Yes the original design is frigid and it is extremely difficult to work with. I actually find that the fact that it is so limiting has done very much to inspire the new users who are expecting everything to be premade, perfect and user friendly to actually go to help sites, and forums and learn about programming and code.
If myspace is a person's very first hands on experience and they actually learn to redesign the layout without using java script, then they have acquired many of the basic skills needed to design a function site based on php, and asp design templates where they have much more freedom. They also learn why when they do get their own site it might not be a good idea to use...

Yes the original design is frigid and it is extremely difficult to work with. I actually find that the fact that it is so limiting has done very much to inspire the new users who are expecting everything to be premade, perfect and user friendly to actually go to help sites, and forums and learn about programming and code.
If myspace is a person's very first hands on experience and they actually learn to redesign the layout without using java script, then they have acquired many of the basic skills needed to design a function site based on php, and asp design templates where they have much more freedom. They also learn why when they do get their own site it might not be a good idea to use all the features available like starting your own social network.

I have the capability to allow registrations on my own site through similar means. There are pros and cons. One pro for Myspace is they really don't have to worry about people trying to duplicate their original format or steal their design. Actually their design is a basic usage of standard available paragraph class definitions which are defined as narrow column tables and wide column categories. It takes intentional effort to make changes to these. Those who are changing their pages are learning to handle css without knowing it. My space isn't a gem, but you can find many little gems which are pages designed there. 75% of the mail I get there is about how to work around the templates or redesign the page. Every one who is there knows the pages are bad, which is why it can be very interesting to visit other pages. Some designs are simple changes, but, there are some incredible efforts. People who are free to express their own personalities have also found them and some of the better pages actually have a high friend # and their pages link to some weird pages. So you might not see those pages on my friends list by discretion. But a social network is about the networking ability not the design.