A constant criticism of MySpace is that real names are hidden when you view someone’s profile or interact with them on the site. They’re now making subtle product changes that encourage users to show their real name on the site.
Anonymity is great when you don’t want your actual identity to get in the way of whatever fantasy life you are living online. But it’s also one of the reasons Facebook, which identifies users by their real names, is gaining so quickly on MySpace. On Facebook, you generally know who you are talking to. On MySpace, it’s anyone’s guess.
All this anonymity suited MySpace just fine for the first few years of growth. But 2009 is going to be all about social network identity and spreading it out around the web. MySpace, Facebook and Google all want users to log in to third party sites using their account credentials from those sites, and having those accounts be associated with real names to do it is a competitive advantage.
Facebook has a big head start on that already with Facebook Connect, which is now available to any third party site that wants to use it. Google also has its product out the door, and is integrating with sites like Twitter.
MySpace is working to get MySpaceID (formerly Data Availability) out to partners.
MySpace also added a feature in account settings that ask users if they want to display their real name on their profile along with whatever display name they’ve chosen (so MySpace COO Amit Kapur’s MySpace page now shows his real name, it didn’t before).
When adding a new friend, MySpace users are also prompted to reveal their real name (see first image above).
All this serves to legitimize MySpace’s chaotic namespace with actual names of actual people. If they’re successful in getting a large percentage of users to reveal their names they’ll mitigate Facebook’s advantage in this area. I’d expect more of this over time, not less.
Myspace very good http://www.jugargame.com/
Looks like they might be heading in the right direction. I’ve noticed a decrease in people using Myspace. However, Facebook has issues as well. For example, I sometimes get a warning when I send a message to groups that I maintain. It is almost like they don’t want you to use that feature… or they don’t want you to have a large group. Maybe it is just me?
Yeh… Maybe it was a temporary glitch.. I have been having issues with their services… It’s like they do not always have enough resources to cover demand from their users…
Either way, MySpace will have a tough time with getting people to use their real names, especially w/ facebook out there. ie. MySpace is that site that has all those ‘creepy’ people you don’t want to know. But FaceBook seems so much more legit, just because you generally know who you are talking to.
Maybe it is just me?
Maybe. Personally I don’t mind missing out on another “X sent you a piece of dust!” message, though.
Myspace sucks is what I’m thinkin’. ::kiss:: <3 MB
We will know in a couple of month who is going to win the identity game. I bet it will be Facebook.
I feel that MySpaceID has already lost too much ground to Facebook Connect and Google Friend Connect!
…because these races are won and lost in a matter of weeks. Maybe if we’re lucky it will be decided by the end of the year, right?
These social networks don’t care who you are, as long as you’re working for free, clicking ads, providing personal information, content, engaging other users.
It’s time to leave the social networks, and build your own websites.
But, in Facebook, I have seen many times, names such as, “Usama Bin Ladin”, “Molla Umar” (the leader of Taliban), “George Bush”, “Khameneyi” (the leader of Iran), etc.
Why are they doing so? One of MySpaces USPs is the anonymity. So why changing it and copying Facebook more and more.
And Facebook will win the race for sure!
I don’t think any of them will win the race. Some projects might use these connect options but as Open ID mostly failed these will fail to. Big guys don’t wanna have other guys products integrated on their site and promote them for free.
More than that, I think it will be a user-adoption issue. There’s a reason people use aliases when posting comments…they don’t want to be identified, or want to keep their online comments detached from themselves. If that weren’t true, everyone would already be using their real names.
On top of that, I think the social networks will want to be able to bring comments made on external sites back into their services and into the information streams they have. But what if you don’t want all your friends to know (or know they won’t care) about the comment you just posted? It’s just more noise.
As soon as this becomes popular I know I will be deleting my myspace. I already have facebook for my “real” stuff, I enjoy myspace for it’s chaos. I think copying facebook will only further hurt myspace as they will no longer be a unique alternative.
I don’t even use facebook for “real” stuff, for “real” stuff I have LinkedIn account. I use facebook for communication with my friends, not business partners…
one of the things I like about myspace is that it’s not face book, I hope they don’t travel too far in the same direction
sorry charlie but from a employment perspective it is best if we keep any mention of myspac out of it. myspac is burnt in the mind of users as a hangout for people that waste time. they have no user, business and empolyer savvy premise and never will.
SocialLocator.com – get real
They arent encouraging it they are demanding it, If you try to change your display name they tell you to put a name in I know because mines was blank and they would not let me place anything without putting a “real name”.
Myspace will just get a bunch of John Smith’s and Jane Smith’s when users figure it out and they will get sick of it.
All this talk of ID, and very little of it dealing in the structure of ID ownership. Neither of these sites can authenticate your ID. There are fake users all over the place.
We still need to get to the model where users are structured as property owners managed at the ID level… in a secure and authenticated environment… and allow business models to start forming off of that foundation.
In fact… lets elevate the game and get the US government to hand over ownership of citizen ID’s to the citizens while we are at it… so that we can all participate in this little thing called “socio-economic life” as owners. The model is inherent to our freedom and empowerment, as well as our security.
A free man and an owner walk into a room… are they equal? There’s the need. Own your ID, own your socio-economic and digital life.
“2009 is going to be all about social network identity and spreading it out around the web.”
2009 is going to be all about surviving the downturn. And convincing your employees to stay when they’re paid in stock options that they thought would be cashed by now, but won’t be worth anything for the forseeable future. I’m talking about Facebook, obviously, MySpace had a lucky escape from economic reality when News Corp acquired it. “Social network identity” is the least of their worries.
in addition to @Sam B, many are punished for having a personal opinion online, so by using a real name, you run a greater risk of lying, as you’re afraid someone might be “offended” or fire you, because you are in individual with an independent mind “and that just won’t do”.
With ever growing profiling online (mainly from companies), and more people needing work, it’s probably better to just leave your id unknown unless it’s a part of a business where you want people to know what it really is.
I know there are ways for them to find out, but why make it easy. Why take away your freedom of individuality, just because you have an opinion or idea you want to share without being sacked or scolded or worse.
many are punished for having a personal opinion online
Like who? I don’t mean “that one guy,” I mean “who are the ‘many’?”
while i have no problem with authenticating user identity for posting’s. i would like to think all these sites would allow visitors to browse without having to sign in with an identity.
on the streets you can generally talk to strangers without first having to give details of your identity. the online world should be similar.
Thank god. unfortunately I can classify the person by what SM they use more.
is myspace trying to be too many things to too many people? they should stick to what they are good at and focus on monetizing that traffic.
as for ID portability, in my opinion it’s all about FBConnect vs. OpenID
dear facebook, and myspace.
I will not give up my anonymity to find people that I can just talk to in real life. In general if I don’t have there real life information I probably don’t want to talk to them online. Second , I don’t want people to associate that swedish p*enis pump i have promote on my profile with my real life identity. thank you.
Ahmen.
Decide if you are the wild west internet or the authenticated internet then do what you do.
Stop trying to be all things under all conditions.
ID authentication starts with ID ownership at the citizen level… until then there is no need for any of this stuff.
I this is nice that way you get rid of some of the hate messages/insults from the people that think “they dont know who I am so I can say whatever I want”. If you feel ashamed to not want to put your real name on what your posting then you shouldnt post it at all.