MySpace and Facebook have become addictions in our society. Similar to people who are dependent on drugs or alcohol, social networking junkies count the minutes to their next profile fix, checking their computers multiple times per day to see how many shout-outs, virtual drinks or new friends they’ve acquired. But recent data has indicated a slowing in growth for MySpace while Facebook has continued to accelerate. Is a new king on the horizon for the social networking space? Or can two very different social networks co-exist?
According to Hitwise, as of last week, the MySpace domain is one of the most visited domain amongst U.S. Internet users, accounting for 4.92% of all Internet visits. At its peak in June of this year, the site accounted for 7% of all Internet visits. Meanwhile, Facebook has been increasing steadily, currently taking the position as the ninth most popular domain in the U.S., accounting for 1% of all Internet visits. Even though both sites ”” being within the top 10 of all Internet domains ”” are somewhat ubiquitous, demographic and psychographic data on users indicates that there are some unique audience components to each service.
I’m on MySpace (/libraryjim), but I found facebook difficult to navigate so didn’t pursue it very far before deleting my account.
I’m so behind the times! I’m still only on Xanga. 😉
I’m on Facebook, and I found it a very helpful to tool, not only to communicate with many of my friends and fellow seminarians, but I also ended up reconnecting with friends that I had lost touch with.
Like many things, Facebook or MySpace can be abused. But it can also be a helpful tool.
The same with MySpace, I’ve made contact with half-a-dozen of my high school classmates; I’ve ‘met’ many music groups I otherwise would not have ever heard about, and fellowship with many Christians. I also network with libraries, librarians and YA authors.
And keep in touch with my daughter at college as well.
I like MySpace, and echo Townsend on this: anything that can be used can be abused, but that does not mean it is inheritantly bad in and of itself.