Tuesday, September 19, 2006
The Myspace Revolution
"They've just come out of nowhere, and they're huge," David Card, a senior analyst with Jupiter Research, said of MySpace. "They've done a number of things that were really smart. One was blogging. People have been doing personal home pages for as long as the Internet's been around, but they were one of the first social networks to jump on that. They've also jumped on music, and there's a lot of traffic surrounding that."
Since last year, Myspace has had a 400% growth rate and has surpassed google.com in the number of hits. Now with over 27 million member, Myspace has become the juggernaut of social interaction. Other possibilities such as facebook.com and friendster.com are still being used but the overwhelming majority are sticking with myspace. The average user of myspace is on the website for 1 hour and 43 minutes while those that use facebook and friendster average only 35 and 25 minutes respectively.
A major aspect of myspace that makes it so popular besides the music are the pictures and video capabilities. Although nudity is unacceptable, there are many pictures of college students and older that are risque. I personally know a couple that met on myspace by doing a search of their area, talking for a while, and finally meeting. They have been together for a year now, but there is a down side to this. This could produce a breeding ground for pedifiles looking to prey on young teens. Although if your age is 14 or younger people are not allowed to view your profile unless you accept an invitation, it is no secret that young boys and girls have lied about their age to seem older for a long time now.
Musicians, comedians, club promoters, and anyone else attempting to get their name or interest out and heard are flocking to myspace and getting an unbelievable response. For example, Dane Cook, a popular comedian for the younger generations, has used myspace to connect with just under 1.5 million friends. This is the best example of getting known with myspace because when Dane first joined he was still working the comic circuit, but Dane is now one of the most well known young comedians today. Myspace has started the development of a record label with the help of an existing major label which only adds to the possibilities of being heard through the website.
One scary factor, for those who know of Rupert Murdoch, is that the Myspace website has been sold to the Owner of the News Corporation, including Fox. This has the possibilities of disaster because for those who follow Fox News know that their slogan "Fair and Balanced" doesn't exactly ring the bell of truth. Many of their stories and angles are predetermined by Murdoch and high executives to convey a certain aspect of conservatism. The Upside of this whole deal is that myspace has practically unlimited resources at this point, selling the site for 580 million. Anderson also states the site will not lose it's youthfulness and integrity; it is suppose to remain the same site with more possibilities... I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
You have hit on some key points: the exponential growth of MySpace; the value created by social networking; the question of the effect of a corporate takeover.
Fox is interested because of the demographic that has been captured by MySpace. It is a business propostion first. I doubt that politics was a major motive here. This is about the rush to acquire new media that will maintain marketshare for the mainstream media.
<< Home
