MySpace’s new CEO Mike Jones has been on a media blitz. Tasked with a tall order and trying to defy the odds, the site is attempting a comeback to reclaim a spot as a champion in the social entertainment and networking space.
From Most Popular Social Networking to Distant Second Place
Remember MySpace? MySpace once was the site for everyone and the site everyone was talking about. It was the site parents worried about and the site Rupert Murdock reportedly paid more than half a billion dollars for. Yet within just two years of being United States’ most popular social networking site, it fell to a distant second place when Facebook took over the market space in 2008.
MySpace is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California and owned by News Corporation. After Myspace was overtaken by Facebook in 2008 the company had to lay off 30% of its workforce in 2009.
On his TV show Press:Here that aired on the NBC Bay area station on November 5, 2010 host Scott McGrew asked Mike Jones on his show about his views on the sudden decline of MySpace’s popularity. The CEO admits that in a fast-moving market space the company became too broad by trying to be something for everybody and losing focus on what made the site special and unique.
A New Image for MySpace
With the new image and logo, a stylized My_, the site’s new design adopts much of its competitor’s look and feel. Mike Jones has been on a media blitz and so far at least people are talking about MySpace again in a way they haven’t in a few years.
In his interview with Scott McGrew, Jones says that there are a few distinct things the company is now focused on to make a comeback happen. MySpace will be music-oriented and target younger people, specifically Generation Y which makes up the majority of the site’s audience.
The CEO also reports 130 million unique visitors per month via web or mobile. While the numbers are impressive they are not within reach of Facebook’s 500 million, as reported by TechCrunch.
The Future of MySpace Focuses on Mobile Technology
Mike Jones says that much of the new strategy will focus on a new mobile effort where users of MySpace can interact with all of the features without having to login and make use of the site without an account. Yet, he admits that interaction is still maximized with a designated user account that allows for personalization. MySpace hopes to regain lost audiences by connecting them to their personalized TV shows movies and music.
In addition, the site is introducing the concept of curators, a title that can be earned by those who become influential within the network. Users can be elevated to curator status based on how much content and reviews they share within categories. MySpace finds these category experts through a specific algorithm and rewards them with access to unique tools and promoting them in different areas of the website as category experts.
In All Things Digital Kara Swisher writes on Oct 27, 2010 “The new beta version of MySpace moves dramatically away from its roots as a social networking site and distances itself from Facebook by becoming a “social entertainment” hub aimed directly at the Gen Y audience.”
The question remains, is a comeback for MySpace possible? The answer remains to be seen. It will be up to the audience and users to decide.
Britta Stromeyer Esmail - Britta is a bilingual business management professional and executive coach with extensive domestic and international experience in the ...
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