From a young age, I have belonged to a number of "social networking" websites. Faceparty, Facebook, Bebo, Livejournal - you name it, I've had it. There are literally hundreds of these social networking websites all over the internet, some more successful than others. Perhaps the most notorious of these websites is Myspace.

At the moment, Myspace is the sixth most popular website Worldwide. There are currently over 100 million profiles on Myspace, with the website attracting 230,000 more sign-ups every day. Myspace is a common topic amongst the young and old, I have heard the phrase "Oh my God, this is SO going on Myspace!" more times than I care to mention. So what's this phenomenon all about?

Myspace has blogs, email, messenger, bulletins and photo galleries which are used as a means of communication between users. The photo galleries have created a new breed of fashion - "Myspace Kids" (otherwise known as "Scenesters" or "Myspace Whores.") The Myspacers collect comments from other users, normally commenting on how pretty they are or how cool their clothes are. The Myspace Kids have even invented a selection of poses, often referred to as "Myspace Angles." The most popular "Myspace Angles" are self-portraits in the mirror, a picture taken from above your head showing your wicked-fabulous-new-hairstyle, or candid portraits of the user and their friends throwing up "Kawaii" signs from popular Japanese culture.

So whats my problem with Myspace Kids?

The culture that was cleverly contained is now spreading. Flickr, a popular photography website, attracts more and more Myspacers every day. Livejournal, formally a blogging website, is turning into a popularity contest with communities such as "mad_rad_hair" and "scenequeens" attracting Myspacers by the dozens.

Now, the Myspace Whores are attacking deviantART.

I'm a "photographer" on deviantART, and now when I cruise the photography galleries I see more and more "self-portraits" that have no artistic merit, composition, or context. Why does this bother me? I am passionate for this website and for the wonderful community that exists here, the last thing we need is for it to become a glorified Flickr/Myspace/Livejournal or whatever the newest craze is. Of course, you don't need to tell me that art is subjective - what one person may consider a masterpiece may be slated by hundreds of other users, but surely there must be a limit? DeviantART come up with the idea of a "Scraps" section; a place for artists to put their drafts, their less successful pieces, screenshots and other "non-art."

So.. the ultimate question.. are Myspace style self-portraits "art?"

I have trawled Myspaceland many a time, and through my adventures I have discovered many people which a knack for taking a brilliant self-portrait. Unfortunately, this is not a common occurance. Does it matter? No. Myspace is made for faces, not art.

Deviantart, is, however, made for artists. So should we put up with the increasing amounts of shoddy self-portraits that fill our pages? In my humble opinion, we should not. This website was created for artists, not for getting complimented on your rad new Bring Me The Horizon t-shirt.

Decide for yourself. Here are the results I get whilst searching for "Myspace" in the self-portraits category:





Love and kisses,
Becca Coward.
A proud user of the following stamp: