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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2009
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 ANALYSIS 
7

How MySpace Lost Its Crown

Failure to innovate halts site's once red-hot momentum, letting Facebook take the lead

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(Newser) – MySpace was overtaken by Facebook for the first time last month and without some serious innovation, Rupert Murdoch's big buy may end up joining Friendster in the ranks of the also-rans, Dawn Chmielewski and David Sarno write in the Los Angeles Times. The world of social networking moves at an unforgiving pace, the two note, and MySpace has been playing catch-up instead of leading, as its own initiatives tanked.

Missteps included an overreliance on a portal strategy—attempting to build an audience around entertainment content—while Facebook managed to hang on to notoriously fickle social networking users by adapting and absorbing aspects of upstart rivals like Twitter. MySpace still has a hefty 70 million users, but the site is laying off almost a third of its staff.

Figures from May show that MySpace, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, fell behind Facebook for the first time.
Figures from May show that MySpace, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, fell behind Facebook for the first time.   (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Analysts say Facebook has kept its focus on features that enhance social networking, while MySpace spent too long focusing on being an entertainment portal.
Analysts say Facebook has kept its focus on features that enhance social networking, while MySpace spent too long focusing on being an entertainment portal.   (AP Photo/Gus Ruelas)
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MySpace ended up not being the leader that it wanted to be in the social-networking realm, on the tech front, on the ad front—and now on the usage front - Debra Aho Williamson, an analyst with researcher eMarketer

The speed with which a company like Facebook is able to innovate and keep things fresh is the key to survival in this space.
- Charlene Li, founder of Altimeter Group, a research firm specializing in social networking

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7 comments
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Robert_Dada
Jun 17, 09 7:54 AM CDT
Once again, evidence that Rupert Murdoch is out of touch with business strategy and his empire is sunsetting. Reply
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+7
IN RESPONSE:
ClingingToHope
Jun 17, 09 8:02 AM CDT
You wish.
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-7
IN RESPONSE:
DJM420
Jun 17, 09 8:29 AM CDT
hate for profit apparently doesnt work on myspace
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0
IN RESPONSE:
Yourself
Jun 17, 09 10:18 AM CDT
i'd have to agree, he's really good at buying stuff and tanking it these days.
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+2
Yourself
Jun 17, 09 10:21 AM CDT
lets not forget that the idea of having to make your own page look like a grade-6 art project of glitter smacked pictures wasn't the best seller. The idea that everyones page be different was a good sales pitch for uniqueness, but people hate going to a page and having to hunt for info, facebook kept it streamlined and the same for everyone. And lastly, the fact that facebook was about the people first and then the profit, as opposed to the media and content on peoples pages made a big difference Reply
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+4

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