MySpace offer new user profile platform, Profile 2.0
News Corporation offer fully customisable profiles with increased speed and privacy
Social networking monolith
MySpace has launched Profile 2.0 ? a new upgraded version of MySpace profiles which has, according to the MySpace official blog, been based on over seven years of user feedback.
MySpace, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch?s
News Corporation, has made four key upgrades to the way users profiles work with the introduction of Profile 2.0. The first is privacy, allowing users ?granular privacy control? meaning that they can choose what elements of their profile they choose to make public (or private). The privacy feature ties in with the ability to categorise contacts into certain groups that MySpace introduced during 2007.
The second upgrade is speed ? with MySpace stating that new profiles will load much faster than ?profile 1.0.? The third ?big idea? implemented with Profile 2.0 is that it claims to be fully W3C compliant ? although the blog does mention that not all headers and footers are compliant, although they are working on rectifying this.
The biggest change MySpace see for Profile 2.0 is allows MySpace users to more easily customise their profile pages, with individual modules able to be customised to improve privacy, usability and speed ? the other three key additions to the new profile.
Facebook, MySpace?s biggest competitor in the social networking world, recently upgraded their
user profiles and quickly migrated users over to the new version. Hundreds of thousands of Facebook users who were not happy with the new layout and/or the migration protested loud and publicly both off and on Facebook.
Not unsurprisingly MySpace has taken note and are allowing users to choose whether they move to the new platform ? or not.
MySpace state, ?For many of you, however, I know that change is no fun. If you like your profile the way it is right now, don't upgrade. If you're feeling adventurous and want to try something new, give it a try. You can always go back. We are not forcing people to switch to this profile, and don't intend to any time soon (it'd be years before we did that). I know some people are happy with MySpace just the way it is. Now of course there's plenty of reasons to upgrade. I hope you all do, because the new profile is faster, more customizable, and offers more privacy. Profile 2.0 retains the flexibility in customization people have come to expect from MySpace.?
So far, MySpace users seem impressed with comments on the MySpace blog announcement including:
- ?Amazing, You?ve done it again?
- ?I?ll have to give it a try! MySpace is always getting better?
- ?I personally am a huge fan of the variable privacy settings, it's the best idea you guys have had since you let us have more than a dozen or so photos.?
- ?Thanks. It looks so clean. Awesome?
In the near future, MySpace will also be introducing over 100 templates and themes for users to choose from, as well as the ability to add emoticons to messages.
Illustrating the importance of MySpace not forcing users to migrate to the new Profile 2.0, MySpace user ?Goddess of Rock? says, ?Wow, that's crazy! Haha! I think I?ll stick with the old one for now. My page layout is very extensive and took me a while to make it (I did all of the coding myself)... and I don't want to have to learn something else. I'm sure it'll be great, and eventually I?ll probably upgrade. Kick-ass idea!?
MySpace?s Profile 2.0 is not currently available for musician, comedian or filmmaker profiles.