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Ryan Paugh graduated from Penn State in 2006 with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business. After working in corporate communications, freelance writing and reporting, he co-founded 
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I’ll be the first to admit it. We millennials love our online social networks. I’ve had a Facebook profile since my junior year of college when it first hit the mainstream college community. MySpace took a little longer for me to get down, but once I snatched some free background codes and learned how to maneuver through the back end, I was good-to-go.
The online networking phenomenon has become infused in our culture. Music, movies and television are being advertised on MySpace. Even Fortune 500 companies are cashing in by placing ads on Facebook. It definitely says something unique about our culture, but what exactly does it say about us? Danah Boyd, a PhD student at Cal Berkeley summed things up with a pretty bold generalization:
According to Boyd, Facebook users “are in honor classes, looking forward to prom and live in a world dictated by after school activities.�? MySpace “has most of the kids who are socially ostracized at school because they are geeks, freaks or queers.�?1
I never thought two websites with millions of collective users could be assessed so effortlessly. But maybe this straightforward gal is on to something…to an extent.
Regressing for a moment, it took me quite awhile to get a MySpace profile. Why you ask? Because I was too busy with schoolwork and excessive partying to sit down and solve all it’s back end riddles. “What?�? I said. “I have to learn HTML to make my profile as cool as everyone else’s? Forget it!�? So it wasn’t until the summer after my senior year, while taking my last two classes that I sat down and carved my legacy in the MySpace Empire.
I was somewhat “socially ostracized�? at this point. Most of my friends had graduated, the festivities had died down and a first-grader could’ve handled my homework. Did Boyd get something right? Maybe to an extent, but I’m not a “geek, freak or queer.�? I just didn’t have the time to be a “MySpacer�? until boredom led me astray. Up until then, it was just too damn hard to figure out.
And it still is – at least for a former frat guy with limited computer literacy. The site just isn’t user friendly. It’s a complex world where only those with a techie background and/or lots of free time can prevail. Which is the real reason Facebook is the choice of a dynamic generation.
Today, as I hustle through the day-to-day grind of big business, I don’t have time to deal with avoidable complexities, but Facebook makes things so easy. Facebook is my social secretary (sorry…administrative assistant), it tells me who is doing what without any angst.
“Oh look, Healy is over in the wine country sipping on cabernet. Hey! There’s a picture of my friend Eric floating around in the Dead Sea.” Get the idea? If you want to know what your cronies are up to, it tells you, plain and simple.
So what do your online networks say about you? Unless you’re under 18, I hope it’s not that you’re “looking forward to the prom,�? but I doubt it says as much about your persona as Boyd suggests.
In my opinion, it’s going to change with age, but I think some sort of MySpace/Facebook will always be around. Imagine how many of our parents would’ve stayed close with lost friends if they could see what each other were doing throughout their lives. This Friday, I’m meeting up with a friend I haven’t seen since the seventh grade, we reconnected on MySpace. I can’t wait to see who I can track down 20 years from now.
1 boyd, danah. 2007. “Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace .” Apophenia Blog Essay. June 24 . http://www.danah.org/papers/essays/ClassDivisions.html
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Great post, Ryan. An ex-boyfriend of mine was strictly opposed to taking the time to set up a myspace page. When he finally gave in, he was amazed at how quickly he was contacted by people he hadn’t seen in years.
My friends and I have cycled through a few social networks over the years to stay in touch, starting out at xanga (an online journal), then moving to facebook and myspace, but we all seem to be settling on facebook. I agree with your conclusion. It just takes less work. Especially with their new story feed that tells you exactly what everyone is doing as soon as you log in.
Hey Jacqui:
Thanks for commenting. It’s funny you mention the story feed that facebook recently set up. At first I said “What the hell is this? People can see everything I change/add/etc?” A week later I found myself checking out new pictures my friends had posted from around the world, found out what they’ve been up to and other great stuff.
It’s really a great tool once you get over the fact that so much of you is out there. But at least you can control what people see based on personal preference.
I really think as we grow older, we’re going to find that these online networks are going to keep friends and family around the world closer together.
-Paugh
I agree. I, too, was annoyed by the story feed at first, but now I check it almost obsessively.
I agree, the feed annoyed me at first too. However, Zuckerberg set it up with the intent of creating the new applications. If there was no feed, no one would know who was downloading new apps and which ones are taking off. Smart guy…
-Healy
I started out in the blogging/social networking thing on Xanga, and it was mostly used by young kids and then my entire university. We had thousands of people in groups, so the move to Facebook and Myspace took longer. To me, this process has helped me draw the lines between the sites not through who was on it, but what it required of the user. People still on Xanga are those who want pretty hefty involvement, they want to write and share their ideas. Facebook involvement is sort of the middle spot - more involved than MySpace, but not so in depth as the blogging thing. People on MySpace want to listen to music and contact old friends, watch videos, etc.
It’s really interesting to me how now, instead of playing on their own strengths, these sites seem to be trying to take the “best” from each of the other. MySpace introduced a blog, Facebook the feed, Xanga messaging. It will be interesting to see where it all ends up - I won’t keep up with all of them if they become too similar. I’ll just go with the one that has the most people on it that I want to keep up with.
I’ve always loved Facebook. It’s clean, has really nifty features, and seems to be intuitive to use. The first time I remember realizing Facebook was #1 was when they first introduced the photo tagging ability so that pictures of you that someone else took, uploaded, and featured in their profile would show up on your page.
MySpace is awful. I have a profile but only login once every couple weeks to clear out all the spam I get. It’s loud (both visually and auditorily) and feels too chaotic and generally uncivilized. As a web developer, it’s also insanely frustrating to watch MySpace fail to develop new features or even fix what’s broken. Meanwhile, Facebook is rolling out awesome new things I never would have even thought of at such a fast pace I can barely keep up.
I see Facebook as the country club or elks lodge that the more discerning members of our generation flock to for social fulfillment. MySpace is the loud rock concert or dingy college bar that people lurk at for social fulfillment. I’ll take polos and brunch over headbanging and chain wallets, thank you very much.
Hey Ryan,
There’s also an interesting age bubble in the Myspace/Facebook cross-over. Because you couldn’t access Facebook without an edu email account until recently their demographics developed a bit differently. Now that anyone in any network can get on Facebook it will be interesting to see how it pans out. Another note, does Boyd account for all of the crossover kids who have accounts on both? Freaks looking forward to prom? Honors students who have band pages on Myspace?
Jacqui made an interesting point. She mentioned how her ex-boyfriend had been contacted by a lot of former acquaintances after he set up a MySpace page.
Am I the only one that doesn’t use my real name on MySpace? I would be horrified at the loss of privacy that would give me. It would mean that anyone, ANYONE, who knew my name could look up my most private ramblings.
I never post my full name on the web (Not even on this forum) specifically to keep my private life private.
Is this just because I’m 40 years old, or is it just my personality?
Scott,
Good question, I have a feeling it has a lot to do with your age, but personality is a factor. Most young people I know don’t care as much about personal privacy on the web because its virtually impossible to hide. That being said, many people are hesitant to disclose to much no matter their age. I was very hesitant to use my real name when I started writing for Penelope, but I decided to go for it. maybe its just my personality though…
Check out my post about privacy/myspace
blog.penelopetrunk.com/2007/06/05/twentysomething-raunchy-old-photos-will-be-part-of-the-revolution/
-Ryan