
I, however, enjoy facebook. At my highschool almost every kid has a facebook. It’s a great way to keep in touch with my friends during vacation and other things. I enjoy that social network.
Also, keep in mind, I am a junior in highschool, and its normal for us to have facebook. So I’m probablly a little biased.
As for Viddler, I can’t even express how awesome it is! I really appreacaite the kind of personal aura that you don’t find on any other website.
Well, I’m off to watch a movie! Later Colin! [=
I’ve been considering doing the same thing. My web site has been online since flashing text was considered cool. If people want to find me, it’s not difficult. I may hang on to MySpace only because a couple of friends in bands use it as their primary blogging platform so I need access to keep up with them. Facebook is definately in danger of going bye-bye. LinkedIn is useful for me. I get fairly regular job inquiries via my profile there. I’m not job hunting right now, but you know, I could be again some day.
Colin:
You and I have spoken about doing this for months. My reasons are different than yours, I was unhappy with Facebook because I felt Brand alienated me and became something different than what I signed up for. That said, your exit was inspiring and I finally went and “deactivated” my Facebook after reading this. I wrote them a lengthy note detailing my ongoing displeasure with where they have taken the Brand and moved on.
It’s freeing! Thanks.
I surely know how you feel about having too large of an ‘online footprint’ – look how many web services I have an account on!
I have a Myspace an Facebook – I like the administration at Facebook better, they helped me with some accessibility issues. Try getting help at Myspace? Har har har! I dislike the ranking junk that goes on at just about any site, who cares about “top friends”? It’s disturbing that so many people apparently do. I’ve been added to “top friends” by some people on Facebook, and have added them in turn out of politeness, but that application is useless. I like the wal posts – as long as they are actually comments from friends. What really bugs me is when people post stupid chain letters, and everyone seems so much more interested in doing that than posting chit-chat or other comments of their own. Facebook has some great apps (if only I could be sure my friends would be interested in them) but FB also has some really crappy ones. IMO they have too many fluffy visual apps that do nothing but add clutter to your profile and cause the comp to freeze while the page takes about a hundred years to load. It took a few experiments before I finally figured out how to add apps that people invited me to – w/o having them clutter my profile with boxes and links.
I don’t share either my FB or MS page with strangers – because FB requires you to disclose your full name, and MS has your age in the title of your profile page – I like to keep my full name, age, and location private as much as possible.
Oh And just to let you know Facebook started out for College students ONLY! It was a social Network set up for Colleges and origianlly you could only be friends and communicate with people from your college. Facebook then realized if they opened it up to allow College to college contact that it would boom! And it did. Later they realized they had the next Myspace on their hands and opened it to everyone. After this happened Facebook just lost all of it’s appeal in my opinion.
Facebook was great when it was just a College Social Network because it was worth while. It made it easy for college groups and associations to create Facebook groups and promote their association. It brought the campus closer and if you needed to get in contact with a person from your class you could search for your class and students in it and get information you needed for tests and assignments.
Myspace has always kinda been a huge mess.
I just wish Facebook would go back to the way they once were
Over the last several months I have also thought of purging a few of the social networks I currently belong to. MySpace is at the top of my list, although it is the one place I know where to find all my family and friends. Regardless, it’s become so inundated with marketing and porn that it’s hardly a place where I feel I would be able to make meaningful connections with people I haven’t talked to in awhile.
The problem is, social networks should be about making connections with people you don’t already know. Sadly, because of what people have done to social networks, there is always a sense of weirdness when someone you don’t know asks to be friends. Which is why I so rarely take the initiative.
In response to this post, I cancelled my LinkedIn account and will be deleting my MySpace account in the very near future, since most, if not all of my friends and family know my web address. That should be enough.
Personally, I don’t see that the contact made on either Facebook or MySpace is valuable to life really. Sure you can find people you lost track of but maybe there was a good reason you don’t see them. I haven’t got either. I signed up for a Facebook and deleted the account after 10 seconds. The initial welcome didn’t entice me at all and it failed to show me what it can offer. From what I’ve heard, its a good way to spam your friends with a load of crap, and that doesn’t excite me one bit.
Myspace is similar. Very web 1.0, annoying animated GIFs, poorly designed backgrounds that make it so you can’t read the text. It reminds me of my first website in…1999 maybe? Glad thats dead!
I do use some networks. I use flickr so my family can see my photos, I use del.icio.us to bookmark stuff that doesn’t need to sit in my safari bookmarks, and I twitter for fun. And blog every now and then.
Welcome to the less-social
Like has been said, whether or not I use those services, it allows others to find me. Even thought it seems obvious to just search for me on Google, many people do not scope their search that large.
I also keep my accounts because of privacy settings. I’d like to see what my friends are doing on an irregular basis and can’t do so without having accounts.
LinkedIn has proven practically worthless for me, but it is a nice resume for me to point people towards if they are curious where I am professionally.
hey wat up myspace is awesome
but there is a lot of drama but anyways i thoght i would holla at you all love u all boo