Analysis of social networking (Myspace.com)

My analysis will be a little bit different than the rest of the class'. I have chosen to analyze Myspace.com as a social networking tool. For this assignment, I will review the Myspace website (this can only be done if you have a Myspace account) and go through it to find "corporate" pages. From my experience, businesses do not typically create Myspace pages on this site, however some grassroot odd jobs can be found on Myspace. For example, I have come across numerous DJs that create pages with links to listen to some of their sample spinning. I have also seen some small Tshirt making companies and other odd jobs. What stands out the most as I browse Myspace, however, is the huge amount of musical bands that have created accounts.

It seems like everyone has Myspace these days, whether they are individuals who want to use social networking to meet new people, or bands who want to use this same tool to promote their band and boost their ratings. I have been asked to befriend a number of bands on Myspace. Some I accept, others I do not, but I typically do not listen to their music or post comments about how great or terrible their music is. However, as I browse the different pages of Myspace and come across some band pages, I notice that they include a lot of great things that would allow them to get ahead in the music world (to sound cliche).

Some typical things you can find on a band's Myspace page include:
1. A brief description of the band including their birth and accomplishments
2. Samples of the band's music, with links to hear this music (you can see home many times a particular song has been heard on almost every song)
3. A list of comments that the band representative filter's (I'm sure)
4. Upcoming events and/or concerts
5. The number of times a page has been viewed
6. Etc.

"Garage bands," as I like to call them, or bands that are in their early stage of existence, I feel, can boost the awareness of their band as well as boost their ratings. In my analysis I will work to prove that social networking has given bands higher ratings than if they were just to promote by word of mouth or without networking of any kind. I will compare bands to "regular" people and compare whether or not bands get more recognition than the "average Joe." I think I will find that bands have many more comments made and more visits to their pages. I think the only exception to this may be the people that post extremely revealing or nearly naked pictures on their pages, making them look like porn stars. That's an entirely different story.