Why MySpace Rocks (Literally)
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Written By Reprise Media | May 31, 2005 | Share This
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Social networking had quite a few naysayers at the Blogging Goes Mainstream event earlier this month. Though speakers and panel members were careful not to dismiss the concept as a whole, many were still waiting for a viable, useful business model to emerge.
Stowe Boyd, founder of Corante.com, the “world’s first blog media company”, did cite MySpace.com as one of the few companies that are ‘getting it right’. The firm is the subject of a complimentary article in today’s Businessweek Online, titled Why MySpace Is the Hot Place.
Here are a few highlights:
- Older & Wiser? Not Quite - Friendster is 3 years old, MySpace is 20 months old. Friendster has 1 million unique monthly visitors, MySpace has 14 million. No wonder Friendster’s CEO got the boot. (At least they let him keep his profile).
- Music Matters - One of the key drivers of MySpace’s success has been the music component. Many of the site’s features are custom-made for bands, helping them reach out to and communicate with fans without having to be at the mercy (creatively and financially) of sleazy marketing & PR execs.
- Social Networking Sans Training Wheels - Most existing sites focus on safety and trust for users (think Friendster’s “Love Me!” smiley face). MySpace gives members more freedom and tools to customize their Web sites however they see fit.
- Deep Pockets - Over 50% owned by Intermix, MySpace has a fair amount of capital on hand as well as access to technologies it can use to build out its products even further. Still privately held, they won’t disclose their finances, but many analysts are saying they’re in the black.
Not everything’s bright for MySpace, however, as Microsoft, Yahoo, and others want to move in on their turf. Will a more integrated service such as Yahoo! 360, with its legions of locked-in users and “all in one place” capabilities spell the end of their business model? Too early to tell say most and we agree.
But if Friendster keeps coming out with occasional hit/mostly miss features, they’re going to make it easier for MySpace. BoingBoing has on what it calls the “spectacularly useless search engine feature” on Friendster. The image included in this post is the results from our own network. Not sure which is more troubling, the thought of our friends having social diseases (”signs of herpes”) or hipster moron hair (”INDIE HAIR STYLES”).
Topics: Social Media |
Well I don’t care how many sites they build in attempts to combat myspace’s success. I will never sign up for another social networking site. Period. Myspace is the only reason I even bother using the Internet.
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