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Golden Gate Xpress

The Student News Site of San Francisco State University

Golden Gate Xpress

The Student News Site of San Francisco State University

Golden Gate Xpress

TIMELINE: 'New Myspace' may jumpstart social network's revival

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If you ever had a Myspace account, then you must remember the prestigious spot of being placed in the top eight of your best friend, spouse or family member. You may even have a fond memory of having Tom as your first friend.

Myspace was one of the go-to social networks when it first launched in August 2003. With features synonymous with the site such as bulletins, top friends and the ability to add a song to your profile, many people went wild for the site.

Myspace soon started to decline as the social network era boomed with the launch of competitors such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. With so many social networks out there, Myspace became one of many. But with a relaunch around the corner, social networking junkies should eagerly be awaiting their invitations to the new Myspace.

Social media is changing and Myspace is now the place to be.

A video surfaced online in September 2012 that previewed the redesigned Myspace. This is what sparked my curiosity as word of a “New Myspace” buzzed around the Web.

As an investor in the company, Justin Timberlake is one of the main stars of the promotional video, which showed a new way for users to connect with each other, along with an updated layout and fresh features. Timberlake is the man who brought “SexyBack,” after all, so he may know a thing or to on how to bring Myspace back to life.

The new layout screams modern with crisp and clean details. From the way photos are being featured on profiles to all the pop culture connections, Myspace has a plan to remake a name for itself in the social network industry.

According to a June 2008 report from TechCrunch, both Facebook and Myspace were drawing in similar numbers of unique monthly visitors worldwide, with 115 million people accounting for web traffic. The growth in traffic for Facebook, which launched February 2004, showed members were flocking to the new social network and leaving Myspace behind as they did so.

Even I made the transition from Myspace to Facebook during the era of its boom in social networking. The layout and features differed greatly from what Myspace had to offer and drew me in. It was easier to connect with my friends or even my favorite band using Facebook’s comments and threads.

In March 2011 TechCrunch followed up on its report showing that Myspace declined by 14.4 percent, meaning it lost nearly half of the visitors it had in 2010. At that time, Facebook had grown to be the top social network with more than 132 million unique visitors and an exponential growth rate of 153 percent, according to Techtree.

With those declining numbers, it is easy to see why you would not want to come back to Myspace. Social network mavens may feel wary about returning to the site, but why not give it a chance? The new Myspace appears to be merging the world of all existing social networks into one space.

If you still have your Myspace account and actively use it, you should be one of the first to get invited to the new site. We’ll see if Myspace can make a comeback. To me, it looks like it is well on its way.

While an official date has not been announced, soon we’ll see who will win the ongoing social network race. You never know, maybe Timberlake will be your first friend rather than Tom this time, and that may just be worth it.


Timeline and story by Michele Bird

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TIMELINE: 'New Myspace' may jumpstart social network's revival