It is clear that the recession is taking its toll on many different companies all over the world, but an unlikely business would probably be social networking site MySpace.
They have announced that they are cutting 30% of their US workforce in a bid to eliminate “bloated” staff levels and restructure the company, according to the NMA. This ultimately means that the total number of US employees will be 1,000.
In the current climate, the social networking market is really taking off, with Twitter and Facebook both cementing their marks as the preferred choices for chatting online. So why is MySpace suffering? Log on to the site and you’ll see people still use it, but perhaps it is the fact that Twitter and Facebook are doing so well that MySpace simply can't keep up. You might remember a time a few years ago when MySpace was all that people talked about when social networking was still a bit of a new craze. MySpace was for the ‘cool kids’ to network and chat. You can design your own web page and add interactive elements like music and video etc. Take a look at Facebook and Twitter though and you’ll see something a little bit different…Twitter has a basic user interface and Facebook isn’t overrun with dynamic features, but it seems that people have favoured simplicity and popularity over the original social networking giant MySpace.
It is perhaps natural to draw the conclusion that people aren’t looking for all the fancy features anymore and just want to be able to chat and share pictures in a simple, easily accessible way. This is something that Facebook and Twitter have done, which could be why they are doing so well at the moment. Twitter seems to have become an overnight phenomenon and people are even adopting Twitter colloquialisms such as ‘tweeting’ into their every day language. MySpace has never really had anything like that where people could relate in the same way – it has the “here’s my page, this is who I am” feel to it and doesn’t really quench the thirst of hardcore social networkers looking to chat and socialize to the max.
Another advantage of Facebook is that it is quick and easy - you don’t have to read through a lengthy page of text, comments and interactive features like on MySpace. On MySpace, everyone crams everything onto the one page and it can be less appealing to the user just looking to chat. With Facebook, the background is white with contrasting blue throughout the site and it is instantly recognizable. In addition to this, you can easily find what you want with a Facebook profile, with no music distractions or suchlike. It is easy to see why Facebook is the clear choice for many.
Hitwise has recently reported that Facebook has overtaken MySpace in the web traffic stakes; a shift that had already occurred in the UK back in September 2007. This clearly shows that MySpace has been struggling to keep up for some time, and although the MySpace job cuts and ‘restructuring’ is only in the US at the moment, there is a possibility that this could extend elsewhere.
Despite the MySpace job cuts, this is surely by no means the end. It is likely they will push on and further develop the site, catering to those who still use it and wouldn’t be without it, such as small name bands who have a free MySpace page rather than having a proper website that they have to pay hosting for. For this purpose, MySpace will always be a great social networking site, but it’s simply the case that Facebook and Twitter have exceeded everyone’s expectations and become the new favourites.
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