HeresTomWithTheWeather

The astronomical momentum of myspace.com is fascinating. The founder spoke at SXSW Interactive 2005 and he attributed their growth to the pictures. That's certainly a part of it but there is something deeper.

The LA club scene was the catalyst for myspace. What imagery does that conjure up?

Look at my skin shine, look at my skin glow. Look at my skin laugh, look at my skin cry. When you can't even sense if they got any insides. These people so pretty in their ribbons and bows - from Bob Dylan's Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie

Applying the measuring stick used by mass media (and the schoolyard), the LA club scene represents the best our country has to offer...youth, glamour, money, but most importantly Universally Self Absorbed (USA) people. Consider the site design. Upon logging into the site, the most valuable screen real-estate is reserved for a photo of yourself and options to see your profile page as it is seen by others, edit that profile, change your photo, etc. The genius of myspace.com is that they are exploiting our vanity. Unfortunately, there seems to be a little bit of LA in all of us.

Of course, myspace.com is not unique. You can think of dozens more whose billions in bottom line depend on USA people. LA. The origin of all meaning. ;)