Monks Jazz Club
Looks and Utility
RECEIVED Sat., March 1, 2008
Dear Editor,
I prefer Facebook to MySpace for two reasons:
1) MySpace is a cluttered, cobbled-together mess, with too many ads, the most obnoxious features of websites from 10 years ago (like music that starts the second you load a page) and confusing organization. Facebook, at least before the News Feed, was much less abrasive.
2) MySpace is full of porn and dating ads and spam, and that gets obnoxious after a while. Facebook isn't as overflowing with that.
Your class comments are interesting [“In Your Facebook,” Screens, Feb. 29], but to me, the overriding feature of these sites is that whether highbrow or lowbrow, the vast majority of applications are utterly useless and frankly annoying. MySpace is good for bands at least, but that's about it. They're handy for keeping track of friends and maintaining easy communication, but it'd be nice if there were a site actually focused on building up useful networking functions, like car shares or babysitting co-ops or local volunteer opportunities. The sites that exist now are devoted to just pissing away your time, so maybe that is what actually unites the mainstream youth of America across classes and subcultures – egotism and self-satisfied complacency. I don't want to believe this is true, but it seems to be the logic guiding these sites.
I prefer Facebook to MySpace for two reasons:
1) MySpace is a cluttered, cobbled-together mess, with too many ads, the most obnoxious features of websites from 10 years ago (like music that starts the second you load a page) and confusing organization. Facebook, at least before the News Feed, was much less abrasive.
2) MySpace is full of porn and dating ads and spam, and that gets obnoxious after a while. Facebook isn't as overflowing with that.
Your class comments are interesting [“In Your Facebook,” Screens, Feb. 29], but to me, the overriding feature of these sites is that whether highbrow or lowbrow, the vast majority of applications are utterly useless and frankly annoying. MySpace is good for bands at least, but that's about it. They're handy for keeping track of friends and maintaining easy communication, but it'd be nice if there were a site actually focused on building up useful networking functions, like car shares or babysitting co-ops or local volunteer opportunities. The sites that exist now are devoted to just pissing away your time, so maybe that is what actually unites the mainstream youth of America across classes and subcultures – egotism and self-satisfied complacency. I don't want to believe this is true, but it seems to be the logic guiding these sites.
Donald Jackson
