1. Home
  2. Computing & Technology
  3. Web Usability

Facebook, MySpace, and Website Usability

From About.com

Is Facebook the new MySpace?

Possibly. Facebook has been built to cater to a different set of users with many of the features of MySpace present and a few added enhancements to improve usability and the user experience.

Like MySpace, Facebook is a social networking site, designed to allow users to create profiles, share photos and join groups or networks of friends. Personal information is available on each user, with the details dependent on how much the user has entered; some of this information is then published to allow people with similar interests to find each other and interact.

One of the significant differences between MySpace and Facebook is the level of customization allowed. MySpace allows users to modify their profiles using HTML and CSS code and Facebook restricts web pages to plain text only. This ability to customize that MySpace offers is beneficial to those that wish to create a sense of identify on the web, however, the down side is that highly modified pages are often large which is a usability shortcoming as it affects download speed. Another disadvantage is that important usability guidelines are often not followed, such as providing colour contrast and minimum page and text size. Whereas, Facebook provides simple to use templates for their users to fill in that adhere to important usability rules, such as clear site navigation, consistent page layout, maximum of three clicks to important information and many more.

Another significant difference between the two sites is the amount of hacking and spam mail received is reduced in Facebook as users are only able to see others in their network and are not exposed to the public domain.

So, if you wish to express yourself and your personality, then MySpace is the site for you, but if you are more interested in communicating with friends, then Facebook is the one I’d recommend. In terms of usability, Facebook is the leader of the two as it has been designed to adhere to good usability practices which it maintains while allowing users to communicate and share images.

Explore Web Usability

More from About.com

  1. Home
  2. Computing & Technology
  3. Web Usability
  4. Web Content
  5. Facebook and MySpace and Website Usability

©2008 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.

All rights reserved.