In “Architecture
and Implementation: Engineering Real (software) Abstractions on Social Media”
by Robert Gehl, he discusses the concept of abstractions to compare the success
of Facebook and the failure of Myspace. Put simply, Gehl states that Facebook’s
clean interface design and control over content won over advertisers and the
public while Myspace deemed to be inefficient in producing a real software
abstraction, which just means that users and advertisers were essentially
turned off from the fact that Myspace allowed its users to completely
manipulate the code to their pages (Gehl, 2014, p. 86) making the entire site seem messy which fell
below branding standards for advertisers and disabled a sense of community for
users.
Since
reading this chapter, I’ve realized that most sites nowadays often have a tight
control over what can be edited or altered on their site. For example, even
blogging platforms like Wordpress offer free and paid themes that can be
customized rather than encouraging the user to create their own.
My question
is – can you think of or use any social networking platforms that dispel this
concept of providing a clean and seamless platform (i.e. facebook/twitter/Instagram)
and allow users to interfere with the website interface? If not, do you prefer
to have a clean interface layout ready when using social networking sites or do
you like the concept of customizing each aspect to your website/profile?
I think the easiest and most streamline form of social media I use is Instagram. As it is inherently mean to be used on a phone or more compact device, the site has only made what is necessarily needed available, and everything else is still accessibly yet not 'in your face'. I prefer a clean interface as it makes my social media use easier and faster. That being said I use social media in a very generic sense, I think that if i used it as more of business platform then I would prefer more customizable options. Although, historically the more customizable a platform the less success it has. For example this very reason is believed to be the reason why MySpace failed when pitted against Facebook. Would you agree with this statement? Why or why not?
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