MySpace re-invents its network, hopes for resurrection

CREATED Sep. 28, 2012

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  • Sometime in the middle of the last decade, MySpace went from hot property to hot mess. Video by fox4now.com

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Sometime in the middle of the last decade, MySpace went from hot property to hot mess.  
 
“MySpace is kinda like creepy. It's like high school party that you as a freshmen in college, show up at,” user Alexander Sultan said.
 
The stigma of the old MySpace. A silicon valley punchline, if today's social media users remember it at all.  
 
But backed by investor Justin Timberlake, the site just unveiled a sneak preview of a soon-to-be revamped site.  
 
Music sharing and artists appear to be featured prominently. And Gizmodo's Sam Biddle says the clean, sleek optics, are a positive step. 
 
“I think one of the reasons that people detested the old MySpace so much was that it was a cluttered mess. It looked horrible. It represented everything bad about the way internet used to look. And this looks, about as good as anything you'll find today.”  Biddle said. 
 
At its peak, MySpace had about 100 million users. 
 
Facebook today, is closing in on $1 billion, a giant even other giants like google have found it tough to challenge. 
 
But the goal of the new MySpace may not be to be another Facebook. Finding a niche like Pinterest has done with images, may be the key. 
 
“Pinterest has offered something that Facebook hasn't even attempted yet, and that's why it's blown up so much.” Biddle said.
 
With Timberlake, MySpace certainly has another dose of name recognition behind it.    
 
“I guess after all these new, new ways that everyone's using to communicating now, it might work or it might not. They really have to bring their game for it to work.” Timothy Harrell said.