Wednesday, November 19, 2008

MySpace and Facebook stickiness

So when I first looked at this question, I interpreted "sticky" to mean difficult or awkward. I had to dig a little deeper to understand that "sticky" means what keeps people coming back. The obvious draw is the social aspect of it - if all your friends are doing it, you should be too. It's easy to keep tabs on your friends this way. Aside from being a personal, customizable web space, Facebook and MySpace have a kind of built-in Twitter aspect, your "status." Your status is basically like a tweet on Twitter - it's your mood, what you're doing, how you're feeling. Aside from that, there's the popularity contest side - the more "friends" you have, the more popular you are.

I never used Facebook or MySpace before this class (before this Monday, actually). Friends of mine who use Facebook and MySpace on a regular basis say they're a good way to keep in touch with people and to coordinate group activities. I always shunned them, because I wasn't interested in being "found;" I would rather see my friends in real life than virtually. But I can see the advantages - keeping in touch quickly and easily, sharing photos and videos.

If all else fails, both of these sites would make a great interface for stalkers.

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