Fortune: MySpace Cowboys

The September issue of Fortune Magazine sports two kids in blue jeans and un-tucked shirts who didn't seem to have the energy to even smile. These "cowboys" are the founders of MySpace, a social networking (W^ikipedia) website designed to attract teens. Their ColdFusion (W^ikipedia) web application reports more than 105 million users, most of which are teens, musicians or people who wish to be associated with either.

Yes, I created a MySpace profile. I ignored it for as long as I could but a friend of mine asked me to help customize his profile. I created the account to see how to do it, then decided to use it over time to discover any business application to the site. Yes, there are some ways to apply the network for business, but culling the clutter of porno-cam invitations and gay guys looking to hook up makes it difficult to justify logging on.

The basics of how it works. A new user creates an account and fills in the forms with some very personal information. You can search for others in your area in a number of ways but typically, users already know someone and they add them to their friends list. Once added, you can click on that friend and see their friends, then click on those friends and add them too. It's kind of a snowball. The person with the most friends that I have seen  (more than a million) will appear in Playboy soon, if that's any indication of the net result of this network of friends.

From a technical standpoint, I've found MySpace to be most frustrating. The weak code, simple form errors and issues with reliable access have amazed me. How can something this bad be worth $580 million??? It comes down to page views and advertising revenue.

A recent discussion with a friend and business associate cemented my opinion that a better space is needed. Even some of the business oriented blogs and forums I frequent have revealed the need for a real place for adults and professionals to network similarly to MySpace. I have been working on a way for businesses to network in our local area but stepping back just a little, I think I will revise the code to be scalable for a more global audience.

I won't publish the specific features, but I will reveal that this will be built on a tried and proven foundation. The Microsoft Server platform using production level MS SQL. That may mean little to most, but in my opinion MySpace fails because they chose the wrong infrastructure up to and including their data center. This will be built for community, business and individuals in mind and it will work on concert with my overall "L.A.S.O." business concept.

But first, the finishing touches on Soky.net are being made and this should be release in a few short weeks. Two new websites are to follow including one for politics and one for the web hosting community. The "SuperBlog" I've mentioned is also in the wings and the core site management system continues to evolve. Sure, I could use about 5 more programmers and 3 or 4 graphics/layout people but the revenue stream prevents it at this time.

September 1st 2006 finds me with many objectives; many dreams; many goals. I believe it is these things that inspire us and make us strive for more. I have invested in the dream with both time and money, it is becoming a reality much more slowly than I would like!!! But it does continue to become reality every day. I'm at the office nearly 16 hours a day busting my butt to bring these dreams from clouds of hope to tangible existence. One by one, they will become.