The 'death' of Myspace

Judas2018 Level 1

November 18, 2018, 6:05 pm

77

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I'm sure many of you remember Myspace. The biggest social media site in the world at one point. It's accolades include:

A 4 year run as the largest social media website in the world
Surpassing google (yes THE google) as the most visited website at one point

Unfortunately though, the ride at the top would be short-lived. Myspace had a 4 year run in the spotlight from 2005 to 2009, before it officially died. At least, it's original incarnation died. It was then reborn as a music website but as of now, it's just not even clsoe to what it was almost two decades ago. So what exactly happened to Myspace? Why do you guys think it died so quickly?

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Corzhens

Corzhens

Myspace can serve as a good thesis for college students with a related course in online marketing because the death of a social media network has the trimmings of hints and clues of why it died. It is like saying that you can learn from the failure of another provided that you get to know the exact reasons why it failed. Just like Friendster before Facebook, I had seen that Friendster needed innovations that did not come like allowing the exchange of messages just like in Facebook.

8 years ago

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Judas2018

Judas2018

Yeah I vaguely remember Friendster. Is it even still around? I knew a few people who used it for a bit but then abandoned it entirely.

8 years ago

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theresajane

theresajane

I remember Friensdter as it was the favorite of my friends, but I hadn't even tried it. I think it was long gone.

8 years ago

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allyn2017

allyn2017

I don't think it is still around. It was killed by Facebook I think?

8 years ago

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Youngshark

Youngshark

Facebook came with such a huge wave that such things became a memory of the past. I can't even remember what my account used to be on that platform as I even got bored of facebook itself.

8 years ago

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jayjaydimson

jayjaydimson

Yes, definitely, and Facebook is the most used social media in the world and it's really entertaining to watch funny videos that are posted on Facebook.

8 years ago

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luv2xacosta

luv2xacosta

Nah Friendster is gone. I actually have an account in Friendster and then when Facebook came it's spotlight is slowly fading until no one use it. Friendster is overshadowed by Facebook maybe because is a lot more user friendly compared to Friendster and they can not even compete to Facebook.

8 years ago

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Youngshark

Youngshark

If you have The two accounts and try to switch between from one to the other the difference will be huge. You can barely get out of Facebook to connect on friendster.

8 years ago

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jayjaydimson

jayjaydimson

Yes, same here, that's the first social media I ever used before Facebook, I'd like the feature of Friendster where you can play a music even just visiting your profile.

8 years ago

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emiaj55

emiaj55

I used Friendster way back when they are still a social networking site. They still existed but only for a while and like MySpace the site has been redesigned. They were a social gaming site before closing. I have not really checked out since though.

8 years ago

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mark8625

mark8625

I had a Friendster before and I liked it very much. When they announced that they would end their services I feel bad about it.

8 years ago

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emiaj55

emiaj55

Same here. The services may not be as good as Facebook but I am kind of attached to Friendster when they decided to shift to a social gaming site.

8 years ago

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mark8625

mark8625

Yeah It was really a nice social media but things were not go well that is why they needed to end it.

8 years ago

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allyn2017

allyn2017

I agree with your idea. I have tried friendster when I was young and I can say that Facebook is the better version of it.

8 years ago

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mark8625

mark8625

It is true that Facebook has good concept than Friendster. I think Facebook got some ideas from friendster I dont know I just assumed but it really looks like.

8 years ago

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stbrians

stbrians

We may learn from other sites and change yet all sites are different. The interface it build on is different and so it is to operations. You cannot change administrators too. They are different. Sites are just sites. Enjoy them when they are online and kicking.

8 years ago

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jayjaydimson

jayjaydimson

I didn't know about that, thank you for sharing this one to us, and I haven't use Myspace before only Friendster.

8 years ago

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menchuuy58

menchuuy58

I have no knowledge about Myspace. I have opened a friendster also before I opened a Facebook account.

8 years ago

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Kakashi2020

Kakashi2020

It's one of those takeover moves, in 2005 Rupert Murdock of News Corp bought MySpace for $580 million. MySpace was doing good when it's News Corp sold it to Justine Timberlake for $35 Million in 2011. It's just like what happened to Nokia.

8 years ago

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Steve5

Steve5

I like how you put it. It most certainly helped those that came after it. The obvious areas of improvement enhanced the capabilities of new platforms. It makes me wonder what the world would look like if Facebook, Twitter, and other forms of social media weren't invented.

8 years ago

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theresajane

theresajane

I have known Myspace because of my friends. I actually haven't used it. Since there are a lot of platforms better and more popular thank this, I guess, it's heartbreaking for the creator to say goodbye to it. But the world online has its own survival of the fittest.

8 years ago

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allyn2017

allyn2017

Same here, my friends are the one who introduced me to it but it was gone when I knew about Myspace.

8 years ago

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iambeth

iambeth

I didn't try Myspace either. I knew it existed but I guess I wasn't interested in joining it. I only joined Friendster when I was younger.

8 years ago

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stbrians

stbrians

I thought it is Myspace which was paying to be on social media. If you begin this and change then you are likely to lose customers and close shop.

8 years ago

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emiaj55

emiaj55

Same experience here. I have only heard of Myspace from friends but never really checked it out. Back then I wasn't as much to social networking media platforms. Then they were gone.

8 years ago

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Kakashi2020

Kakashi2020

Well Facebook literally killed off the competition. MySpace was good back then when there where just a few good social media platforms to choose from. But by 1999 Facebook's popularity started to soar and by 2004 a billion people was using it. But what did really happened to it? MySpace was bought by News Corp for more than $500M after which it died in obscurity.

8 years ago

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allyn2017

allyn2017

I agree with you Myspace was killed by Facebook.

8 years ago

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Judas2018

Judas2018

NewsCorp never had any idea on how to run Myspace though. NewsCorp owns FOX NEWS, not necessarily an outlet for young internet users.

8 years ago

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TheArticulate

TheArticulate

Where are you getting your statistics? Facebook wasn't even launched until 2004, and by the end of that year, only 1 million people were using it, a far cry from the 1 billion you're claiming were.

Facebook actually didn't surpass Myspace until April of 2008, and by then they only had 20 million active users. Facebook didn't reach 1 billion active users until 2012.

I'd double check your sources if I were you.

8 years ago

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focusedwriter10

focusedwriter10

MySpace was good back then when there were just a few good social media platforms to choose from

This point is simple but relays the necessary information as to why MySpace is no more. Although the platform was amazing and popular, the owners had no plans for withstanding competition. From the case of MySpace, any blogger should learn that it is vital to come up with ways of that can counter competition, by simply improving the services.

8 years ago

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ajahcuizon

ajahcuizon

I see, so that's how Myspace died. I'm not sure if I had used Myspace before but I'm a bit curious on what happened to it. Thanks for answering my questions in my mind.

8 years ago

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stbrians

stbrians

Was News Corp a Facebook agent? Did they use it to kill myspace? After all they sold out most likely for profit.

8 years ago

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allyn2017

allyn2017

Honestly, I don't have Myspace in my generation I think the oldest social media that I tried is friendster.

8 years ago

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burgosmichael24

burgosmichael24

I have heard of Myspace before but I wasn't really familiar with that. I was really a fan of Friendster. Actually I still prefer Friendster than Facebook back then. I don't know if your statistics were true but however I am sure that once upon a time it was a good social media site back then.

8 years ago

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Barida

Barida

The thing is that Facebook has taken over and are still doing the things that makes lots of us feel the need to continue using it. I believe that being competitive is always something that is important for us to make use of.

8 years ago

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stbrians

stbrians

Good things do not last. We curse Facebook and still go to it. Friendstar and Myspace left us and we mourn for them. God rest their souls in peace. We shall give birth to new social media sites that will click more.

8 years ago

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Martinsx1

Martinsx1

MySpace was very popular when yahoo messenger was still popular as well. I personally knew about both of them at the same time and it was when I created my account on both social media sites.

Sadly, both MySpace and Yahoo messenger are no more today. It's such a shame.

8 years ago

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HappyLady

HappyLady

Once I found Facebook I forgot about my myspace account. It is news to me it has become a music website. I thought it was probably floating out there in cyberspace in its original incarnation. I just looked and the new myspace is interesting. However, it does not serve the same function any more. Facebook does seem to have the monopoly. I have tried a few Facebook like places for Christians, but in the end, everyone is on Facebook anyway and it is easier to go there and have everyone I communicate with in one place.

8 years ago

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Martinsx1

Martinsx1

Seriously, most people were affected or influenced by the emergence of other social media sites especially Facebook. I have this personal theory that the Facebook owner in the person of Mark Zuckerberg had something to do with the phasing off of other social media sites in order to have monopoly of the public usage of social media.

8 years ago

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Jeane

Jeane

I'm quite sure Myspace died because the owners didn't see the need for the site to evolve.

At the time Facebook was gaining popularity, had Myspace copied them and marketed themselves same way Facebook did, I'm sure the site would still be a social media giant. Unfortunately for them, they couldn't change as the social media landscape changed. And that was the end for them.

8 years ago

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Martinsx1

Martinsx1

I think that there is a possibility of Mark Zuckerberg getting involved in killing of some of these social media sites like MySpace. This is just a speculation on my part, I'm only saying that we should consider it because I believe that it's something possible.

8 years ago

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focusedwriter10

focusedwriter10

I'm quite sure Myspace died because the owners didn't see the need for the site to evolve.

I disagree. The platform was so popular, and I am sure they were earning well. However, they had no clear plans of advancing in future to avoid competition or be ahead of their competitors.

Competition, lack of a clear plan of diversifying their services and good customer services was the reason MySpace is no more.

8 years ago

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Jeane

Jeane

Been doing a bit of reading and it appears that just before Myspace started going downhill, they'd been thinking about launching a video service. If they had, even if they would have lost a little (assuming that FB would still rise to the top), since youtube wasn't born yet, they would still be around as the biggest video hosting site. Unfortunately for them though, they didn't and the end result was a $570 million loss for News Corp.

8 years ago

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gutzman

gutzman

Well.. the higher you fly, the harder you fall. In this case, MySpace came to just being known from being a well visited website. Same faith happened to Friendster way back then. I think people tends to be attracted on websites with simplicity. I enjoy using MySpace and Friendster back then but some functions are not known to other users. Then Google and Facebook came with very simple interface even a kid can use it. Maybe that is the reason why this websites stay compared to other websites, The more you make it simple, the more people you would attract to use it. These websites are very user friendly, you will learn how everything works in just a day or less,

8 years ago

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DenisP

DenisP

I think that Myspace probably died so quickly as the result of a number of things.

For starters, I recall that its popularity began to go down hill during the advent of Facebook. The main demographic for Myspace was teenagers, but eventually parents began to catch on and started creating profiles. Looking for any alternative in order to avoid their parents’ all-seeing eyes, I think a lot of teens turned to Facebook.

What’s interesting is that the same thing has started happening to Facebook. Older generations began participating in Facebook more, and we started to yet again see a decline in use among teenagers. Now Facebook is has been going downhill in a similar fashion to Myspace.

8 years ago

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TheArticulate

TheArticulate

I agree with you in that Facebook most certainly played a role in Myspace's decline. You also make a great point about older generations using Facebook. Being in digital media marketing for a state university in the U.S., our target audience are prospective students, who are typically junior or seniors in high school. We try and engage them mainly on Instagram and Twitter, since that's where they're more active. All of our Facebook marketing is geared toward parents and guardians instead.

However, I do have to disagree with your statement about Facebook "going downhill in a similar fashion to Myspace". While it's true that teenagers aren't using the platform as much as they used to, user-ship worldwide on Facebook hasn't diminished at all, and they're actually seeing a gradual rise in user-base. I think Facebook is probably here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future.

8 years ago

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DenisP

DenisP

That’s actually interesting to see, because I was pretty sure I read an article about how Facebook was experiencing a severe decline in users, particularly after the Cambridge Analytica controversy. It could be that I was either a victim of the dreaded “fake news,” or perhaps I got users and market value mixed up. I definitely recall the share value of Facebook plummeting after the recent scandals.

Eh, who knows? It definitely does seem that Facebook is here to stay for quite some time.

8 years ago

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Martinsx1

Martinsx1

Are you kidding me? MySpace is dead, just like yahoo messenger died. It's such a shame that these social media sites that laid the foundation of all other sites we have today are dying off.

Why can't they keep up with the competition? Although, I'm thinking some of these powerful social media sites owners are buying off their license.

8 years ago

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Judas2018

Judas2018

Ah. I remember Yahoo Messenger. I also remember MSN Messenger as well. They were very cool for their time. It is too bad that they just died, and didn't even go down fighting.

8 years ago

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Jeane

Jeane

MySpace is dead, just like yahoo messenger died. It's such a shame that these social media sites that laid the foundation of all other sites we have today are dying off.

I think in future we'll have fewer social media giants. We have apps for virtually everything. More of these apps will integrate user-user interaction eventually. It will be a lot easier to meet people who have the same interests as you. That way when you download an app and want to chat with other people who use the same app, you don't have to go to a third party site to talk about whatever interests you.

8 years ago

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Barida

Barida

They found it difficult to adapt to change. One thing about having any website running is the ability to stand tall in the midst of competition and I think this is where the owners of MySpace didn't push well for that.

8 years ago

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Steve5

Steve5

I haven't actually used that. I guess it's something the earlier generation of teens used. What's sad is that it didn't even last long. Facebook practically changed everything the moment it took the spotlight. It's like the world changed in the early years of social media. Life back then was so different without Facebook.

8 years ago

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amelia88

amelia88

I think it was definitely the rise of Facebook. The two had fairly similar ideas as a way to connect with your friends online - but Facebook to me were more innovative and changed things up more. I didn't think the death of Myspace would be as quick as it was - but it really fell from grace pretty rapidly.

Gosh, remember picking out your top 8 friends?! Or the song you could put on your profile that would symbolize your mood? Oh...good times.

8 years ago

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Judas2018

Judas2018

The song part was the coolest feature. I must've built at least 10 horror related Myspace fan pages. All of which contained the theme music to their respective films. Music that I got from some cool sites online, and upload to the official Myspace page. I remember for a bit, I used the theme music from 'The Hole,' a thriller from the early 2000's as the official song to my official Myspace page.

8 years ago

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mark8625

mark8625

We have same thoughts about that. Facebook was new that time and we both know that when people notice something new and interesting they would divert their attention to it. That is the only reason I see why Myspace died.

8 years ago

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ajahcuizon

ajahcuizon

I cannot recall using Myspace before but since you mentioned it, I'm a bit curious about it. I can't believe that it surpassed Google. Although I didn't had a chance to use Myspace, I can still say that its a great site because of how you and others described it.

8 years ago

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Judas2018

Judas2018

Yeah it was beating google for a bit in terms of pure visitors and site activity but Google is still standing and thriving while Myspace is dead. Its rebirth as a music website was also odd because music websites normally have contracts with artists who agree to do appearances or sets, to promote the site. But that never happened with Myspace. Justin Timberlake was actually involved in funding Myspace's rebirth. But I doubt he has much say in running it these days, he's a busy guy after all.

8 years ago

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amelia88

amelia88

I had no clue that JT was involved...I imagine that dude is rolling in money though, so even if he funded Myspace's "rebirth" that failed I don't think he would be too financially disadvantaged!

8 years ago

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Judas2018

Judas2018

Indeed. But when you help a company try and rise from the ashes, or maintain its last shred of relevancy, it helps to not be an actor/musician/producer/filmmaker. It kind of says you won't have time to oversee this reboot and make sure it is successful.

8 years ago

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amelia88

amelia88

Yes, and throwing money at a "problem" isn't always the right fix for it. Just bankrolling a project isn't enough to save it a lot of the time. You've got to understand why it's failing in the first place.

8 years ago

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stbrians

stbrians

A site should be user-friendly to make it online. I have seen rigid sites which due out finally. They are hard to navigate, the administrators are slow to respond to its users or do not completely. One by one, the clients leave and finally the site does.

8 years ago

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mark8625

mark8625

I used to have Myspace account before. I did not appreciate it that much because I was new in social media that time. I heard how good it was and even the service was really excellent. I think one reason why it was dead is because Facebook was noticing by many people because it was new that time. The people attention was diverted to Facebook and Myspace has started to lose its subscribers.

8 years ago

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superlicca

superlicca

Honestly, I don't remember My space although it sounds familiar. But with a lot of new Socia media platforms, it is not possible for Myspace to disappear in the Social media world. I hope I got the chance to use this and knew how it worked.

8 years ago

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amelia88

amelia88

It was popular in the early 2000's...so a lot will depend on your age as to whether you know of it or used it. I think it was around 2005-2008 that I used it the most.

8 years ago

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superlicca

superlicca

Oh I see. I was already a teenager during that time. Maybe, I was just not active on Social Media that is why I am not familiar.

8 years ago

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Jelineex

Jelineex

I had a myspace account before where I enjoyed uploading photos. I like reading comments and make friends. But, I lose the interest of using it since friendster was more entertaining and popular at that time. Probably, because of stiff competition and financial support that's when they had graceful exit.

8 years ago

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jaymish3

jaymish3

I vaguely remember my space. It was huge back in the day. I think Facebook happened. I think that Facebook provided a bigger and better experience. It was adopted by people around the world of all colors, races, ages and languages. If you compare the interfaces in general Facebook is better and less confusing. I found the Myspace interface a bit confusing and it took you a while to learn how to navigate around it.Facebook is pretty simple and can be used by anyone.

8 years ago

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Judas2018

Judas2018

one of the biggest issues with Myspace was the coding. The site looked good, but as you kept updating and tweaking your page it got slower and slower. Usability was a problem. The coders never figured out how to make user pages adapt to additional add-ons, graphics and what not. Thus visiting your favorite Myspace page was a pain when the admin updated it with any new, resource intensive content. Scrolling up and down the page was quite a chore for some users, because in particular the music added to a page would eat up a lot of bandwidth.

8 years ago

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anyone01

anyone01

In my view the largest failure of myspace has been it’s lack of adaptation. As many may keep in mind that myspace become centered on the equal target market, had strong functionality, and became in the marketplace lengthy earlier than facebook. It generated enormous interest, created large valuation, and was certainly one of the early successes of social media.

8 years ago

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Alymae

Alymae

I don't remember ever using myspace. I only heard about it from my sister years ago but I never tried to use it. As for social media, Facebook is the number one for me. Facebook has the most visits and users. I believe that what makes Facebook different from other social media sites is its ability to adapt to changes. I think this disability to flow with the times is the death of myspace.

8 years ago

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knnon

knnon

I remember myspace very well and I do believe I still have access to my account. It has changed so much, and I prefer how it was before. I also used it's asian counterpart friendster back then, but with the rise of Facebook, both social media sites died as everyone we know switched to it.

8 years ago

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koki12346

koki12346

The real question is will this happen to instagram or twitter? This happened to facebook, but facebook now ownes instagram. Wat will be the next big thing? I can't even assume what will they invent in the future... Will google still be the best thing online?

8 years ago

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NerdIndeed

NerdIndeed

I was never a member of the site. But on my observation, myspace is more like a page for your portfolio. Photographers and graphic designers usually use the site to showcase their work. But not everyone is into that, so they jumped into better alternatives, and that is Facebook, and never looked back.

8 years ago

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Bravosi

Bravosi

Well, Myspace is still out there, so I suppose not everything is hopeless as it seems. If it's still running means that there is still an audience? Perhaps of old users.

But yeah, myself I visited Myspace once, and I didn't find it nor comfortable nor attractive to me. Maybe it's just because I'm more used to Facebook, and it's much more superior.

8 years ago

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jpk0007

jpk0007

Well, I have heard about Myspace in the past but I have never ever been a member of this site, therefore I don't have much knowledge and information about the reasons why it failed to succeed. However, I think that most of these sites close down because they are unable to keep up with the rapid changes that happen in the online world and are not able to update their services. Facebook, on the other hand, has always been very quick and effective when it comes to adjusting and adapting with the ever-changing trends in the online world.

8 years ago

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rlpzbeermoney

rlpzbeermoney

I was both part of the Multiply and Friendster trend as a teen and I think what killed them off was that everybody just seemed to stop using them. One aspect of social media is that you don't want to feel left out of anything so you just follow what other people are doing. This was way before the rise of Facebook mind you. Facebook managed to stay relevant enough and retain their users. Multiply didn't do it.

8 years ago

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YoloBoy

YoloBoy

This was the best site to go on before Facebook and Twitter. Myspace was one of the social media sites where people would do chatting and playing those simple games. I use to have one of these when I was like around 9 years old but back then I did not know nor understand that much about it. For sure there are rarely people going back to that site nowadays. Myspace will surely be missed and remembered in our hearts always.

8 years ago

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