How to Save MySpace?

(source: Netbanker)

MySpace.com

MySpace is a social networking site that rivals Yahoo!, Google, eBay and MSN for the top spot among visitors in the internet (Alexa, 2006). MySpace can defined as a vlog and photoblog. MySpace derives from a form of multimodal texts. Walsh (2006) implies that multimodal texts are those texts that have more than one mode so the meaning is communicated through a sychronisation of modes. Multimodal modes can be inclusive of written and spoken language which in MySpace, it relates to the music page, combined together with moving or still images which is the vlog or photoblog and that are produced on a paper or electronic screen.


What happened?

MySpace used to be one of the leader in site of choice for musicians and music fans keep track on their local scenes. Artists and musicians ranging from amateurs to veterans such as Rascal Flatts, Taylor Swift, Kenny G, Britney Spears and etc use MySpace.

Printscreen (source: MySpace)

It maintained as a strong social networking until Facebook arrives. However, the CEO of MySpace, Owen Van Natta expressed his concerns in saving this website. There will be a few aspects to be taken care of in order to save this social networking site.


Steps into Saving MySpace..

1. Core mission

• MySpace has too many features. For example, the one with music postings and videos are just too much. Why would people have to go to MySpace to upload videos and songs? Hence, MySpace should get rid of the MySpace Music and musicians should allow themselves to make music to all users fairly.

2. Availability of free music

• MySpace seacrh engine for free music has becoming less and less efficient. Listings of searches seemed to appear irrelevant to what users are looking for hence, we suggest that if MySpace would want to save itself, they should try to figure out how their competitors get such good deals in music downloads and sign up with those deals.
  

3. Fix the Advertising

• It has become incredibly annoying when big banners of irrelevant advertisements such as bank mortgage kept popping up in the MySpace page. Comparing to Facebook, the advertisements are more relevant and it relates to the current happenings. Thus, MySpace should reduce the size of their ads and advertise more relevant ads that suit the users preferences.
  

4.Fix search

• The search system for MySpace is inefficient as what you type out in search does not results to the same meaning of it.

5.Let geeks run the company

• Do not let the marketers or salespeople to run the show as the problem with MySpace right now is the development platform of better usage of technology.
  

Solving the issue.

Therefore, what needs to be improve it the notion of literacy practice in MySpace. Scribner and Cole (1981) describe literacy practice as the use of "combination of technology, knowledge and skills" and the application of this "knowledge for specific purposes in specific contexts of use. Besides that, MySpace would seem to be more approachable if the right context of situation is applied. As according to Malinowski (1923, 1935) cited by Halliday et. al (1985), the context of situation is the environment of the text. Hence, language and culture are also important in the context of MySpace. Different users interact in different kinds of language and cultures. It is good to provide the most appropriate materials to every users without being biased. Hence, the universal language such as English should be used in MySpace. Based to the culture of MySpace, teenagers are the main users. Chandler and Robert-Young (1995) said that MySpace can be seen as a more interactive alternative to a personal homepage for many of its teenage users.


My Personal Opinion

MySpace has been operating around the online community longer than Facebook. However, it's lack of efficiency such as the advertising, search engine system and features showed that Facebook is slowly overtaking this social networking community. I use both MySpace and Facebook and I personally admit that Facebook is a better choice. Hence, MySpace needs a lot to do to save their company from failure.

MySpace Homepage Design : New vs. Old

(source: Montparnas)


(source: econsultancy.com)

References:

• Rosoff, M 2009, 'How to save MySpace', cnet news, viewed 14 June 2009 <http://news.cnet.com/8301-13526_3-10263933-27.html
  

• Alexa (2006), Alexa traffic rankings, viewed 14 June 2009 <http://www.alexa.com/#

• Walsh, M 2006, 'The 'textual shift': Examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts', Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, vol.29, no.1, pp.24-37

• Scribner, S, Cole, M 1981, 'The Psychology of Literacy', Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press <http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~dperkel/writing/perkel_copypasteliteracyDRAFT_August2007.pdf

• Chandler, David and Dilwyn Robert-Young, 1998, 'The Construction of Identity in the Personal Homepages of Adolescents' <http://aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/strasbourg.html

• Schirato, T, Yell, S 1996, 'Framing Contexts' Communication and Cultural Literacy: An introduction, Chapter 5, pp.90-117

• Halliday, M.A.K, Hasan, R 1985, 'Context of situation' Language, context and text: aspects in language in a social-semiotic perspective, Chapter 1, pp. 3-14