Communication Overtones Comments
Pity poor Aaron, the playing field has been flattened (a la Tom Friedman) and he's got a lot more people to compete with for reader attention.
I'm with you, good for Technorati...if you're tracking conversations you have to go where the people are talking (and let's cut this crap about what is blogging, yada, yada, yada...that's all idle navel gazing for those of us with work to do.)
I wonder if Aaron knows what happened to Marie-Antoinette? This, namely: http://www.insecula.com/oeuvre/
p...0000065071.html . 
Reminds me of that day oh about 10 years ago when AOL opened the floodgates and suddenly tens of thousands of newbs with aol.com addresses were on IRC asking 'what are you wearing?'
Yeah, we thought the world had come to an end as well. It didn't. We lived.
We'll be fine.
I will add, however, that in the tracking work I do, LiveJournal entries are almost always a waste of time.
While the company may be mentioned, I can only think of one instance in the last six months where the post was substantive.
The practical benefits of tracking MySpace will be enormous. But it does mean that there will probably be more explaining to do (think of my recent interaction with the bookstore cashier) to point out the differences between the various types of communications tools. My guess is that this latter point is what Aaron was getting at.
Andrea; I think he was glorifying the tools and I am concerned about that.
My point, as it seems Dave is alluding too as well with IRC, is that the tools will always be changing.
My job is to keep up with the way things are going, and though I have a lot of complaints about MySpace, but like it or not it is emerging as a cultural force for the youth.
John; As for LiveJournal, I occasionally find some interesting things there. That is where I found the WalMart employee that was planning to "tell it like it is."
http://walmartworker.livejournal.com/
Usher; We always must remember that we were once new to this as well. Me, just a few short months ago. And, as Serge so aptly points out, we shouldn't lose our heads about this.
you make a good point. I think all thats going on here is that people are worried about a blog "overload" - meaning that the good voices are drowned out by senseless chatter. Although a majority of people use myspace as a platform to display their social status - there are still many users that have important things to say - so let them be heard.
By the way Kami thanks for the comments and the welcome to the group.
MySpace users are a critical word-of-mouth component, their chatter, their "blog" posts, etc. are unfiltered dialogue that is going on. Even if someone has an audience of 3, those 3 may be very inclined to what the one has to say, and those three may repeat what the 1 has to say 3 more times, and so on and so on, and so on. Its the network effect and we need tools to monitor it and in some cases engage in the chatter (but not guide or manage mind you). Quality content will always find a way to stand on its own, that's not what this is about...Like you say, let's all keep our heads and if our business is content creation, make sure your content finds another way to stand out.
the bloatosphere has been filled with worthless crap, pseudo blogs, skanky porn blogs, and other nonsense for quite a while now.
I don't consider MySpace to be a blog platform, more a toilet, a predator's paradise, where fake profiles and false photos abound.
I have a MySpace blog that I abandoned after watching what happens. I got a lot of sleazy messages from dubious nymphos who are certainly uglier than their phoney photos posted.
I think it's a mistake to track MySpace social media sites. I don't consider them real "blogs". They even warp the terminology, calling a post a "blog".
While there may be some quality, serious blogs on MySpace, most hardcore bloggers probably agree that it's like Xanga, LiveJournal, and other social media sites of little value.
I champion the rise of the individual voice against all domination systems, like the Morbid Stream Media and government, but MySpace is a joke, a sick joke.
Actually, the negativity in MySpace is exactly why corporations need to monitor it. People that start groups, say on the Marble Stone Creamery, then discuss the worst conditions in the bathrooms, need to be monitored. Business can't afford not too. And, haven't we all said, if it is crap, no one will read it anyway. Over time, this will sort itself out.
but I don't consider MySpace to be a blog platform, in any normal accepted sense of blogging.
MySpace is a social media site that is used primarily for hooking up, for sexual adventures. look at ads. look at the atmosphere, a steamy, steroidal stench of inattention and elaborate lies.
it's the sandbox of the web, a playground for the not nexters.
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