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Facebook vs MySpace: The Tale of the Tape

gigaom.com — There has been a lot of talk about Facebook unseating MySpace as the top social network. While that may (or may not) happen sometime in the future, the so-called gray lady of Social Networks is holding its own.

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  • fpcyber, on 10/11/2007, -5/+8While I don't see this happen for another 5 years or so, it will be a very interesting battle to see what MySpace will do to keep the throne.
    • bonechilling, on 10/11/2007, -6/+3Does anyone else think that the bottom is about to fall out on social networking sites? Maybe it's because I'm not a teenage girl, but I honestly do not understand their continued appeal. What keeps people logging back in every day? I ask this question earnestly, because I sincerely do not know.

      What can they do to ensure sustained growth, after the luster has worn off and the parents have signed up as well?
      • JorgeGonzalez, on 10/11/2007, -0/+9I've recently become a giant Facebook junkie because I was part of an overseas student program of 150 kids and it's the easiest way to keep in touch with each of them. Facebook is great because it has a well-organized system of informing you when something new happens to a friend, whether it's someone left a post on their profile, they changed some information, or if they interact with you.

        MySpace is far more static than Facebook, and as we all know, is terribly coded and rather intrusive. Facebook is clean, sexy, and really hammers home social networking.
      • MScrip, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1> "I honestly do not understand their continued appeal. What keeps people logging back in every day?"

        When you log into Facebook, it tells you stuff. Like, upcoming birthdays of your friends, when someone posts new pictures, if you have new messages, etc... So, each time you go to Facebook, you see new stuff about your friends.

        Some people go nuts and update their status every 5 minutes... but, at least it keeps you informed of what your friends are doing.

        Is Facebook a novelty? Some may think so. But, I use it every day to see what my friends are doing. It's easy to send a quick messages to friends too. I don't know many of my friends' personal e-mail addresses. But, I can send a message over Facebook. It's also quick and easy to share your photo albums with all your friends on Facebook.
    • HerrEisenheim, on 10/11/2007, -3/+3Hahaha. Five years? Are you serious? In five years people will be saying, "What's Facebook? What's MySpace?" and you'll have to explain it to them. So much changes so fast that people forget. Five years ago people were still riding the P2P bandwagon and Facebook didn't even *exist*. The reality is that Facebook and MySpace are really two of them same, and neither of them is really great. MySpace has bands and Facebook has taggable pictures. The real difference between the two is that MySpace is a CSS nightmare, and Facebook is relatively clean.


      Five years from now there's a good chance people won't remember either. On the internet, five years is an entire generation.
      • tgcid, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1exactly what I was thinking
      • BlinderBomber, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I disagree completely. Facebook is setting itself up as the 'operating system' for social networking. Those interested in using social networking features for causes, for example, can now do so through facebook. Facebook isn't dissapearing, if anything it has strengthened its position and shown us the tip of the iceberg in terms of the power of these social networking environments.

        In five years, Facebook will be as ubiquitous as Google.
    • dacheetah, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4One thing myspace could do is provide medical support for all the people who have problems with bleeding eyes due to the horrible pages they host.
      Or just fix the pages so they don't make eyes bleed.
  • lordtyros, on 10/11/2007, -2/+53Myspace is on its way out, hopefully.
    • mirzar, on 10/11/2007, -4/+1they are actually planning a comeback
      tom will announce some really important decision in october
    • Audacitor, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7I hope they (MySpacers) stay in MySpace. Much easier just to set up my browser to block anything coming from MySpace or it's subdomains.
    • catalysis, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2I dont understand why people care so much. I have both to keep in contact with friends and neither one is really bad or really amazing. It's not like I go around myspace looking at 12-year old's crappy profiles, so it doesn't even affect me. Most spam is deleted before you even read it and you can just set your profile to private unless you are looking to friend random people.
  • growlzor, on 10/11/2007, -5/+42Facebook is slowly becoming Myspace. Just look at any girls Facebook page and you are bombarded with applications. The argument that you can only see other peoples applications if you have them to is false. I certainly don't have top friends, places i've been, fun wall (you can post pictures and videos to your wall) or other crap like that yet they still rape my eyes when I look at friends profiles.
    • XISUPERMANIX, on 10/11/2007, -1/+13Yeah one of the things that turned me off myspace is so many people put so much ***** on their myspace it crashes your browser
    • Andytom, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2There are a few Firefox add-ons/greasemonkey scripts that get rid of all the apps just google them
    • lordtyros, on 10/11/2007, -3/+10If you click the minimize button on an application, you won't see that application on anyone's profiles anymore. Complaint nullified.
    • giveer, on 10/11/2007, -1/+18Since apps are all kept in a predetermined space and maintain a generalized look *AND* I'm given the option to minimize them and not see them at all - I really don't care about someone with a lot of applications. They've only been around for 5 weeks. Your friends (who are pretty junior-high-ish it seems) will eventually delete them.
  • dgblackout, on 10/11/2007, -7/+5http://virb.com/ beats both of them hands down.

    much nicer to look at and use.
    • ngmcs8203, on 10/11/2007, -0/+10Right, but no one uses it... yet.
    • bonechilling, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I was one of the early Virb adopters, hoping that it would materialize into a substantial alternative to Facebook/MySpace. The fact is, Virb is fairly featureless, even if it is pretty. People may join, but there's nothing to bring them back in, which is why, six months on, I have 138 profile views.
      • dgblackout, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1it brings you what you bring it, you obviously didn't use it enough.
    • Timmmm, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2Also, you can customise the layout. Which means people will make crap layouts and it will look *****.
      • dgblackout, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1you can turn off the crap with one click, therefore, your point is completely void.
  • seaner, on 10/11/2007, -4/+5But how many different Myspace profiles does the average person have? On Facebook 99% of the people only have 1. These additional accounts really add up on page views, etc, but are fairly useless.
    • venom8599, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I would say the same of MySpace. The average person would have 1. Now, if they're in a band or something they might have on for thier band, but other than that I've never seen anyone with more than one account.
  • Fraff5, on 10/11/2007, -7/+2Orkut!
    • Audacitor, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Orkut is 18+ isn't it? That sorta eliminates a huge group of people. Thankfully, they're the ones who make such crappy MySpace pages in the first place.
      • canewediggit, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4right. because nobody ever lies about their age online. btw, i'm 18, blonde, d cup, skinny, and ready for you!
  • compgeek, on 10/11/2007, -3/+3I left myspace for facebook. myspace was kinda mickey mouse. kinda put up some info and pics and that was kinda it and the occasional blog entry or whatever. with facebook you can have notes, a marketplace, electronic gifts (cheesy but fun) and be able to join causes and such to show your support. it's just overall a nicer site not to mention pretty much all my college friends are on facebook and there's a group specifically for my college. after comparing what I could do in MS versus FB FB won out bigtime
  • neutrino15, on 10/11/2007, -2/+7I like the way that Facebook integrates with schools. Its a great tool to use to remember people from other grades/schools. It is also faster and cleaner than myspace.. and with its apps, it is more expandable as well..

    For now, Facebook wins! And considering my whole school history is there, I probably will never switch away from it!
    • johnmalc, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1Alternate title: "CONFIRMED!!! College kids use Facebook less when not at college!!!"
  • DreamVsPs2, on 10/11/2007, -7/+4Both sucks if you ask me. DIGG FTW
  • canewediggit, on 10/11/2007, -5/+3social networking online is dead. professional networking online is very much alive. real life networking is still the undefeated, undisputed champion.
    • mightyjlr, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1I'm sorry, but if you start out by saying social networking online is dead, then anything you say has pretty much no credibility. Probably one of the most incorrect ridiculous statements I've ever heard.
      • canewediggit, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1you know the last thing to happen before a market tanks? it peaks. social networking online is dead.
        • flunky02038, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Whilst I care little to what you say, your logic is at best confused. If we follow your thinking then anything on its way up (peaking so to speak) is about to die. Interesting. Wrong, but interesting.
    • MScrip, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1The term "social networking" is lame anyway. Just call it "a way to keep up with your friends."

      You could: collect each of your friends e-mail addresses manually, send e-mail to friends when you want to talk to them, then post your pictures to your separate Flickr account, and e-mail all of your friends to look at your new pictures...

      Or, just do it all on Facebook.

      To me, Facebook is an all-in-one message center and photo sharing site. That kind of functionality isn't dead yet. Do I want to go back to using only e-mail to communicate with my friends? Hell no. I can't even remember the last time I sent an e-mail to a friend.
  • LxRogue, on 10/11/2007, -3/+7The appeal of facebook was the privacy and the simple, clean interface. Ever since it was opened to anyone with an email, its been going downhill.

    There are tons of ads, they add all sorts of random, annoying "applications."

    One of the recent additions allows users to create polls, for as little as $6! Wow what a unique and amazing deal!
    • JorgeGonzalez, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3Tons of ads, really? I've only noticed one ad per page, a skyscraper on the left. Plus, I like Applications. Facebook was getting a bit stale and now Applications allow a person to make the profile more informative and interactive. Sure, it can get annoying, but I have yet to see a Facebook profile where I thought, "Jesus, these applications are ruining this page."
      • MScrip, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Facebook apps are slightly cool... but I don't use any of them myself.

        Lately, I see more "your friend has removed ____ application"

        I think most people install a few apps, use them for a while, then remove them after the novelty wears off. Most people stick to the core functions of Facebook anyway... messages, photos and status.
  • ChristianBk, on 10/11/2007, -5/+3They've both gone to *****. So I do not use them.
  • 28dayslater, on 10/11/2007, -6/+4I don't think it's success should necessarily be measured this way. Myspace vs Facebook is more of an IQ test, the smartest choice, of course, is choosing neither.
  • JorgeGonzalez, on 10/11/2007, -2/+2Those figures are misleading because Facebook is designed for the individual person whereas every store, band, film company, etc. has their own MySpace page. I'd imagine it's a very large percentage.
  • sp1keNARF, on 10/11/2007, -4/+2i'm going to vomit in my coffee if i see another facebook v. myspace story...
  • JJayguy23, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3Hold it down Ms. Gray lady. Whoop whoop.
  • KingBabi, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1The article says Facebook pageviews are down as of June-if it's predominantly high school and college kids, isn't this to be expected? School is out, and while we're surfing the web, they're surfing...or doing whatever the kids do these days.
  • cevil203, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3ok...this is getting a little ridiculous. i see a myspace vs facebook article almost everyday now on digg, and quite frankly my dear, i dont give a damn!
  • inkworkstattoo, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0From what I have seen, Facebook is still associated highly with College students and many people don't realize that anyone can make one now without using a college issued email address. Myspace is the king now, but I think as with any social network, it will eventually lose its hype (findapix is an example)

    http://www.inkworkstattoo.com
  • insanebrain, on 10/11/2007, -2/+0facebook vs myspace makes facespace . .hmm not a bad idea for a new site ;)
  • rplobue, on 10/11/2007, -2/+3OHH online social networking, awesome! And by awesome i mean totally gay.
  • defythereds, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4FTA "What is more interesting is that even though Facebook platform opened up to more apps, the Palo Alto-based start-up saw an actual decline in its page views. "

    .... Facebook saw a decline in page views this past June because school let out. duh. also more and more people are beginning to use the homepage news feed to stalk their friends instead of going to all of the individual profiles. notice that unique visits were up even when page views were down.
  • Msoltanian, on 10/11/2007, -3/+1Since we are on the topic, I thought I'd add another amazing application by face book. You get to invest money in stocks live as everyone in the world does. Cool part is, you get 10Mil to start, and everything else is as real as it gets. Must check, and it's addicting. Enjoy all of my facebook players.

    http://digg.com/business_finance/FACEBOOK_Live_Fantasy_Stock_Exchange_Application_Trade_Sotcks_10Mil
    • HolyChimp, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Gambling with fake money is like, well, gambling with fake money... what's the ***** point?
  • TheCure, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Front page? Really?!!!
  • bigteebo, on 10/11/2007, -2/+2Arguments against facebook:

    1. The real name thing. Why not handles?
    2. Not really "social" of a network if you have few friends. No real way to meet new people.
    3. So private, that it goes against the "social" aspect of it.

    A social network where it's bound just by meatspace friends is boring.
    • aznxjz, on 10/11/2007, -0/+12. I don't know anyone that uses it for social networking...mostly used to keep up with current friends (especially after graduating). if you are complaining about this fact, maybe you should find some real life friends
      3. Private, so that people such as yourself cannot stalk others. I am glad they make profiles private
    • HolyChimp, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2I bet you have 18 trillion friends on Myspace, and you might have spoke to some of them more than twice!
    • ydt89, on 10/11/2007, -1/+1i like the real name thing, on myspace when your going through your friends friends, if they dont have decent pictures and some weird handle then you dont know who they are.
    • BlinderBomber, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1While I see what you're saying, I think you might be missing the boat. Facebook isn't myspace. There aren't handles because the website was originally started as a way to network with your friends in college. At first, this was limited to a few schools (the Ivy League) and, slowly, it expanded. I don't want handles. I know every person that is my friend on facebook and it's a heck of a lot easier to remember their name is John Smith rather than FreakySexPanther or whatever.

      As for the friends thing - who cares? If I only had 50 people I wanted to stay in touch with then that's exactly what facebook is made for. It lets me keep track of their lives, lets me see friends we have in common, lets me see their friends. It's perfect.

      Too private? Again, I disagree. I don't want Johnny McStalkerCreepo reading my profile. I don't want him seeing notes from my friends. I don't want him to see pictures of me or what I'm interested in. What is nice is that facebook gives people just enough information to make you findable, but not too much information.
  • joshcxa, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4facespace?
  • bpapa, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4Recipe to get to the front page of digg:

    1. Pick a topic that people get passionate about.
    2. Write a four to five paragraph blog post. To make your post seem more legit, include a small table or two of data.
    3. ?????
    4. FRONT PAGE!!!
    • Atomic1fire, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I think number 3 would be no ads or something
  • treeromeo, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0Wow, facespace.com is an actually a site. I'm actually not that surprised nowadays. Myspace is going downhill. If they would at least try to cut down on spam then maybe they'll be somewhat decent. Wait, no they won't. I like Facebook because there is few stupid 14 year olds and I haven't dealt with any spam yet. I wonder how Google's SocialStream will do? I mean, it's freaking Google, what haven't they done?
  • xkrwlng, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2all of myspace's "unique" visitors, are the people who are new to the Internets.

    all the people I know who have used BOTH at some point along the line, always drop myspace, and go to facebook
  • cameronk, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Years ago I started on Friendster. Once it could not keep pace with growth, I stopped visiting. Later I started on MySpace, the site seems to be having problems keeping pace with growth, plus the amount of spam is annoying. My real friends today all spend most of their time on Facebook and LinkedIn, so I visit those sites most frequently. Now...if only Facebook would again allow me to sync my account with my contact manager. Will Facebook be able to keep pace with growth? Only time will tell.
  • VioletArrows, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Except I left myspace because I was being inundated with spam, just for joining one group. Now the spammers have come to facebook, and I get all these friend requests from fake accounts, that I waste time reporting, because some part of me wants to believe they can do something about it. And the myspace spam is now tailored for facebook.
  • boomercb, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0this topic is the paris hilton for web nerds.
  • roxii99, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0I'm going to go check my myspace
  • GreedKills, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1http://digg.com/tech_news/Pageflakes_Deletes_Any_Mention_of_Outsourcing
  •  

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