Whose Space is it Anyway?: An Unofficial Guide to the Sites That Changed the World by Shooman, Joe (2007) Paperback

by Joe Shooman

Artists, film-makers, musicians, lonely kids looking for love ... all twists on life can be found on the new breed of social networking sites. These sites - such as Bebo, Faceparty, Facebook and Myspace - are the most powerful social force since the formation of the internet itself, revolutionising not only the internet, but an entire generation's social lives. Bloggers have found love, unwise liaisons have been discovered and careers have been launched.In June 2006, Playboy magazine launched a special edition focusing on 'girls of Myspace'; within the UK music industry, My Chemical Romance, Lily Allen and Arctic Monkeys have all enjoyed huge success on the back of publicising their music on such websites... the impact and repercussions are infinite.Through interviews with bands, music industry professionals, and a host of weird and wonderful characters, the history and impact of these unique websites - and their social impact - is told for the first time in a suitably irreverent style. This is not a book for computer geeks or tech-heads, but an immensely readable and entertaining insight into the real people and bewildering stories caught up in this most modern of digital communications.

Paperback

First published March 1, 2007

Reviews

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Neat little book that was out of date as soon as it was written. (The author reminds us of that several times). Also written from a peculiarly english perspective (not a bad thing - but odd). FInally the title doesn't measure up to the content, it was mainly about myspace - and the music industry - so the sub brief of '... sites that changed the world' - is a bit of a stretch.

That said - if read from a music pov - not too bad - quite humorous - and a sage reminder to all that sit on their laurels and make vast investments on these sites that have no real business model .... Published in 2007 - in the last few pages - it talks of this upstart Facebook - and whether it has the chops to take on the mighty MySpace. Hmmm - I guess time moves faster in web site tec than politics !