DIGITCOOL

The Fall and Fall of Myspace

Like many in 2005, I joined Myspace - it was awesome; innovative, cool and a great way to communicate. Then in 2006, I remember having an argument with a friend. It was Facebook vs. Myspace. I defended Myspace all the way, until the very minute I actually tried Facebook. It was a breath of fresh air, all the frustrations and complications of Myspace were nowhere to be seen. No annoying auto-loading profile songs. No spam. No pink flashing profile backgrounds with banners telling me to ‘PimpMyGranny’. Clean, intuitive and without the garish OTT advertising Myspace had - I was hooked and it wasn’t long before everyone else was. Long gone were my Myspace days.

So how did Myspace and new owner Rupert Murdoch react? Well, it didn’t. They offered new products, namely Myspace TV which didn’t ever gain YouTube like traction. Whilst it still existed as a social networking site, they didn’t listen to their community of loyal users or even try to recapture its lost audience. They didn’t remove the spam, clean up the clutter or add new features. They just carried on. Fast-forward to 2008 and Facebook had overtaken Myspace as the site of choice in most countries except the US. Myspace now only had one up on its rival; music. Instrumental in launching the careers of artists like Lily Allen - it was so well placed to create an amazing platform for musicians and personalities that Facebook had failed to do. Yet it didn’t. Even when Myspace Music arrived, it just wasn’t good enough.

This month, when Facebook officially caught up with Myspace in the US, redundancies struck. This seemed to be the final wake up call. Today, Techcrunch UK reported Myspace is about to lay off 2/3 of its international staff along with closing a string of offices. The report goes on to say London, Sydney and Berlin will remain as central hub offices. This is smart - we know as much as 60% of European ad spend comes out of London. This will help with a short term strategy, though long term I imagine the changes will not have such a drastic effect. I can bet my life that stuffy management who failed to innovate over the years will remain, yet the young talent who have worked so passionately will be the first to go. This will be the saddest thing of all.

What did Facebook do so right? Like Google before it, Mark Zuckerberg and team have a built a strong and powerful product to a point where the consumer experience is unrivaled. It was only at this point that they began to monetize their hard work. They are still not quite there in terms of offering the perfect product to a global advertising market, though with public pages and a more real-time approach, they are not far off.

So, what can Myspace do now? Let’s not forget it is still owned by one of the biggest media companies in the world. It’s not going anywhere fast. It failed to capitilise on its first mover advantage and now it’s too late for them to compete as a social network. It’s no longer ‘A place for friends.’ However, It’s not too late to take advantage of its youthful appeal and its glaringly obvious niche; music. The 125 million or so remaining members will also help. Brands and agencies have always spent more on Myspace than Facebook simply because it provides better branded opportunities, especially around its content. Fox has no shortage of this. Now is the time to change.

John Wooden said it best “It is not so important who starts the game but who finishes it.”