Social Networking Sites: Myspace

Myspace was once the dominant social networking site. Millions of women, especially young women, turned to Myspace to define (and redefine) themselves, to reach out to old friends, to make new friends, and to participate in and develop communities. Today, Myspace, now owned by Rupert Murdoch's media conglomerate News Corporation, is a shadow of what it once was, overtaken in popularity by newer social networking sites, notably Facebook. In response, Myspace has redefined itself and now specializes in social entertainment, an area that it has always emphasized.

Myspace was not the first social networking site online. Researchers danah boyd and Nicole Ellison (2007), who have written one of the most comprehensive histories of the early rough-and-tumble days of the social networking sites, explain that Myspace started in 2003 to compete with Friendster, Xanga, and AsianAvenue. Specifically, Myspace was designed to attract Friendster's disgruntled users, who had been put off by rumors that Friendster planned to charge for services and by that site's decision to expel indie-rock music groups who failed to follow profile rules. These two groups—but especially the bands and their fans—explained the initial growth of Myspace. Few, however, could have predicted what was going to happen to social networking next.

Like most social networking sites, Myspace was started by men, Chris DeWolfe, Tom Anderson, Brad Greenspan, Josh Berman, and a skilled team of programmers, all employees of eUniverse, headquartered in California. The launch of Myspace in 2003 was fortuitous, for the mainstream Web-surfing population was about to discover the benefits of social networking. Myspace soon became an Internet and media sensation. Mainstream newspapers and broadcast outlets began to report on the social networking phenomena—and Myspace, in particular. That, in turn, further increased traffic and drove more users to Myspace. Myspace had become not only the leading social networking site but an Internet giant as well. In 2005, Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation acquired Intermix Media, formerly known as eUniverse and the owner of Myspace, for $580 million. For several years, Myspace remained the dominant social networking site, but competitor Facebook was gaining ground. In 2008, Facebook overtook Myspace in unique monthly visitors. Thereafter, Myspace was unable to catch up. In 2010, Myspace redefined itself with a social entertainment focus. Myspace would “complement” Facebook rather than compete against it.

Within Myspace, women—especially young women, aged 13 to 35 (the so-called Generation Y)—have found a welcoming home. In 2010, women made up 64 percent of Myspace's almost 60 million users. Indeed, according to Rapleaf, the social media data company, women are more likely to engage in, be involved with, post to, and consult social networking sites than men—women being more relationship-driven than men. Indeed, Auren Hoffman, Rapleaf's chief executive officer, concluded that the future of social media is women.

Men, women, and children (13 years of age or older for Myspace) must join a social networking site (SNS) before participating. Nonmembers, however, are able to search Myspace and see materials accessible to the public. On Myspace, an individual must provide the following information to participate: his or her e-mail address (which must be confirmed to activate the account), a password, full name (which may be fictitious and can be hidden once the account is created), date of birth (which does not necessarily [Page 363]have to be accurate), and gender (which also is not confirmed). Once the account is activated, a profile, a personal Website within Myspace, is generated with the registration information provided.

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