Online Media Cultist » myspace

iMeem Acquired by MySpace Music: A New Bright Future for MySpace?

Eric Berlin — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 16:23:34 +0000

In 2005 and 2006, MySpace was the king of the hill. “Web 2.0″ was in its ascendancy, and everyone couldn’t stop talking about MySpace. Kids loved it and were telling their parents and friends, single people flirted and told their single friends, bands loved it and marketed their asses off, while the mainstream media pumped out story after story about privacy protection and predators, and web insiders and geeks snarked about clunky UI and design.

That’s in the past, though. Today, MySpace is still one of the most popular websites on the Internet (#11, according to Alexa, down from #6 in late 2007) but it’s an aging giant. Bands are still there, and lots of people are still there, but the buzz and early adopters and press have all long since moved on.

Over the past year or so, MySpace has looked to brand itself not so much as a social networking site, which has nearly lost its meaning and cache in the age of Facebook and Twitter, but as a social media and music site. This would be a return to its roots really, as Sparxoo notes.

Now, with the completion of MySpace Music’s acquisition of popular social media music website iMeem, MySpace is making serious strides to refresh its brand while gobbling up an additional 16 million monthly users.

It’s a smart move. Bands and artists have invested a lot of time over a period of years building presence on MySpace, so the ability to integrate iMeem’s features and community could really payoff long term. And in a crowded online music space, iMeem has distinguished itself as a popular destination to discover music and socialize with fellow music addicts (for example, if I want a quick fix of “The Breaks,” by Kurtis Blow, I knew I could just head to iMeem, search for the song, sit back and get hit with the funk).

I don’t think that MySpace will ever seriously compete with Facebook again. That battle is over, and MySpace is wise to realize it. If MySpace can hang around and dominate the online music space, battling the likes of AOL Music, Yahoo Music, and startups like Pandora, it may once again have a bright future.

(this post originally appeared on Technorati)

Facebook Connect Bores Deeper Into MySpace, Web

Eric Berlin — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 01:16:26 +0000

Facebook Connect: on route to becoming the one ring to rule them all?

Inside Facebook reports that "MySpace is planning to make [Facebook Connect] a key part of the site, rolling out a number of Connect features in the first part of 2010." Earlier this week, Yahoo's "Project Rushmore" was revealed, described as a "massive integration of major social networking sites across the giant Internet portal." Mashable's Adam Ostrow notes: "For MySpace’s purposes, that hypothetically would mean users accessing the site with their Facebook credentials, and then sharing back the increasing amount of exclusive entertainment type content that the site has been acquiring to their Facebook friends."

With MySpace and Yahoo now essentially outsourcing their social networking service, Facebook is in a position that neither MySpace nor Yahoo were in when they bore the ring of power.

The difference is that not only is Facebook close to being the most popular destination on the Internet (it currently sits at #2 according to Alexa), but it has bored its way deeply (Orc-like?) into the communications and content sharing activities on several other of the largest destinations as well, along of course with many others.

Will Google Friend Connect make a last stand?

(this post originally appeared on Technorati)

Why would a Fox News SVP call Facebook “the leading social network”?

Eric Berlin — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 07:46:43 +0000

Weird news item #1: Fox News is expanding its presence on Facebook
Fox News Channel, which is part of the same company (News Corporation) as MySpace, is expanding its social networking presence on MySpace’s leading social networking competition, Facebook. The New York Times speculates that the reason may be due to MySpace’s “existing partnership with MSNBC.

Weird news item #2: Fox News SVP claims Facebook is bigger than MySpace
It’s one thing to branch out to a social network that might be more geared to your demographic. Joel Cheatwood, senior vice president for development at Fox News, rightly points out that Facebook’s audience tends to be “a little older and a little more sophisticated” as compared to MySpace.

And it’s another for the “real reason” to potentially be MySpace’s deal with MSNBC. But why would Cheatwood go on to say that “Facebook is ‘currently the leading social network’ worldwide”?

Even if it were true, wouldn’t that be the kind of claim that you wouldn’t want to make about a major competitor to one of News Corp’s highest profile properties?

As always, take it with barrels of salt, but Alexa pegs Facebook as the #5 ranked website on the Internet, with MySpace trailing at #7.