Sign In
SHARE
Email Confirmation
Dec 2 2008
9:13AM
EST
Wolff: MySpace Users Are "Backwards People"
Sam Gustin
writes: Media pundit Michael Wolff, author of the new Rupert Murdoch
biography, The Man Who Owns The News, thinks MySpace's users are
uneducated riff-raff.
"If you're on MySpace now, you're a [expletive] cretin," Wolff tells Jon Fine. "And you're not only a [expletive] cretin, but you're poor. Nobody who has beyond an 8th grade level of education is on MySpace. It is for backwards people."
As a result, Wolff argues that MySpace faces "the distinct possibility that it can go down to nothing," referring to the company's valuation, which is routinely mentioned in the $20 billion range.
I dispute Wolff's characterization of MySpace's user-base, especially the thousands of independent bands which have used the site to connect with music consumers in a whole new way.
And even if Wolff is right, which again, I dispute, I can't help but think of a quote that Wolff, a longtime media critic, must surely be familiar with: this classic line from H.L. Mencken, the legendary last-century journalist and critic.
"Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public."
"If you're on MySpace now, you're a [expletive] cretin," Wolff tells Jon Fine. "And you're not only a [expletive] cretin, but you're poor. Nobody who has beyond an 8th grade level of education is on MySpace. It is for backwards people."
As a result, Wolff argues that MySpace faces "the distinct possibility that it can go down to nothing," referring to the company's valuation, which is routinely mentioned in the $20 billion range.
I dispute Wolff's characterization of MySpace's user-base, especially the thousands of independent bands which have used the site to connect with music consumers in a whole new way.
And even if Wolff is right, which again, I dispute, I can't help but think of a quote that Wolff, a longtime media critic, must surely be familiar with: this classic line from H.L. Mencken, the legendary last-century journalist and critic.
"Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public."
Loading...
Thank you for registering as a Portfolio.com Insider. Your comment has been added.
Create Your Public Profile
Recent Blog Posts
- First Bytes: SEC Eyes Tweets, Waiting on a Verizon iPhone
- Apr 27 2009 9:10AM EDT
- Last Bytes: A New MySpaceFace, Technological Necessities
- Apr 24 2009 5:22PM EDT
- What the One Billionth Downloader Won
- Apr 24 2009 2:37PM EDT
- The End of Innocence at Apple
- Apr 24 2009 11:25AM EDT
- First Bytes: Social Videos, 1 Billion Apps, Mt. Everest Calls
- Apr 24 2009 10:23AM EDT
- Last Bytes: Microsoft and Amazon, Two Tales of the Economy
- Apr 23 2009 5:40PM EDT
- Dell's Plastic Surgery
- Apr 23 2009 3:12PM EDT
- Why High Tech Needs the Wall Street Quants
- Apr 23 2009 11:20AM EDT
- First Bytes: New Blood at MySpace, Steve Jobs Testimony
- Apr 23 2009 9:05AM EDT
- Last Bytes: Apple Profit Soars; eBay Profit Falls
- Apr 22 2009 5:04PM EDT
- Earth Day Special: Gadgets to Green Your Lifestyle
- Apr 22 2009 1:52PM EDT
- First Bytes: Cyberspies and Belgian Bots
- Apr 22 2009 9:55AM EDT
- Last Bytes: Is Texting Passé? Not Yet.
- Apr 21 2009 5:52PM EDT
- Happy 20th Birthday, Game Boy
- Apr 21 2009 4:11PM EDT
- Gaming Geeks (and Curt Schilling) Unite!
- Apr 21 2009 12:43PM EDT
Archive
Jul
2009
Categories
Links
- Kevin Maney's site
- TechCrunch
- GigaOM
- Engadget
- USA TODAY Tech
- Romenesko
- BuzzTracker Tech
- Roger McGuinn's Folk Den
- Maney's band on MySpace
- Spiedies, mmmm
- Somewhat Frank's tech conference list
- Marc Andreessen
- Mark Cuban's blog
- Tom Foremski
- Fred Wilson
- Pandora
- SciTech Daily
- Todd Bishop's Microsoft Blog
- Steven Johnson
- The Long Tail
- paidContent
- John Battelle's SearchBlog
