The MySpace Wish List

Apologies for the quietness around here recently - real-life caught up with me…

Thankfully, Jasmine has done a lot research recently on some of the irks of MySpace and sent in a fantastic email full of ideas - I've posted the contents below and we can all hope it inspires the owners of MySpace to improve their services for all our benefits. 

 

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Profile Privacy

Currently there are two options for myspace users. Your profile can be visible, or private.

Some users aren’t aware of this.
Having your profile set to private simply means only your friends can see your coding/ photos/ heading and your blog. (although your default photo is still displayed for anyone to see) Randoms who view your page only see your default photo, the heading above it, and the default contact table. (the box that says ‘add to friends’ and ‘send message’ etc.)

•From the feedback I’ve had so far, the biggest concerns relating to privacy are photos and comments.

Many people who have an open profile have coding in their profile to hide their comments as it is. (or a link to view the comments, like I do)

And I have a friend who doesn’t want randoms to be able to see her photos. But she wants her friends to see them. Her profile is private, but randoms can still see her default photo.

I think when you upload a photo to your album, you should be able to decide who sees it

Eg, you have to tick one of these options:

‘allow this photo to be viewed by everyone’
‘allow this photo to be viewed only by my friends’
‘allow this photo to be viewed only by me’

I’m not sure what would happen when randoms view your album. Would they see a blank photo saying ‘only this users friends may view this photo’? Or would there be no indication of hidden photos?

Why is this so important? Because sometimes there are certain photos of yourself that you dont want randoms to see. Like cleavage shots or emo pics. But you dont exactly want your whole album and profile private.

Eg for me, I love people being able to see my profile because I put alot of work into it. But I don’t want shitheads like dean (someone who keeps harassing me ) to see my pics because they make fun of them.

 

Different Levels of Profile Privacy

You should be able to have something small on your page if you decide to make it completely private.

Because the world is full of nosy people; they just want to see your pics or page or comments. They might not necessarily wish to be your friend, but they add you anyways just to see your profile.

So if you decide to make your profile private you should be able to write in a section about yourself or a message to the randoms that view your page. Like, I’d say the following:

I’m a shy anti-social girl who doesnt drink smoke do drugs or sleep around.
If that disappoints you, dont add me.

Because currently, you cant tell anything about someone who has a provate profile. and maybe they want to explain why its private? They should be given the chance to explain themselves if they want to, whilst still hiding their profile.

 

Even More Privacy

There should be more input areas when editing your profile.

One area for randoms and one for your friends. If this ended up being an option for MySpace, the above suggestion wouldn’t be necessary. Because you could choose what the randoms see, and what your friends see.

Why is this a good idea? Because sometimes you want people to see your coding and the hard work you put into it. But there might be something you want only your friends to see like poetry etc. This is similiar to the pictures thing.

When editing your profile, you should be able to tick an option, just like the photo idea:

‘allow all users to view this section’
‘only allow my friends to view this section’

Then when editing your page you can either click:

View my page as random
or
View my page as friend

So you can see how your page looks to randoms and how your friends see it.

 

Friends Management

Some people have alot of myspace friends and it can be very difficult to keep track of them all. Friends management needs to be brought in so you can group your friends. Obviously other users wouldnt be able to see how you’ve grouped your friends.

Eg. I’d group my friends like this:

School friends - Myspace friends - Xbox people - Randoms - Artists

You should be able to create different categories and drag your friends into the category you want them in. Or maybe even, when you accept or request a friend, you can choose then and there what category they go into.

 

Friend Requests

Its common knowledge that accepting someones friend request means you should go to their profile and leave a comment saying thanks for the add.

But when you click accept, their page is gone from your friend requests. And you have to click back on your browser to see it, then click it to go to their profile, then click leave comment blah blah blah..

What about a button that says:

‘accept and view profile’ Or ‘accept and leave comment’

 

Bulletins

You should be able to select if you receive bulletins from certain people.

A button saying 'do not accept bulletins from this user'

Not sure if there should be an option where the user can see who isnt getting their bulletins. Perhaps yes. That way you know who won't see what you post and you can PM them if you really need to.

Just like you can currently view who is subscribed to your blog. You should be able to see who is subscribed to NOT receive your bulletins.

 

More About Subscribing

I like to perve on people on myspace; admit it, you do it too. Randoms, friends, exes… (ok I cant perve on my non existant ex but I would if I could k?)

I also love to leave pic comments for my closer friends. Aaaaand save their pics to my laptop.. for err… photoshop usage. (for real, I create animations of my friends for my profile so I actually have a reason to save their pics)

Anyway, wouldn’t it be good if you could subscribe to someones photo album? Perhaps only an option if you are on their friends list.. ‘click here to subscribe to this users album’

then just like a blog subscription, you get a message saying:

‘new album subscription photos!’

and for the person who has people subscribed to their album;

‘view users subscribed to my album’

just like a blog baby, just like a blog.

 

Comments

Most people hide their comments as it is. Derrr. Either because it stuffs up the flow of their profile (like it would mine, imagine the fugly comments on my page!?!?!! Sooo wouldn’t flow with my coding)

Or because they just don’t want their comments seen by randoms.

‘allow my comments to be viewed by all myspace users’

‘only allow my friends to view my comments’

Another thing with comments.. I think randoms should be able to comment you or your pics if u allow it. They can randomly comment ur blog, why not ur page too?

Send in your wish - I will review it and add it to the site!

Related posts: Up and Running/WANTED: Authors/Bigger Picture Gallery/Organising Friends/