Facebook and Twitter have been able to dig their feet in the sand and outlast what once was a giant, and now there are hundreds of other social networking sites that serve different functions.
FINALLY, MySpace is realizing that they are going to need to change what exactly they do. Before turning into the social network that it was--a playground, a nightclub, a social gathering--or whatever you though MySpace was, it was created to be a music portal (Independent musicians used MySpace as a platform to gain more exposure). Based on their new slogan, it sounds like they are going back toward something more like this (rather than trying to be something more like Facebook).
The attempt to re-brand the site, with the slogan "Discover and be Discovered" is definitely a step in the right direction. I mean, at this point, they had to do SOMETHING.
In principle, the main purpose of the site sounds to me kind of like an expanded version of Digg. According to TechCrunch, "The idea is to hit users over the head with new stuff when they come to MySpace. New people they should be meeting. Movie trailers they should watch. Games they may want to play (perhaps against other MySpace users), music they should listen to, articles they should read. Etc"
This seems like a good last-ditch effort. At the very least, they realized the current site isn't cutting it and are making a wise decision by making a complete overhaul of the site. They still have information about the users' tendancies from back when the users frequented the site that may prove to be invaluable to the way MySpace retains users from this point forward.
To be honest, I think it's just too late. While I think that the information they already have may prove to be useful, the entire MySpace brand has just collapsed in my mind. It would take the most brilliant marketing strategies, along with an overwhelmingly sticky site, to get it standing on its own two feet again.
Even with superstar executives from companies coming in (and leaving), I just don't see that happening. After all, I tend to believe that MySpace really only became popular on accident.
I totally agree with you. It's now or never for MySpace. Trying to make people care about 'being discovered' with all the options in today's social media landscape is going to be a tough sell. However, if MySpace can define 'being discovered' as something new and different to a brand new audience, then they may have a shot. But they need to be smart about it and focus strictly on music. We'll see what happens!
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