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At its most basic definition, MySpace is a social networking Web site. A social networking Web site is a site that enables users to create individual profiles in hopes of making contact with other site users that share similar interests or goals.
The MySpace site contains over 100 million profiles. Although that stat is true, it doesn't mean that over 100 million individuals are actually using MySpace. A profile is a unique MySpace page that shares information about a user. Along with all the personal MySpace pages, there are profiles for bands, artists, businesses, films, television shows, clubs, cities, and about any other entity you can dream of. Some users even create multiple profiles to address different interests. As you begin to make your way through MySpace, you're going to encounter many different profiles:
- Individual users: The most common profile type is the individual user. These are the people who sign up to share insight into their own lives or personalities on MySpace. Mixed in with the regular folks on MySpace are a number of celebrities (and celebrity wannabes and celebrity impersonators) who use the site to promote their work or just keep in touch with their fans, but in the end, they're really just ordinary people.
- Bands and musicians: MySpace's musician-friendly tools allow musical artists to share their work on the site and connect with fans. This service is what helped spur the site's fast growth. Every level of act, from the biggest-name bands in the world to the kids making a racket in the garage across the street, can build MySpace pages where they share their music to build a fan base.
- Businesses and marketers: Anytime you collect millions of people together on a single site, marketers will naturally try to find a way to get their messages out to the masses. You can't blame them, it's just their way. MySpace is no exception. Businesses create profiles for their products and product launches in hopes of generating grass roots buzz.
- Films and filmmakers: Hollywood knows a good thing when they see it. Movie studios have used MySpace to release previews of their films and generate excitement for a feature's opening weekend. You can usually find a MySpace profile for almost any film ranging from big budget blockbusters to art house indies.
MySpace has also added special features for filmmakers who want to use the site to promote their works. Filmmaker profiles include a special clip player where they can show off their clips to would-be fans.
- Comedians: MySpace knows that everybody loves to laugh. Comedians are the most recent artist community to get their own profiles on MySpace. A comedy profile features a player where the comedian can share clips of his or her act, as well as a calendar of appearances.
- Clubs and organizations: Groups ranging from community booster clubs to school organizations to church groups register MySpace profiles to keep in touch with their current members, as well as to attract new members. MySpace includes tools to build groups where you can collect other members into smaller communities.
That list just scratches the surface of the variety of profiles you'll see on MySpace. You're also likely to encounter profiles set up for television shows, individual concerts, pets, dance clubs, restaurants, recording studios, cities, music venues, promotional companies, and other Web sites. Anytime someone has information they want to share with a big audience, be it individual personality traits or promotion for a product or event, MySpace is becoming the first stop for getting the word out.
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