Only four years ago, it was being hailed as the greatest invention of the Internet since porn. It got so big, in fact, people such as my boss and grandmother were jumping on the bandwagon (causing a disturbing clash of all the separate branches of my life).
But now it looks like Myspace.com has blew it (meaning I'm going to have to find a new place to post all those beer drinking photos and bad poetry blogs).
According to Lloyd Grove of The Daily Beast, Myspace has slashed a third of its staff, eliminated two-thirds of its international staff and closed four offices outside of the United States.
Ouch.
"In 2005, Rupert Murdoch was hailed as a visionary for snapping up MySpace. Today, as Facebook and Twitter fuel a historic uprising, MySpace announced its second round of layoffs in a week."
Grove goes on to say:
"Recent reports cite ominous stats showing that fast-growing Facebook, with more than 70 million monthly visitors domestically, has finally overtaken its older rival, which is coping with a shrinking user base and page views, declining revenue, and no obvious strategy to reverse a slide into the abyss."
It just goes to show you, cyberland is more fickle than a Hollywood B-list starlet on a bender. What's hot today is (in the words of my Myspace using boss) so 15 minutes ago tomorrow.
Personally, I think this is always what happens when some hipster kid comes up with a cool idea, builds it up in a grassroots effort and then it gets taken over by greedy, ignorant corporations who ruin it just by their sheer presence. The reason Myspace became so popular was because it was a community built up by young people and their similar interests.
The second you start to try and make money off that intentionally, it becomes lame (and in this case, we all move onto Facebook).
Now the only question is, WWTD?
What would Tom do?
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36 Comments
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i use myspace and have never used facebook before. ive never been motivated to try it either, i have my page set up the way i want it and prefer not to spend time setting up another one. as for whether or not myspace may fail, it just depends on whether myspace can counter facebook, we'll soon see i guess.
June 26, 2009 at 1:17 a.m.Death to Myspace and death to the greatest form of online deception known to man: the Myspace Angle!! Where else can a person's appearance be judged solely on a dimly lit, extreme close-up, half-face self-portrait taken at arm's length, or the ever popular flash-in-the-mirror shirt lift to show off my abs to all those sexy ladies in cyberspace picture. Oh how much better this world would be if it all could be viewed through the surreal kaleidoscope of the Myspace Angle! : P
June 26, 2009 at 12:41 a.m.A word of warning - if you take the Facebook IQ test, you have to enter your cell phone number to get the results. One of my friends did that and said he is now getting loads of advertising on his cell phone as a result. Other friends keep sending me invitations to take the test and see how I do compared to them. i haven't bothered because I receive enough sales calls on my cell phone as it is.
June 25, 2009 at 3:51 p.m.Oldrustybucket... once again I laughed so hard at your comment. What a hoot!
June 25, 2009 at 10:49 a.m.My friends and I conversed daily on Myspace via the annoying email and comment page. I was the first to move to Facebook and immediately brought my whole group with me. We now update Facebook and it is easier to get on and communicate faster without using texts or waiting to fill out a captcha to send a comment.
June 25, 2009 at 10:40 a.m.True, Twitter isn't for everyone...but the important question is, do you like Blingee graphics? Either way, you are getting one. I'm a pro at making them.
June 25, 2009 at 10:27 a.m.I really loved myspace and hardly ever updated my facebook page. Now, sadly, I have been forced to start updating at facebook. The playing field of networking is populated by many, many sites. There's something for every type of personality out there. The sheer size of the online population will always insure that the need for social networking will never be completely satisfied. I'm a day late but not really trying to keep up with the sims. I live to keep up with my friends. Great read Aprill! I nominate you for a Pulitzer!
June 25, 2009 at 10:18 a.m.I just Became a Fan of the Advocate on Facebook. I don't twitter. Twitter is lame.
June 25, 2009 at 10:10 a.m.We must keep in mind that social networking is still a relatively new trend. MySpace and Facebook, the pioneering social networks, really have only been around for six year now. Our social media model is just starting to evolve, due to the obvious declining popularity of MySpace and the dominance of Facebook and the uprising of Twitter. But...What's next? How are competing social networks going to retain the attention of their members? Where is the social media trend going to take us?
Social networkers are looking for something different, more unique in regards to the already popular hobby. I suggest checking out a new social network called, www.HopOnThis.com. HopOnThis rewards their members with cash and prizes just for staying active on the site.
June 25, 2009 at 9:51 a.m.iJoe - We did have some technical difficulties this morning with our Web site. It since has been resolved.
If you can't access our Web site in the future, I try to keep everyone updated on our Twitter account and Facebook (we have one!) page.
Link to our Twitter account - http://twitter.com/VicAdvocate
June 25, 2009 at 9:31 a.m.Link to our Facebook page - http://tinyurl.com/lbxm6a
No, iJoe. It's not just you. There is so much advertisement that it takes a while to load the page. But hopefully it'll never die. As skimpy as it sometimes is, I couldn't start my day without my VicAd fix and a cup of coffee.
June 25, 2009 at 9:25 a.m.Aprill should write a story about the death of the VictoriaAdvocateOnline because thats where its heading if they don't speed up their site. It takes forever to load sometimes. Am I the only one having that problem?
June 25, 2009 at 9:12 a.m.I signed up for Facebook just this week main reason is I can get to it from work but they block access to Myspace. My Wife and Daughter are on both I guess I will have to also sign up for Myspace it is still my Daughters fav.
June 25, 2009 at 7:27 a.m.Thanks old{Rusty}bucket!
June 24, 2009 at 11:54 p.m.Loveourmilitary, yes, I remember the good ol days of hanging on the phone! My curly phone cord was all bent out of shape & tangled from playing with it. : )
I saw on the news this morning 1 out of 10 kids is engaging in risky behavior online (sexting, nude pics, etc). The really sad thing is only 40% of the parents are unaware! That means 60% of the parents either know or have a clue & aren't trying to stop their kids from putting themselves at risk! I cannot even comprehend that.
I got a MySpace to keep an eye on my child. I insisted she set her profile to private & I regularly checked her friends out. It's a scary world, made much smaller by the world wide web. Perverts are mobile creatures & are willing to drive as far as necessary if it means they can satisfy their desires. I don't think kids realize this is actual reality & not fantasy.
ijoe, Facebook states they will share your info to the creator of the quiz & any friends you click to request they take such quiz. I think they were sued for selling private info & now they are more transparent, but not transparent enough.
June 24, 2009 at 11:12 p.m.RINGER; Hope your talents with your business pay off bunches.
June 24, 2009 at 10:49 p.m.My Space was a hoot: In spite of my mounted hog head for a profile pic and the note: I'm married, on SSD, and can't afford to waste any money on your "come see my xxxxx (body part(s)) there'd be these, "I saw ur pitchur and ur HOT HOT HOT. I cain't wate to chat wit u and c what we can heat up, I'm a wel indowd hot chick wut likez to hav funn. my emale is cumcmyhotnoodboddy@likurlips.hot" just pruv ur 18 (w/ a credit card)and u cn c all u wantof me just $xxx a minet."
June 24, 2009 at 10:42 p.m.I'm lov'n Myspace: Check it out and I could always use more friends!!!!
http://www.myspace.com/ringlitzheadbands
June 24, 2009 at 10:08 p.m.VBB...I sat here one evening playing around with Myspace and started throwing in name after name, just anyone I could think of. Even people I've known for years (too old to have an account! lol), and it gave me chills all the information that people put out there. Pictures that lead you to where they live if you study them long enough, names of other friends that in turn you can find out what you want on them...SCARY! And that's the thing, something that started out maybe so innocently has now become a place where predators can find their prey...innocent young kids...it's just too much. With the internet, cell phones, all the electronic perks....oh my. I remember "laying on the phone" as my parents called it..you know the one with the coily cord! I'd be laying in the kitchen floor with legs up the wall in my own little world..person to person! Can you believe that? Person to person, voice to voice. That's so prehistoric or so my kids say....I bet it was safer!
June 24, 2009 at 9:30 p.m.Brooke Brown, there is a reason that people are leaving myspace. It's not user friendly and its just outdated. Have you noticed they try to copy facebook? They added apps, status updates, leaving comments on your status updates, chatting on the bottom. Those were all facebook functions before myspace. Too bad it won't save Myspace.
I've been on facebook for over a year and I have never had spam emails from marketers. I've never been contacted in any way.
June 24, 2009 at 8:48 p.m.Facebook has been selling peoples info since the beginning. Those stupid quizzes, the info on yourself & your friends, if you click to send it to them, is sold to marketing people & Lord knows who else. I don't trust putting to much info on Facebook.
Loveourmilitary, you are right. I have a friend who works for TABC that uses MySpace to bust underage drinking parties. Stupid kids put TMI out in cyberland for anyone to see.
June 24, 2009 at 6:11 p.m.Myspace will be missed by investigators and detectives too....Full of info and ignorant people.....
June 24, 2009 at 6:04 p.m.Uh-oh. MySpace is too big to fail. How much will it cost us to bail THAT out?
June 24, 2009 at 6 p.m.This saddens me. I for one will miss all the glittery icons on Myspace. You can never go wrong with more glitter. Here's one for Aprill - http://tinyurl.com/mfedlh
June 24, 2009 at 5:54 p.m.Why would you want everyone's pages to be the same? If you don't like glittery icons, don't get them. If you don't like kids, don't talk to them. You think facebook is more user friendly? What makes you think so? Obviously, I prefer myspace. I think myspace is definitely more user friendly because it notifies you of everything all in the same place. Notifications of new messages, new photo comments, new comments etc. are all listed in the same place and in bold, noticeable print. On facebook there is a notification box in the bottom right hand corner that is barely noticeable and that I didn't even realize was there until about a month after I started using facebook. Half the things they notify me about I don't even care to know- like so and so took five million quizzes. I wish more people would still use myspace, but since they don't, I have gravitated to facebook.
June 24, 2009 at 4:53 p.m.what will i do with all of these pictures in the mirror and all of the pictures of my abs.... ..... back to telling women the truth....hahaha
June 24, 2009 at 4:31 p.m.I think you guys spend too much time on the computer. I only spend the time I am at work on the computer/internet. That way it doesn't cut into my "me" time. HA
June 24, 2009 at 3:42 p.m.I prefer facebook. It's more user friendly IMO. Plus, everyone's page are pretty much the same. You can't have all these glittery pictures everywhere like on Myspace that make it look trashy. Myspace is also filled with kids.
What really drew me to facebook in the first place was when I got my iphone because the facebook App is 1000x better than the Myspace App on there.
June 24, 2009 at 3:01 p.m.Facebook is better anyway. :P
June 24, 2009 at 2:57 p.m.