But give them a crappy design and tell them to make something out of it and they’ll have no problem. It already looks bad. I can make what I want.
People DO understand good design. They LIKE good design. But they don’t want to embarrass themselves. MySpace gives users the opportunity to create something without embarrassment.

But let’s not forget that, now, the main power of MySpace is that it has some kind of monopoly and “if you’re not in MySpace, you don’t exist”. I would bet that a lot of people are in MySpace simply because everybody else is there too (that’s how me and my friends ended up switching, with pain, to MSN Messenger from IRC a few years ago).

How did MySpace get to that critical mass point? Well, let’s not forget how MySpace originated and who created it—the key words are spam and marketing.

http://valleywag.com/tech/myspace/what-news-corp-doesnt-want-you-to-know-about-myspace-condensed-edition-199668.php

I know many graphic designers that have bookmarked lots of cool, sophisticated websites for “inspiration”. But in their own experiences as users, they rarely visit a “sophisticated” or “cool” site twice. On the example of going for diner, you may like going to an special place once in a while, but end every other day of your life at McDonald’s or worse… where no one cares if you’re using the right fork

On another subject, MySpace users are not designing, but trying to express theirselves. They fill their pages not only with things they have fun showing to others, but many times just have fun stuffing there. I totally agree that MySpace is like PowerPoint on crack: “Hey, I crammed my page with 100 MP3 playing at once! Nobody else dares to do that! I rule!”

I also think that MySpace is like a club where the beat makes your head and stomach ache, the drinks are poisonous and expensive, restrooms are awfully dirty, and have only steamy hot water running from the faucets. But it’s crammed with people partying there. If you want to have a dance or a chat, that’s your place… and you will do better if you sing along.

What I have found is that the argument you’re making really irks designers I’ve talked to…in the sense that “style” can be empowering but not the “unstyle” of MySpace. It’s a delicate balance…and a great topic for discussion. Thanks!

Every time I got to a MySpace page with music, my head hurts. But, I’ve observed users do it and they really enjoy it. In some ways the obscurity of disorienting music acts like a filter for the audience. If someone doesn’t “get” what you’re doing, they’re probably not supposed to.

And you’re absolutely right, it is very much about pride in ownership and creation…that’s an important point that isn’t talked about enough.

MySpace is like that, but on crack. You can add songs and movie clips and slideshows, not to mention font colors and clip art. And the whole world can see.

Joshua Porter at User Interface Engineering notes:
You’ve got to hand it to MySpace. The designers there have done the impossible: they’ve created a site that tramples on the aesthetic sensibilities of nearly everyone while continuing to grow and b…

The general public might not understand “good” design, and yes that is oh-so-obvious on some people’s profiles. (Their color choices and tons of animations make me cringe.) HOWEVER, there *is* an underlying structure to all profile pages. Even if someone has customized their page, you still know generally where to look for the links to comments, their friends list, their picture gallery, etc, and you know where to look for the tool bar back to the myspace interface. That does not change regardless of how horridly someone’s profile has been personalized.

A bigger issue for users is, new users have no clue how to get started or how to add friends. They get no comments on their page, because they have no friends, but don’t know that’s why. They don’t understand they need to build their social network, and don’t know how to go about that.

How would interface design help these folks? Being a technical writer, my answer would be, they need instruction on what to do next, or how to get started. But who reads the help!!?

And don’t underestimate the bandwagon effect. I recently started using Hyves.nl, despite all its design flaws and performance issues, just because of the immense social pressure of all my friends who were already using it.

If you are the first to offer a product/service that no one else offers it really is despite the design that they succeed.

Looking at the above screenshot reminds me of another site—where people might turn for sports information and news–that I think is equally headache-inducing. In this latter case, I believe that some of the design elements obscure the information presented, a more serious offense on that site, since its purpose is informational, as well as entertainment.

With increasing frequency, we “professional” designers will be called upon to design systems that allow users much more latitude for self-expression. I actually find that quite an exciting challenge.