This marks a major departure for the social networking site which has seen users dwindle with the rise of chief competitor, Facebook.
Once the heavyweight of the social networking world, MySpace has seen visitors drop by 20% over the last two years and is deeply in the red with losses of over $100 million a year. That has its parent company, News Corp., looking to redefine the brand’s relevance in an effort to turn things around.
Myspace is aiming to create a rich, highly personalized experience for people to discover content and connect with other fans who share similar interests. The entertainment experience will span music, celebrities, movies, television and games and will be available through multiple platforms, including online, mobile devices and offline events.
“This marks the beginning of an exciting turning point for Myspace. Our new strategy expands on Myspace’s existing strengths – a deep understanding of social, a wealth of entertainment content and the ability to surface emerging cultural trends in real time through our users,” said Mike Jones, CEO of Myspace. “Myspace is unique in that it is powered by the passions of our users, who program the site by expressing interests, sharing tastes and knowledge around particular topics, and scouting out up-and-coming subcultures. This is the just the first step and there will be many more features, programs and improvements to come.”
Specifically, Myspace will provide people with the ability to discover and engage with Myspace’s broad array of programming and connect with fans who share similar taste through stating interests on their profiles and through sharing tools.
One of the significant changes the site will be making is promoting the notion of curators – a subset of its audience whose reputation and knowledge around particular entertainment topics and emerging cultural trends make them uniquely influential – by supporting them with the resources, tools and a platform to expand their reach within the Myspace community.
With the change, Myspace will be unveiling new products on their site including, recommendations, a personalized news stream, a discovery tab for uncovering emerging trends and content hubs focused on movies, celebrities and TV.
