Dear Myspace, please hire me. I'll make you be like Facebook.

The page doesn't look bad, but it's not super impressive either because it's obviously heavily inspired by facebook. Just to give some credit where it is due, the real genius here is the guy who wrote blueprint.css, without which the OP could probably not have written that sample profile page in under an hour (emphasis his).

I agree that if it does lead to a job interview its definitely great for him, but I hope this doesn't become common thing, with people buying a domain, putting up some html and css.. and self promoting themselves. With that said.. good luck to the author

He doesn't mention making myspace more like facebook anywhere on his page. His layout does look very facebook-ish, but I find the edited title on HN needlessly snarky and insulting in its use of the first person.

I guess what I meant was, they can hire anyone to simplify their layout, hiring this guy isn't gonna change anything. I'm sure there are dozens of people at Myspace who want to simplify things. Just click on the link to the dude's about page (which is his myspace link) and there are about 6 flash advertisements on top of all the other crap. Link: http://www.myspace.com/nouman

Facebook removes customization/control from users, and that is why it is so popular. The focus is on communication and connection, not customization and self-promotion.

The fundamental being of MySpace is what is flawed. Girls with glitter backgrounds and odd poses trying to show off their budding teenage breasts, guys trying to get some ass and scope out girls. Of course that happens everywhere, not just Myspace, but that's the kind of reputation that it holds. Most people's "pages" are difficult to look at. The only thing that Myspace is decent for is grabbing new music from bands, as that is what it originally set out to be.

It's doomed, time to jump ship. No facebook^H^H^H^H.... clean design is going to save it now. It's fostered a community that reflects it's design, a crappy one. Just like the startup I once worked for... the culture was shitty no matter how much emotion and passion you put into your work or saving it, it was useless. Certain things cannot be changed or fixed.

This reminds me a lot of Dustin Curtis' redesign of AA. I think the guy has talent and I don't mean to knock him at all, but you can't just expect to throw a fresh coat of paint on something and assume the people who use it and the stigma about it will suddenly change for the good. Heck, Facebook gets shit from users every single time it's redesigned. "1,000,000 strong to bring back the old Facebook!" - there have probably been 15 of those created every single time FB throws down a new design.

tl;dr - I digress... the problem with Myspace is not the design and UX, it's the people on top (Newscorp), the community that has been fostered around it, and the stigma that it has in society. There's no turning back from that. My mom, grandmother, cousins, friends, colleagues, high school buddies, you name it are all on Facebook. Friends that I made before we could text or IM each other, back when we had to call or go knock on the door to see if they wanted to hang out, are on Facebook with me. My myspace page is a joke, a place where my ex-girlfriend used to get jealous and flaunt photos of her tits to all her friends. It's an absolute joke.

The designer's concept is about customizable widgets, it's not about facebook. I think it may make sense: typical myspace users LOVE filling their page with glitter, photos, music and all sorts of customization, so his idea is in line with the Myspace concept.

I'll agree that the demo page is a bit bland in that respect though.