Comments on: It is What it is…

By: Tyler Smeltekop

Tyler Smeltekop — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 17:25:57 +0000

I’ve been asked a few times by friends who have MySpace pages to tweak something here, double-check functionality there, maybe do a template for them. The first two, I’ll do. But to do a template? No way. As much as John’s emphasized that MySpace is more than ugly sites–it’s still ugly, and the way those pages are required to be structured, I feel nauseous thinking about it. CSS allows me to do anything I want, within the limits of my skills, and MySpace limits me. In a bad way. In the end, my take on MySpace is that it’s an effective way for non-designers and those that aren’t totally web-saavy to communicate and maintain a web presence.

By: Steve Tucker

Steve Tucker — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 21:13:21 +0000

Very true. Good design takes many forms. The lads up at myspace HQ must be doing something right.

By: John

John — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 01:40:18 +0000

I completely understand what you mean. But I was thinking more along the lines of whether the MySpace design (functionality from a user stand-point) was 100% bad? Now it obviously fails in the visual design category, but design isn’t all visual.

By: Steve Tucker

Steve Tucker — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 01:32:04 +0000

A site like myspace is really difficult to put a finger on. It seems to defy many general rules of design but never-the-less remains hugely popular. To answer your question no you’re not out of your mind. MySpace works not because of the visual design, nor even because of it’s flexible and growing functionality. It works because it was in the right place at the right time. The first big player of it’s kind. Unlike, say, geocities, myspace does not just to provide features for easy creation of websites or blogs; it also provides an easy linkage to other people of a similar nature, using the same system for the same purpose. You sign up to myspace and you no longer need to hunt for popularity – it comes to you. That is why MySpace works. Popularity is power.