Networking; Friendster kind of sucks

I've been a member of Friendster for a while now. I think I first joined c. 2002, when I first got back from the Peace Corps. At the time it was pretty cool: I got to see what music was now hip, what TV shows to watch (Survivor was all the rage), even the cool ways to describe oneself in the "about me" section.

I think I've lost my Friendster love though.

Not that I'm a hater per se; it's just that the site has gotten kind of boring these days. It could be a simple function of time/age--i.e., I'm entering the age group now where people are more concerned with stupid stuff like making money and raising families and whatnot than to update the latest movies they have watched. I just find, time and time again, I log onto Friendster and, lo and frickin' behold, everything is the exact goddamn same as the last time I logged in. Basically the changes in the network in which I am entangled consist either of a) a relationship status change; b) a new picture or two; or c) somebody added an extra sentence in their "about me" section, leaving it looking exactly the same as last time.

I need more from my online social networking people.

I need drama, action, hostile takeovers, obscure Stuart Scott hatings-ons.

So I did the next logical thing: I joined MySpace. Now, I had long resisted MySpace's wares. All too often I would somehow find my ass, gone way link-awry long ago during a heated Internet surfing expedition, looking at MySpace user "BREAK U OFF SUMTHIN"'s profile and wondering how in God's name he ever got out of 9th grade with that grammar. It's almost an art form really; I think that internet 'speak' is a skill unto itself. Nonetheless, I can't read a frickin' thing on his page. Not only that, BREAK U OFF SUMTHIN has the most annoying background thing going on where the text bleeds indiscriminately into his background picture of him, shirtless, drinking a Miller Lite whilst flicking off the camera. And me.

But, I was restless in my Friendster-only state. I needed more. And my bro's fiancee invited me onto MySpace. Impetus enough, I say.

So now I'm on MySpace. It has its annoyances too, but I think I'm starting to dig on it a bit. I like the whole personalized home page background and it's much more inviting to actually COMMUNICATE with other users. The Friendster testimonial is a nice idea, but it doesn't cut it as the only way to publicly communicate with other members. Plus, those testimonials all follow the same damn format: either totally heaping on the saccharine and the bestest friend in the whole world bit, or nonsensical whimsy regarding the user's past as a secret agent or foray into menial labor. I suppose MySpace goes a little bit too much in the other direction with absolutely no emphasis on filtering or editing comments before they are posted. But at least there is actual communication between members. Which seems like the whole point in the first place.

I don't know. Maybe I'm getting too old for all of these things, but I find them to be somewhat entertaining and a decent way to spend a chunk of time each day. It just seems like maybe Friendster, though a good idea, sort of lost its edge with the whole younger crowd a while back. I also like that you can go to bands' websites and play their songs and whatnot. They certainly have the whole interactive element down much better than Friendster.

FriendSpace anyone?