Show Notes
Let’s look back at the internet communities that were thriving before MySpace — even before Friendster. Why did MySpace get ahead when there was strong competition from other social networks at the time? To explore the earliest days of social media, Joanne is joined by investor and entrepreneur Benjamin Sun, who co-founded Asian Avenue in 1997, and Katie Notopoulos, senior technology reporter for BuzzFeedNews.
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More from Main Accounts: The Story of MySpace
Plenty of Harry Potter fans love Severus Snape. A few truly worshipped him. In the early 2000s, these fans found each other online and came to believe Harry’s least favorite professor was real. A god in an alternate universe that bled into our own. Nothing in the world could shake their devotion to Snape. Until their sisterhood imploded. Special thanks to our guest Dr. Zoe Alderton, author of Snapewives’ and ‘Snapeism’: A Fiction-Based Religion Within the Harry Potter Fandom. Listen to Very Special Episodes on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Wednesday. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In April 2023, Joanne did something she hadn't tried in well over a decade — she logged into her MySpace account. For our season finale, she set out to find the people who still use MySpace to this day. She reviews the factors that contributed to MySpace’s demise, and looks at what we lost when the MySpace era ended. Thanks for your support of Main Accounts! What tech company should Joanne dig into in the future? Let us know on Twitter @jomc. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
"If you open a hole on the internet," UCLA professor Sarah T. Roberts tells us, "it gets filled with sh*t." The tragic death of Megan Meier was a turning point for MySpace. As the first social media company to operate on a massive scale, MySpace and its users were forced to grapple with the consequences of that scale. In this episode, Joanne is joined by Thomas Kadri of the University of Georgia School of Law to discuss how our legal system was ill-equipped to deal with the social media era. UCLA professor and author Sarah T. Roberts chronicles the early days of content moderation. And Bridget Todd and Scott Zakarin are back to talk about bullying in the MySpace era. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Our last episode featured the tragic death of Megan Meier, which became the biggest scandal MySpace would ever face. In this bonus episode, Joanne wanted to share our full interview with Megan's mother, Tina. Tina told us more about Megan's life, the trial, and the work of the Megan Meier Foundation. Since 2007, the MMF has worked to end bullying, cyberbullying, and suicide. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The moral panic over online predators on MySpace was largely overblown, but there was some truth to these concerns. These stories ended up on the nightly news and further stoked people’s fears about who was actually behind MySpace profiles. And one story — the biggest scandal MySpace had faced yet — showed how the use of a fake account could result in circumstances confusing and surreal, and tragic beyond belief. And it set in motion events that would lead to MySpace’s eventual collapse. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.