Myspace's termination of access to all blogs, photos, private messages and comments holds within it a very important lesson for end users.
Not MySpace, TheirSpace
As reported by El Reg, without warning MySpace (or myspace.com as it now seems to be) has terminated user access to old profiles, messages, blogs and photos. Rather foolishly it seems that despite its decline since its heydey in 2006, there were still users relying on the site as their storage medium for cherished items. In a move no doubt intended to cut service costs and turn the site into a pure music marketting platform, the site is shedding the consumptive user services and with them the costly users and all their storage and maintenance, and forcing any users who do opt to stay to accept new terms of service. It is impossible to progress further into the reconstructed site without accepting the terms, which means without accepting them existing users cannot even delete their accounts.
Much wailing and gnashing of teeth in a thread on the dedicated MySpace "feedback" site (askmyspace.com) - standing at over 25 pages last time of checking - demonstrates how many former users have been caught out by the move. It also demonstrates - in the speed with which the initial complaint was "solved" with the answer that blogs, private messages, videos, comments or posts, custom background design and games would simply no longer be "products" on the new site - that they really have no interest in listening.
Initially it was possible to participate in the feedback site, provided you simply had an existing account on MySpace, whilst it registered the account as a "new" user. That now appears to have changed, and logged-in user access even to the support platform now requires acceptance of the terms of service (which of course means the majority of disgruntled users will either have to compromise their position, or can no longer express their misgivings). This is just another demonstration of the underlying intent to strong-arm change and shed "difficult" users. Either shape up or ship out. Those are the choices.
There are two main issues here:
- It is in the T&Cs that the operators of the site - whoever they may be at any given time - have the right to vary service or their terms pertaining to, and that the end user has no say in the matter.
- Just how sensible is it to rely on a third-party, and their service you are not paying for, a permanent primary storage?
The simple fact is it is not MySpace, or YourSpace. In truth it never was. It is TheirSpace, and always has been. And there's a warning in there for users of current popular platforms (e.g. 2011's already tarnishing darling of Facebook), and a reason for caution - quite aside from privacy and security considerations - they will not last forever. If you have things of genuine value, that you want to ensure you will always have access to, then you need your own means of access, independent of anyone or anything else. When the time comes and you find your online copy has been lost/corrupted/destroyed it will already be too late.
REMEMBER: If you aren't paying, you aren't the customer. Someone else is. In MySpace's case, those someone elses are the performers using it in its new incarnation as a platform for promotion.
