RSSFacing pressure from Facebook, MySpace regroups
By Ed Oswald | Published June 13, 2008, 4:16 PM
As competition heats up with Facebook, social network MySpace is set to launch a major redesign of its Web site next week.
While MySpace won't say so directly, it appears its new site design may be the beginning of an effort to slow its competitor's advances. Launching Monday, but not appearing across its pages until Wednesday, the redesign will change many of the most popular features of the site.
Initially, the changes are slated to appear on the home page and search functions, as well as the navigation, profile editing, and MySpace TV. However, officials said additional changes are on tap throughout the summer.
Changes are aimed at keeping users on the site longer. While it will still keep true to its roots as a social networking site, additional functionality will be added so that the site resembles more of an online portal.
MySpace co-founder and president Tom Anderson is making it no secret who he plans to compete with in the future -- specifically mentioning Yahoo and Google to the press as the site's newest rivals.
Five new features are at the heart of the redesign. First, the homepage will shift from its profile/friend based schema now to one that includes links to news headlines, weather information, and other features normally associated with a portal.
The navigation bar will be streamlined, and MySpace TV will allow full-screen viewing of content. Search will be improved, and will make it easier for users to locate people and multimedia.
Profile editing will be made easier, which obviously is an answer to the massive popularity of various profile editors that now are commonplace across the Web. While the editor will be basic at first, MySpace plans to allow users to add snippets of content easily to their sites, much like the way Facebook already does.
MySpace says it has spent about six months on the site, and says it will make the site easier to use than its predecessor. It is also making these changes to attract new users to the site outside of its typical teen and young adult-based demographic.
Facebook is not too far behind however -- a new redesign of that site is scheduled to debut some time this month, the company says.
News of MySpace's revamp comes as data from comScore in April indicated that on a worldwide basis, Facebook had caught up in monthly unique visitors to its larger rival. Both are now garnering about 115 million visitors to their respective sites.
The crux of Facebook's surge comes from its success overseas. Here in the US, MySpace still sees about twice as many visitors to its pages than its competitor, although that is down from a two-to-one ratio this time last year.
Based on that data, and assuming trends continue, the site is still at least four years away from catching MySpace here in the States. Either way, the rapidly growing popularity of Facebook likely is a cause for concern for the once dominant social network.
Hey, be kind to the braindead social networking sites for people without real lives...
If you will just send me $15 and a new Brat doll, I will send you 100 naked picts of Tool. I'm not 9yo, I'm really 30. Trust me!
Now, if we could only post some Real pictures I got with SnagIt on the web, you could see what I Really look like!
There, you see how EASY it is to turn BetaNews into a Facebook/MySpace contender!
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|it's like trying to salvage a sunken ship, it's already been down there for years & the whole operation costs more than it's worth for something that will never work again.
social networking sites are are garbage. use your cell phone and email.
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|How about when I set my dam profile to private you do not allow ANYONE to see ANYTHING from my profile at all!!!
Its the one thing I like in Facebook, even with all its Advertising cattle prodding its doing, When I lock down my profile it stays locked down. Then only people I invite to it have access.
Myspace, is iffy at best since I can derive much info from private profiles and still message the person if someone so chooses. Thats not acceptable especially considering the shear number of underaged unmonitored tripe that exists on Myspace. Its become the Pissing ground for all the adolescent garbage of the world.
Kids just do not get that this garbage is NOT a safe place to have personal conversations of any kind. I have shown many a friend how to secure up their kids profiles, and shown them why by allowing them to see their kids Comments areas... If their kids lock their parent OUT of myspace I have also shown parent how to lock their kids OUT of myspace via routers AND permissions, resulting often in their parents being allowed to monitor them again or they learn to go without. Especially now that most schools do not allow access to myspace now for this very reason.
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|I wonder if they'll discover web standards.
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|Hmmm, sounds like they want the best of both worlds (search and social) with no clear approach to get either. MySpace is for kids, change that image before you expand.
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|Sure took them long enough to do something about the horrible design that has been lingering for years. The portal move will likely serve to dillute the social networking aspect of the site, which should be the focus. That's what keeps people coming back. They can get their news and such anywhere.
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|Yeah, that does seem to be odd. I'm wondering if the change is due to the clutter of the site, or the fact that content partners are demanding this change.
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|Visiting MySpace is like walking into a messy bedroom with a loud stereo. Everything is strewn about and horribly untidy, and you are assaulted on many pages with pointless music. Facebook isn't much better, but the overall design lends itself to a less visually and aurally assaultive experience.
I would hope that Facebook closes ranks somewhat and stops allowing in the detritus that has started to filter on. When I first openned my account, I largely saw college students and professionals when looking for specific people; now, high school students dot the ranks and clutter search results.
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|That's for certain. MySpace is better than it was in 2004--it used to break every few hours--but it's like a group of people, who spoke different languages, designed it.
In 2004, I remember going to pages where each comment had a song and they all tried to play at once. 50 comments per page and 1 song each, plus the song tied to the page itself. Ouchie!
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|"MySpace still sees about twice as many visitors"..."that is down from a two-to-one ratio this time last year"...Um, twice as many and two-to-one are the same thing, don't you think? Makes me wonder what that sentence is actually trying to convey.
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|Good.
Honestly, I can't stand the design. Nothing is ever integrated, it's just thrown on the page and stays wherever it sticks.
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