4 ms·

Yeah. I remember when I used to use MySpace and Facebook simultaneously, thinking FB was kinda interesting but I much preferred MySpace (because music). Not on

Yeah. I remember when I used to use MySpace and Facebook simultaneously, thinking FB was kinda interesting but I much preferred MySpace (because music). Not only do things change dramatically, it's so easy to forget how things were before. At the time, Facebook (for me) was all about SuperPokes and Mafia Wars and Poker. No photos, no at-mentions, status updates and sharing news was harder, no share button.

davidw 12y ago
I recall preferring Gopher pages to early WWW pages, because they were much cleaner and more organized in the terminal-based browsers I was using. It was an important lesson in my own ability to predict the future!
- mintplant 12y ago
  All too often, they still are. I long for a modern Gopher targeted toward mobile devices and quick, lightweight navigation.
mullingitover 12y ago
Back in the day, Facebook was actually a great way to share because they'd repost any RSS you fed them. I hooked it up to my del.icio.us and my tumblr. I was pretty pissed when they cut that feature off. Facebook in 2015 still can't hold a candle to flickr circa 2004 when it comes to hosting photos. In hindsight I'm actually pretty proud of my 2002 myspace page. I added some css that completely hid their gruesome UI and made it a blank slate that I filled with nice minimal design.
zajd 12y ago
Facebook had photos, status updates and sharing links long before the app store launched. Music was the only thing keeping MySpace afloat for a long time and eventually even that wasn't enough.
- visakanv 12y ago
  Also after a while MySpace got really laggy and spammy, which was frustrating!
jimmaswell 12y ago
As far as I can tell MySpace really was the superior option, Facebook just happened to get more popular and get more critical mass for some reason.
- eli_gottlieb 12y ago
  Facebook had a distinct function: college students could organize parties on it.
- benihana 12y ago
  Facebook had a small, exclusive original audience. You had to have a .edu email, and you had to be at one of the chosen colleges to be able to sign up. I think the exclusivity and the fact that high schoolers with animated gifs all over their pages weren't on it made it popular to college students.
  - guelo 12y ago
    The next young crowd is always fickle, looking for the next hip thing to escape from the established path. That makes social networks inherently unstable over time. And that's why Facebook is always on the lookout for any new breakaway social network and will pay dearly to bring it under their umbrella.
- coralreef 12y ago
  Myspace was never a superior option. On Myspace you had friend requests from people you didn't know and most of your friend list was also random. There was no real value in your profile's social network. With Facebook you could 'creep' on someone you met at a party, or in your building, class, etc. People shared photos openly.
- abvdasker 12y ago
  There are two small but hugely significant UX differences between MySpace and early Facebook that help explain why so many people abandoned the former for the latter: 1. Facebook didn't have any ads for a long time while MySpace was stuffed full of fairly intrusive ads. 2. Facebook didn't allow users to customize the appearance of their profile. Profile customization sounds good in theory, but in practice people end up making some hideous profiles when given too much control over appearance.

davidw 12y ago

I recall preferring Gopher pages to early WWW pages, because they were much cleaner and more organized in the terminal-based browsers I was using. It was an important lesson in my own ability to predict the future!

mintplant 12y ago
All too often, they still are. I long for a modern Gopher targeted toward mobile devices and quick, lightweight navigation.

mullingitover 12y ago

Back in the day, Facebook was actually a great way to share because they'd repost any RSS you fed them. I hooked it up to my del.icio.us and my tumblr. I was pretty pissed when they cut that feature off. Facebook in 2015 still can't hold a candle to flickr circa 2004 when it comes to hosting photos. In hindsight I'm actually pretty proud of my 2002 myspace page. I added some css that completely hid their gruesome UI and made it a blank slate that I filled with nice minimal design.

zajd 12y ago

Facebook had photos, status updates and sharing links long before the app store launched. Music was the only thing keeping MySpace afloat for a long time and eventually even that wasn't enough.

visakanv 12y ago
Also after a while MySpace got really laggy and spammy, which was frustrating!

jimmaswell 12y ago

As far as I can tell MySpace really was the superior option, Facebook just happened to get more popular and get more critical mass for some reason.

eli_gottlieb 12y ago
Facebook had a distinct function: college students could organize parties on it.
benihana 12y ago
Facebook had a small, exclusive original audience. You had to have a .edu email, and you had to be at one of the chosen colleges to be able to sign up. I think the exclusivity and the fact that high schoolers with animated gifs all over their pages weren't on it made it popular to college students.
- guelo 12y ago
  The next young crowd is always fickle, looking for the next hip thing to escape from the established path. That makes social networks inherently unstable over time. And that's why Facebook is always on the lookout for any new breakaway social network and will pay dearly to bring it under their umbrella.
coralreef 12y ago
Myspace was never a superior option. On Myspace you had friend requests from people you didn't know and most of your friend list was also random. There was no real value in your profile's social network. With Facebook you could 'creep' on someone you met at a party, or in your building, class, etc. People shared photos openly.
abvdasker 12y ago
There are two small but hugely significant UX differences between MySpace and early Facebook that help explain why so many people abandoned the former for the latter: 1. Facebook didn't have any ads for a long time while MySpace was stuffed full of fairly intrusive ads. 2. Facebook didn't allow users to customize the appearance of their profile. Profile customization sounds good in theory, but in practice people end up making some hideous profiles when given too much control over appearance.