Reality on a Stick

So, the MySpace experience is really starting to lose its luster for me. Way too much spam, lots of mindless, obnoxious commentary (well, not on my page, but it’s a rampant issue throughout the network).

Since early in the year, I have been on the lookout for something a bit more slick and professional looking–something that wouldn’t become dirty laundry to hide from a future employer or admissions office. Then a buddy introduced me to LinkedIn. I am still feeling my way around, but I was immediately conscious of how much intrinsic value LinkedIn offers its members in terms of attractive, useful, quantifiable self-PR. Fraternities and secret societies included, this has got to be the most widely accessible professional networking forum in history and there are no signs that it will lose market share anytime soon.

And for those who have no need for formal professional networks, or if you just want to keep you professional and private lives separate, Facebook has clearly outflanked the mighty MySpace as it establishes a new era of dominance.

So, it appears that the two ‘must join’ communities for the current era have been conveniently decided for us. Let’s face it, cool factor and familiarity are not the only deciding issues. These networks are social by definition, so the masses will tend to follow the herd, and you’re going to have to follow right along yourself, or be out of the loop.

Facebook is signing new members at a rate of roughly 200,000 per day, and they’ve opened their platform to 3rd party content and application developers. <–lots of interesting and relevant links at the end of Marc’s article, and here .

‘Game Over’ MySpace.

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