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MySpace Tries For Another Resurrection

Nov 1, 2010
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Did you hear? MySpace is all new. Again.

MySpace, of course, is riding the new way of publicity while it can, all while pouring plenty of money into advertising their new site. Among the news sites touting the revamped social media outcast are CNN, MSNBC, Fortune and the Huffington Post.

San Francisco-based ad agency Pereira & O’Dell has pushed the marketing of MySpace’s relaunch fueled by, according to multiple industry executives propped up by a multi-million dollar budget.

An indicator of how things have changed from Myspace’s hayday is where Pereira & O’Dell spent the budget- of all places – Facebook. Yes, Facebook, its once bitter rival in the social networking arena. At least Pereira kept it in the Valley.

But, according to MySpace, it’s not in the social networking business anymore. The new MySpace is about being “social entertainment destination.” According to MySpace CEO Mike Jones, MySpace is no longer interested in competing with Facebook , instead, they believe themselves to be complementary to Facebook, YouTube, Yahoo and other social sites.

Focus is the key, if you are to believe their new advertising campaign, and that focus is Generation Y.  Their new site is designed to attract a younger crowd, in the 13-35 year old demographic, and to allow them to connect with other users based on having the same tastes and interests in music, videos, and entertainment in general.

Not all users actually have the new site features, such as screen shots, play lists, etc. but all features are expected to be up and running for all users by the end of November 2010. Once it all is up and running, users will have options not available at other sites. They will be able to personalize their pages with different backgrounds, choose a slide show, stream messages from friends, band news, videos pulled from such places as YouTube and TV networks, and more. In fact, users will be able to create music play lists as well as video play lists that can then be shared with friends.

So does this mean MySpace can raise itself from the Internet deadpool and be more than just a zombie stalking around the fringes of the social networking landscape? At first blush, I’m skeptical. MySpace put itself into the dark alley of the web because of precisely what it now thinks is going to get it out – annoying pages and ads plus lots of spam.

When consumers, especially adults, were faced with the choice between Facebook’s clean look and the auto-playing songs and sparkly GIFs of MySpace, they chose Facebook by the hundreds of millions.

If MySpace thinks that the Justin Beiber demo is going to lift them out of their rut, they have some numbers to back them up. That age range of users create stars on YouTube and may be wary of their parents invading their space on Facebook. Could MySpace then fill in an area socially that Facebook missed in its growth? Could this be a social safe-haven for the youth; their version of rebelling from their Facebook adults?

Perhaps, but MySpace is going to have to deal with the fact that it is already seen as passé. Maybe it will be a case of it’s so bad it’s good?

No matter what happens, the site will have an official introduction on Thursday, November 4 at 3 pm. PT  by Mike Macadaan, Vice President of User Experience and Design, and Manu Rekhi, General Manager of Myspace at News Corp. Games and roll out information for developers can be found at MySpaceDeveloperplatform.

About Mike Koehler

Mike Koehler is the New Media Director for Schnake Turnbo Frank | PR, the largest and oldest public relations firm in Oklahoma. Mike consults with clients about the best use of tools on the Internet, Web strategy and social media policy. Mike blogs regularly at www.smirknewmedia.com and is working on his first book to be published in 2010. Mike lives in Oklahoma City with his wife and three kids.

You can find Mike on Twitter: @mkokc.

Filed under: Social Media + Social Networks & Networking