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Callan // October 23, 2008 // Public Relations, Social Media // 8 Comments
There seems to be a misconception about Facebook and Myspace floating around that has people thinking these two sites are virtually the same thing. Although there are a few similarities, these sites look and function completely differently. It is imperative that anyone looking to utilize these tools be aware of these distinctions.
So what are they? Here are the basics:
• The look and feel of both sites is different: Myspace profiles are all unique and users can incorporate many colors, personal photos and flash applications to their page. In contrast, Facebook profiles are clean and uniform.
• Each site attracts distinct personalities and age groups: Facebook was originally only offered for college students and although they have since then opened it up to the public, the average person on this site is currently in college or a recent college grad. Overall Facebook attracts both an educated and younger audience. In fact, the average age of Facebook users is 23. Myspace ,on the other hand, is popular with both the high school crowd and the over 40 crowd and has an average user age of 35.
• Behavior varies on each site as well: On Myspace it is more socially acceptable to friend request or message random people. On Facebook that almost never happens and it is considered border-line offensive. Your Facebook friends are usually people you actually know.
Once you have figured out all of this basic stuff you can start to familiarize yourself with the really important difference — functionality. Both sites have different applications and abilities that make them unique and the more you know about these, the better you can think creatively about how to apply them to your client or business.
Myspace’s three unique functions are the bulletin board, blog posts and music applications. The first, the bulletin board, allows users to post a message which all of their friends will see upon login. Because of it’s visibility on the homepage, it is a quick and easy way to grab the attention of all of your friends at once. The second, the blog area, appears on each profile and allows users to make blog posts without actually hosting a blog. And finally, Myspace’s most effective function is the ability to add music to your profile. This is a great way for musicians to get people to hear, share and download their music. It’s one of Myspace’s strengths and why the social network has become so famous for discovering bands and talent.
Then there are Facebook applications, a phenomenon that has taken a life of its own ever since their introduction two years ago. Facebook now has approximately one million applications that Myspace does not. (That may be a slight exaggeration, but truthfully, there is a whole bunch of them). Since it would be impossible to include them all I have listed my favorites below. Please feel free to comment me if you think of any fabulous ones I have left out:
• Events: Create event profiles and invite your friends.
• Where you’ve been: Map where you can show everyone where in the world you have been to
• Bumper stickers: Funny “flair” passed back and forth between friends.
• Sports fan: Box that shows your favorite team and their upcoming games
• Harry Potter Spells: Cast spells back and forth on your friends
• Books you’ve read: Pictures of the books you have recently read and/or are reading
• Graffiti Wall: An application where you can draw a picture on someone else’s wall.
• Drink application: give drinks to your friends.
• Twitter: Have your twitter updates show up on your f-book profile.
• Facebook Chat: Very similar to instant messenger this app allows you to chat with any of your friends currently logged in to Facebook.
And the list goes on and on. On Facebook there is an application for pretty much anything you could possibly think of and even more ways to use these apps to your advantage.
It takes a little playing around to discover which application and which site appeals to your audience. It takes even more time to discover how to use those applications to improve your relationships. You’ll see that some applications can be used to share info, while others would be best can be utilized to show your brand’s humor or personality. It’s all up to you. But the key is to be aware of what tools you have and to recognize that these sites are more than just a profile with your picture and some basic info. In the end the more you know about them, the better you can use them.
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Way to lay it out there in a clean, concise way. Hope many newbies turn to this post for some learnings.
facebook clean and uniform???? uhmmm can we say plain and boring. I’ll tell you the difference between myspace and facebook…..
Facebook gives you a profile
there’s really nothing to represent you on a personal level, nothing at all.
and true it’s for people you already know the fact is I have a cell phone for that, and most of you do to.
in my opinion the site it self is redundant by holding the same contacts you do on your phone and the update is nothing more than a generic version of twitter.
Myspace gives you a site.
that’s right i said a site; meaning you can actually represent you from the look and feel of your site this would include control of different themes and content from the ones Myspace provides or to the Personal ones you create and upload, or the abundant page theme sites dedicated to Mypsace users for your profile, blog, videos, pictures and even home page which acts like a control panel for the rest of the site which is all about you.
when they named it Myspace they really meant it. after customization of your site is achieved it’s like coming home each time you log in.
and their right you can request people you don’t know this would include those around the world i now have acquaintances in Japan, London, and all around Africa. this would never be possible if it were Facebook. because ITS THE SAME PEOPLE YOU ALREADY HAVE IN YOUR PHONE. redundant.
One thing myspace does right is make it your space it all about you.
Hi there,
Thanks for your comment. It is great to see someone still passionate about Myspace when the general consensus has been that Myspace is dead. I definitely see your point that some people like the customization, but I would argue that Facebook allows you to express yourself a lot more than just a roladex with a profile. And to your point that it is the same people you have in your phone, I’d have to say I strongly disagree. I have over 1,000 friends on Facebook, maybe 100 of which are in my phone. Many are people I was friends with from college, high school or even elementary school. They are people I know, yes, but not someone I would keep in my address book, and Facebook allows me to keep in touch with them easily.
At the end of the day, I think there is room for both Myspace and Facebook to exist. However, from a marketing standpoint (as this is a marketing blog) I still think that Facebook offers a lot more to companies trying to reach consumers. They have a much larger number of active users, and fan pages are, for the most part, just as customizable as a Myspace page.
Thanks again for your thoughts.
-Callan
facebook is facebook and myspace is myspace
if myspace came after facebook it would be facebook going down the tubes. both sites are the same but facebook is far less user friendly in my opinion .its just the trendy thing right now . there will be a new one soon and everyone can be cool again
Hey, yeah get blog post, and thanks for laying it down so simple, I’ve been loving Facebook for about a year now, and always felt Myspace was a fricken dog’s dinner !
BUT… now there’s 2.0 with serious intent for ‘simplicity’ and ‘consistency’, yes I feel they’re feeling it and have become humble and even employed some Apple users !
I am very proud of my NEW profile: http://myspace.com/wonderfeel and seriously feel this is a RENNAISANCE for Myspace !
It’ll just be the trick for them to lift the bar on all intercommunications when many folks have set preferences trying to resist spamming…
Like buttons are magic, Myspace needs these, and so does Twitter for that matter !! Cheers.