Can MySpace Make a Comeback?
This week, the social networking juggernaut MySpace made some sweeping changes, most notably ousting its current CEO and hiring former Facebook COO Owen Van Natta to fill the role. Is this the start of a MySpace comeback?
During 2008, MySpace held the lead in the US according to most metrics, and even while Facebook took first place in worldwide markets that year, MySpace held strong in the US. In early 2009, however, an increasing number of stat tracking firms reported that Facebook had taken the lead in the US market, too. At this point the trend is clear: MySpace has lost momentum, while Facebook continues to speed ahead.
Is MySpace doomed to oblivion, or can it make a Rocky-like comeback? With MySpace still a leading venue for bands, could MySpace Music turn the social network into a leader in online music? We want to ask you for your opinion, but first let’s look at what’s been happening to MySpace over the last year:
MySpace in Perspective: the Statistics
It’s no secret that MySpace has been at a ceiling with its traffic - according to Compete, it has been hovering at about 60 million unique visitors per month for almost the last year. Its U.S. traffic has been down by 11.40 percent for the year, which has to be troubling the social behemoth.
Only when MySpace’s lack of growth is compared to Facebook’s stellar rise though do you get the full picture - Facebook’s U.S. traffic is up by 195 percent, from about 31 million to 91 million. Facebook has over 200 million users, while MySpace claims somewhere over 130 million users - a 65 percent difference. And although it’s wise to question the reliability of web statistics, many of the other stat tracking firms agree: MySpace isn’t what it used to be.
Facebook also receives all the buzz - this graph depicts stories in Google News. Few businesses can stay in the game when their competitors are getting almost 3 times as much buzz. Counting mentions on Twitter provides an even wider chasm. Almost nowhere is anyone talking more about Facebook than MySpace, which can only lead to less attention, less users feeling the urge to join, and even more stagnation.
You probably knew most of this already, so I want to highlight one last important piece of information: MySpace held the title of the largest social network until just this year. It may seem hard to believe, but only a few months ago, MySpace was still the most visited social network on the web.
Although MySpace trending downwards has been an extended phenomenon, its loss to Facebook is very recent - MySpace isn’t so far behind that it can’t catch up.
MySpace Has Been Busy…
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