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Packed With Tweens and Bands, MySpace Not Dead, Just Slow

by Amar Toor on March 10, 2010 at 09:30 AM

Admit it. You'd pretty much given up on MySpace. Struggling to keep pace with the two-headed monster of Facebook and Twitter, the once proud social network seems to have both feet in the grave. But don't go signing that death certificate just yet; MySpace may be slow, but thanks to a new surge of younger users, it's far from dead.

Despite enduring the resignations of two CEOs last year, MySpace, according to USAToday, has managed to carve out a social media niche for itself, and is even expected to haul in a handsome $350 million in revenue this year. By going back to its roots, MySpace has made a conscious effort to distinguish the site as a place for younger audiences to "discover and be discovered." With a greater selection of games, and a more pointed emphasis on entertainment news for the 'Twilight' crowd, the site has amped up its campaign to draw in more of the 13-to-34 age demographic -- which, by the way, comprises a whopping 84-percent of MySpace's total user base.

The climb back to the top of the mountain, though, will be arduous, and appears to be getting longer. Not only does Facebook have a larger audience, but it will soon surpass MySpace in ad revenue for the first time -- a full year earlier than expected. On top of that, MySpace has become significantly slower than its competition. As Forbes reports, researchers recently clocked MySpace's average response time at a glacial 5.04 seconds. By comparison, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn all clocked in at under two seconds.

Many admit, though, that MySpace remains relevant when it comes to music. More than 13 million bands are listed on the site, but we're not convinced that MySpace can make a living on music alone. Then again, we'd left it for dead a long time ago. Counting out MySpace, according to co-president Jason Hirschhorn, is just plain "silly." MySpace, he says, "will always be culturally relevant. And we'll be here in five, 10 years." [From: Forbes and USAToday]

Tags: demographics, marketing, myspace, MyspaceMusic, socialnetworkin, SocialNetworking, top, web

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