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This article is part of the Joy Gems series which originally appeared in The Joy Gems Newsletter and/or The Home Page Helper Network on ryze.com, a business networking community. |
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I know what you're thinking.
Everyone has been piling on MySpace (what a perfect Ruppert Murdoch acquisition for reasons even he would not understand). I figured, "Here's my chance to get my licks in. Surely this JG will be about how pedophiles are lurking behind every jpg image uploaded to the most popular teen age site ever.
NOPE!! That's not my angle. To the contrary. I think it's great that kids have a huge online presence that is all of their own making.
My beef is a bit on the rare side. Almost as potent as subliminal advertising, MySpace is teaching kids the worst practices of web design.
It will take years to over come today's kids' developing sensibility of what the web should be following their exposure to MySpace. I spend my life trying to help people build a better web and MySpace rips it all up. The entrepreneur in me says "Bud, this might be great for business. Think of all the kids you'll have to unlearn in the next few years as you teach them web design standards and how to harness the good stuff that flows from best practices.
The fair counter to my concern is "Bud, if we follow web design standards won't that stifle kids opportunities to creatively express themselves in ways they do now at MySpace?" That really is the pivotal question. There is a satisfactory answer although one, I confess , is difficult to reach. How do we maintain web design standards and give the kids the online publishing tools they want on MySpace?
How can I get my web design standards cake and eat it too? Until that happens MySpace can't be a space for me.
