Myspace artists. They moved. Took their skills to more artist-centric networks like Virb. I had confidence in Myspace but they proved me wrong. Myspace is collapsing under its weight. The Flash advertising is out of control, not only are the ads distasteful, they crash my browser now. I’m glad a major fast-food chain like Taco Bell discovered the web, finally, but does that benefit me?
So I found Virb, it’s more sophisticated. Virb is more in touch with the culture of the Internet. The layout controls make sense. You can drag your layout panels around the way you can in Facebook or you can get right into the thick of the XHTML, if you want to. Virb plays nice with the Internet too, automatically imports my RSS feed and Flickr images. When I’m on Virb it’s these little touches that tell me Virb is on the right track and in touch with users.
But is anyone on Virb? Yes, Virb is already “populated” with interesting artists. One example, I found Brandi Strickland on Virb and posted her interview at Knowingart.com. Almost as impressive as her art, her far-reaching online presence. I feel the most advanced artists now have a similarly advanced web presence. Together in this well-connected playland swirls ideas from all over, with visual art and music on the same page. Not that I get all my artistic inspiration from the Internet, but I do feel I’m more plugged in now and aware of what’s going on, creatively speaking.