Rage Against the Hype Machine

It is no mystery that Myspace has quickly become the most successful networking website in the galaxy. In fact, to not know instantly what that word means would suggest you have been living under the proverbial rock, or live in a area where there is no internet connection (which could coincidentally actually be under a rock). As Paul Gillin, author of the critically acclaimed book The New Influencers, suggests the rise and prominence of such a site must be acknowledged as a very important catalyst to the evolution of social media. And of course for every cause there must be an effect, which is where this long winded introduction is leading. Humor me, and follow along if you can.

According to a press release on July 12, 2007 by the corporate equivalent of Godzilla, Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation stated that, "MySpace is outperforming all other social networking sites according to multiple metrics. America’s leading and most trafficked website has crossed the 70 million active monthly unique user mark in the United States, meaning that nearly one in four Americans used MySpace last month, according to newly released data from comScore MediaMetrix." To fully comprehend that statistic consider this fact released by the Associated Press: 1 in 4 Americans did not read a book throughout the entire YEAR of 2006, but apparently during a given month they found the time to check to see if they had received any friend requests. As Gillin notes, with such a wide audience, messages, information, and media are being transferred at epic rates through the lovely interface Myspace has to offer (note sarcasm).

The fact that any type of social media has been able to grow as rapidly as Myspace has is a testament to the power of Web 2.o. But as Peter Parker's late uncle Ben so famously said, with great power, comes great responsibility. And unfortunately the hype machine does not necessarily yield to this maxim and can often use its powers for good instead of evil. Now, as with most issues the line between good and evil, often depends on which side you are standing on, but for me I feel I must complain.

Consider the beloved blog band Black Kids. All within a short period of time in 2007, they managed to sign a management deal with the same team that represents Bjork and Arcade Fire. They played at the CMJ Music Marathon garnering press from the New York Times and USA Today. They received a favorable review from Pitchfork.com (an accomplishment in itself) and were awarded a best new music commendation. And to add the icing to the cake, they were nominated as one of the ten best new bands for 2008 by Rolling Stone. All of these accomplishments are impressive for any bands resume, especially for a band that did not even release an album.

Wait, I'll type that statement again: THEY DID NOT RELEASE AN ALBUM IN 2007.

So how, might a band, that is barely a band by definition, garner so much attention you might ask? Well leave it to nothing other than the behemoth that is Myspace. By release an electronic 4 song demo for free download on Myspace, Black Kids were able to get the hype machine rolling. A few downloads leads to a few blog posts, not unlike the very post you are reading. From there, a few posts can get social bookmarked through a variety of sites such as Del.icio.us, Digg, or Furl. From there people who don't even have a Myspace account have now heard of the band, and can instantly get on the super information highway and download 4 songs of demo quality. Someone might have even paid to see the band at the CMJ showcase and added a low quality cell phone movie of the band performing live. Add some much needed hype by Pitchfork and a few web-zines, and you are looking at the poster band for the Web 2.0 revolution. A band so popular they didn't even have to press a single copy of their music to be successful. (or if that example doesn't puzzle you enough, think about Tila Tequila)

The point: The rapid fire rate that Myspace is growing at means a lot of things for public relations. For instance, the above mentioned band didn't even need to pay for a publicist. All they had to do was sign up for a free account on Myspace. Movies can pay to advertise on the homepage of Myspace instantly guaranteeing them the fact within a month 1 in 4 Americans will see the title and release date of their upcoming project (and most assuredly an annoying clip that I will have to frantically race to mute by clicking on it). Messages, ideas, bands, photos, videos, news, and friend requests are being trafficked by the truck load, eating up mountains of bandwith through this site and that is more than any form of social media can say they are accomplishing. The beauty of Web 2.0 is that the everday internet browser is no longer subject to what he/she is presented. We control the airwaves, we turn the cogs on the hype machine, we decide what is relevant. The responsibility to make sure the right ideas, the ethical messages, and the noteworthy news/bands/videos are the ones that are broadcasted, is ours and ours alone. But which ones are those?

Well, that just depends on what side of the line you are standing on.