MY MySpace

Here's an idea! (thanks chefkeem)
Build a MySpace profile page for your Lensography! I haven't done this yet but I'll be working on it as time permits this coming week.

Suggestions:
*Post blogs featuring all your lenses, featured lenses, news on updates and new lenses, etc.
*Send bulletins with any relevant updates.
*Create a friend network of fellow lensmasters and people interested in your lens topics.

I joined MySpace about 3 years ago to stay in touch with some friends from another internet forum which had broken apart.

During autumn of 2006, I realized that many of my fellow creative types were creating MySpace profiles dedicated solely to their artistic pursuits, using them for advertising and networking. So I developed my second profile.
Within a few months, my "friend" network had expanded to over 450 contacts, and although I have yet to make an art-related sale there, I have interacted with some amazing creative individuals!

Other profiles have included a page dedicated to my writing efforts (an interest which resurfaces from time to time), a humourous profile for my housemates' cats, and a page for the Orlando Writers' MeetUp group!

I usually check my page at least once a day, sometimes much more if I am expecting a reply to a message or seeking local contacts.

So yes, I can probably be considered a MySpace addict!
But since no one was harmed in the creation or use of these profiles...I deem it an acceptable addiction!

Scroll down to view links to each of my profiles!

What I like about MySpace is that it has at least a few useful features. Below are some of my favorites:

Photos:
Members are now able to post up to 300 photos on their profiles, create unique photo albums, design slideshows, even upload videos. Since I have a profile dedicated to my digital photography, that's a good thing. (Now if only I could get serious about utilizing it!)

Messaging:
Members can send messages to anyone else with a profile, so long as the recipient has not, for whatever reason, blocked him from doing so. It's a good way to let someone know when you admire their work (for fellow artists) or simply keeping in touch with people you don't email on a regular basis.
The BAD thing about messaging is that it IS open to everyone, and some users abuse the service to spam others with ads, negative comments, etc.

Bulletins:
A bulletin is a message you can send to everyone on your friends list simultaneously. Great for making business-related announcements.
The negative aspects to bulletins are: your target audience has to look on the bulletin board to know you made a post, the choice whether or not to read them, and sometimes will miss that a post was made due to over-use of the feature for transmitting surveys or repeating the same post every few minutes to drive others off the list.

Music:
You can select from thousands of songs to feature on your own profile or listen to while browsing other people's profiles. Oddly (IMO), although ALL songs uploaded onto MySpace are allowed to be copied into personal profiles (by nature of the system), frequently those by top name artists will be removed within a matter of days. I suppose this is a form of royalty and copyright protection, which is good. However, if they didn't want the songs available for download, why did they put them on MySpace to begin with?!?!?!?
(ok, yes, I know the famous performers are not really the ones operating those profiles... just a pet peeve)