There is alot I like about Myspace.
It’s an incredibly viral and sticky site.
What I mean is, it’s addictive and I keep wanting to come back for more.
I love how you can customise your profile to look any way you want.
Looking for old friends is like a game, a kind of synthetic hide and seek!
Most of my friends are on it.
I can let people know what I’m up to with bulletins.
There are alot of cool things about myspace that make it unreal!
Myspace is web 2.0?
Hmph
It’s more like a web 1.0 application incorporating social networking concepts.
Problems with Myspace:
1. Interface
You would think that a site worth so much to Murdock would get a major overhaul in the user interface department. It’s seriously lacking, uses very little DHTML or AJAX to speed the overall user experience and has an uneccesarilly number of steps to do simple things like adding friends and comments.
They could learn a whole lot about interface design from Flickr and Digg.
2. It’s the worst looking of the top 10 sites on the net.
OK, I will admit that most designs on myspace are at the mercy of individual users. But how about giving everyone a great headstart by making the default user profile totally awesome?
It lacks the overall refinement of Facebook
It’s so web 1.0 in it’s “look”, it’s so 1998.
3. Stability
I have never know a website to so consistently drop out.
I kid you not.
It seems to have “serious errors” alot… seriously.
4. What it’s built on.
Coldfusion?
Are you kidding me?
One of the most traffiked websites on the internets and it’s build of CF?
Hey, I love programming CF as much as the next geek, but seriously, let get serious here…
It feels like myspace has been developed by someone like me… not a real programmer, but someone who wants to be one, but lacks the attention to detail to pull it off.
I really think it’s been a victim of it’s own success, growing too quickly to manage it’s expanding user base effectively.
summary:
I can’t say that I know everything that goes on behind the scenes, so lets just assume that everything is working great and take it for granted.
Myspace needs a big overhaul, with big challengers like Facebook and virb on their way, Myspace does not have the luxury to sit back on their laurels and expect thier user base to to be ok with a clunky interface, site errors and the small stuff.
A mate of mine was at work today and the brother of one of his co-workers turned up (having just landed from the states) with a red-hot iPhone coolly hanging from his left mit! Aaron (my mate) got the chance to polish it for a few minutes while trying out some cool moves reviewers from over the pond have been raving about.
Pinching with the fingers to enlarge and shrink images, very smooth!
This fella didn’t have roaming enabled, so he didn’t get to go any further than the froth and bubble, but still, Aaron (damn you!) has been the closest almost all of us here down under have gotten to the little blighter.
Now for the wait (you yanks thought you had it bad with 6 months!) we will have to wait at least another 12 before it materialises…