When surveying the vast landscape of the internet it’s rather hard to ignore the 900lb. gorilla that is MySpace. They were one of the very first of this whole crop of social networking based sites to really find some huge success.
Here’s the thing MySpace does a lot of stuff right. Its relatively easy for anyone to get a page up and with very little, or no knowledge of HTML. The ability to control nearly every aspect of the way your page looks is very satisfying and really makes it feel like you’ve made it yours. Users can create blog entries, keep in contact with friends, post pictures etc. all great things. The giant influx of bands, both large and small is a great way for people to find new music and for artists to interact with fans on a very personal level is extraordinary.
The problem is that the whole experience completely sucks from start to finish. The user interface is a nightmare. The customizability has led to what might be some of the worst eyesores the web has seen since the GeoCities days. God help you if you have your speakers on and land on a page with auto-play music. I’ll not even mention the over saturation of obtrusive, and often times offensive, advertising that blankets everything.
There have been many sites that have come along in the last few years that all have their own followings but haven’t managed to catch on quite like MySpace. Last week I discovered one that I truly hope will knock all of them off the top of the heap. It’s called Virb and it’s awesome!
As far as I’ve discovered Virb does everything MySpace does only bigger and better. You’ve got your friends lists, your blog postings, your profile settings, your photo gallery (with Flickr integration I should note). You’ve got your complete design control too which could be potentially be a hindrance as mentioned above but with one key difference (and this is what sold me on the site): at the top of every single page is a link that says “Remove Customization” and returns that page to it’s original “factory settings.” GENIOUS! They’ve even got the music thing going with an increasingly growing list of some pretty impressive artists. In addition to adding your favorite bands to your friend list you can create a personal playlist from songs they’ve posted, kinda like a mini personal sound track. They’ve also got a section that will keep you abreast of upcoming shows in your area. They’ve even upped the ante a bit with the addition of emphasis on photographers and fashion as well. All of this wrapped in a quite pleasing Web 2.0 shell that’s fantastically easy to use and does exactly what you expect it to.
just because it was It’s one downfall at the moment is the problem with all these social networking sites, EVERYONE is still on MySpace. None of the sites can really work until they hit a certain critical mass. I’ve been able to get in contact with many people that I haven’t seen in ages (for both good and ill) through MySpace. I have no idea what that crucial number is but hopefully Virb gets there soon.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I must pick out the perfect color scheme, write a fittingly Emo blog post and add the Bloc Party to my friends list.
