The 'Sticky' Wicket

I'll preface this by saying that, as delighted as I was that we would be using and working with the much-talked-about MySpace and Facebook, I did take to mind the advice of the great Chuck D. and Public Enemy. Simply put, "Don't Believe The Hype." What would attract me to either of these places, and why would I want to spend my time there? I work full time at a beyond demanding job, part time at a great environment, and have carried a virtually uninterrupted class load since fall '07 - so time is tight. And wouldn't I rather spend that time with live humans in actual social settings? Yes, I would.

Given that, I was stunned by how fast I got into Facebook, accepting a college buddy's 'friend' request, getting and giving flair, engaging in 'superpoking', even uploading a set of travel pictures. Sadly, given what I'd heard about MySpace, that's been a harder sell and not sticky to me at all - yet. I'll definitely work on that, since most of my future clientele will be MySpacers and not Facebookers. Why do I say that? Mainly, because Facebook is living up to its reputation as a more 'adult' or GenX/Boomer place, taking on some of the 'class reunion' aspects of priveleged subscriber sites like Classmates, and some of the professional networking aspects of sites like LinkedIn.

Why are these sites 'sticky', and why would you spend hours of time there? Because it's all about you: you creating your identity and your world in your place for others to get to know who you are. You change and your life changes - and you can alter your page and your space to reflect that change. Your friends are an important part of your life, and if you can't see them, then you can visit their page and 'be in touch' with them. (Likewise, adult users might say that their professional contacts are important, and you can let them know what you're doing in that capacity and see if there are any possible cross-pollination prospects.) You can find friends you 'lost', or lost track of, if they have a page. You can also expand your social groups, if you choose, by 'friending' bands, politicians - hey, if I can 'friend' Michael Moore, Neil Young, and Henry Rollins on MySpace & Facebook, then why the hell wouldn't I?! (I think I can only Twitter Hillary Clinton...)

Again, I need to spend more time on MySpace - but I can already see that using Facebook would be like offering me unlimited access to Vosges Caramel Toffee. Uh, oh.