Is MySpace Too Far Gone? Ways to Make MySpace Better!

It really seems like MySpace is earning itself a negative image nowadays. It has been nearly three years since the community giant launched, and with over 60 million registered members, one would think that the site is only gaining momentum and popularity. However, a lot of recent feedback and comments have actually shown the exact opposite.

More and more users are getting annoyed by the overwhelming spam, lack of features, and slow load times that seem to be common nature on MySpace.com. With new social services like TagWorld and Friendster popping up quite often now, more and more people are realizing that there is more to the web than flashy icons, and single paged profiles. Now, with the combined efforts of schools and parents to prevent students from using MySpace, more and more are realizing that posting personal information on public sites can be troublesome... if not dangerous.

So now we ask ourselves, Is MySpace too far gone? It this once thriving community able to be saved from its recent negative connotations? Will News Corp be able to bring their giant into the new era of Web 2.0 Applications?

It could be possible, but only if MySpace decides to go under a hefty upgrade which will likely change the feel of the online society. The following are a list of points that would greatly benefit the future of MySpace.com (We hope that you are reading this NewsCorp!).

• AJAX Enabled Features

  It seems like all of the new "Web 2.0" sites are doing it now, even the small players like TagWorld. We firmly believe that some nifty AJAX commenting, friend adding, and related application features would give MySpace an extra edge (or in many cases bring them up to date) over competition.

• Faster Load Times

  Let's face it... MySpace is slow. Why? Besides its gigantic network ov over 60 million users, their scripting is anything but pretty, and their pages are full of deprecated HTML and inline styles. Lets cut the coding down a bit, and make the backend more efficient.

• More Focus on Blogs

  Too much attention is given to the front MySpace user profile page (usually a combination of a cheesy photo, horrid graphics, and blinking text in comments). Why not focus more on the blogs, where a persons true insights are laid out. Not only will this give people more valuable content to read, but it will help inspire others to write.

• RSS Feeds

  This comes as a huge surprise to myself. With RSS feeds so easy to create, it is a wonder that MySpace only has RSS integration in the Blogs. Why not set up an RSS feeds for comments, messages, and bulletins? Access to RSS feeds over mobile devices could create an entire new set of features for MySpace. Imagine cruising through the city, checking out your bulletins via RSS on your cell phone, and seeing that your friends are going to a concert. Or maybe you send out a bulletin yourself, and your friends pick it up on their way home from work. RSS is a powerful tool, and MySpace should be taking full advantage of it!

• Less Censorship

  There has been quite a bit of censorship from the types of bulletins and messages posted, to pictures posted on users profiles. There needs to be a line drawn at some point, but peoples views should not be censored.

• Third Party Support

  Another great surprise to me comes in the form for MySpace's lack of 3rd party support. Where other sites like TagWorld encourage websites that provide custom themes, layouts, and support, MySpace attacks these resources (with threats of suing, and legal action). Does it make sense for them to attack their fan base? Why not take these sites as opportunities to learn, develop new ideas, and new features?

• Better Page Customization Let's drop the Tables, and get some Modules in our user profiles. Besides a set of standard modules ("about me", "comments", etc), also allow the creation of custom modules for better user customization. Furthermore, why not let the users position the content on their own page?

• Spam / Friend Control

  Spam cannot stop completely, but steps can be taken to greatly reduce it. Make stricter limits on bulletins and comments, and furthermore, develop a new system to find and add friends. The "Trains" and Bots on MySpace are harming the entire service, and must be slowed down or stopped if possible. Many forums have a flood limit on posting messages, and it seems to work pretty well at stopping most spam. Why not add a flood system to friend adding and bulletins?

MySpace has gone downhill recently, but there is hope for it yet. It will take a strong update from the ground up though. Is MySpace ready for such an update, and more importantly, will the users be ready for such a change?