Inside//Out: MySpace

MySpace was one of the first major social networks. Since then, many competitors have emerged and the landscape is as fractured as the San Andreas fault. The focus of MySpace seems to be around network content (music, news, blogs, etc.) and less around the user generated content. Take a look at this video tour of the site and check out more discussion below.

[Feed readers please click through to the post for the video.]

For comparison of networks, be sure to watch my Inside//Out post on Facebook. Even with all of the hype around Facebook right now, MySpace is still the dominant force in social networking. Here are two examples.

Here is the Alexa data for pageviews between the two sites. You can see that Facebook (blue line) is gaining, but MySpace (red line) is still generally trending up and comfortably in the lead.

This chart shows blog mentions between the two sites. Facebook is making up ground here as well and MySpace is trending down.

The successful companies have fun with it, are proactive, respect the community and always add value to the user.

In the end, you need to find out where your customers are. If they're on MySpace then Facebook doesn't matter and vice versa. Also, the community is paramount here. MySpace, to me, is the best way to personify a brand through a profile. It's been done really well and horribly. The successful companies have fun with it, are proactive, respect the community and always add value to the user.

Take the Simpsons example that I went through in the video. They offer the marketing basics, but it's fun. There are IM icons, avatars, promotions, games, etc. How could you leave that page and not feel happy and like you've received value.

If there is a social network that you'd like me to cover just drop me an email or leave a comment on this post.

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Technorati Tags:
marketing, MySpace, interactive marketing, user generated content, social networks, Techno//Marketer, Matt Dickman, Facebook

Comments

[LIEEEE]

I like zooped.com much better

[tangerine Toad]

Matt: Have you ever read this article,written by a sociology PhD candidate about the socioeconomic differences between Facebook and MySpace users? Not sure I agree with all her conclusions, but a fascinating read nonetheless.
Link is: http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2007/06/24/viewing_america.html
Kudos to David B of Adpulp for pointing me to it.

[Matt Dickman]

TT -- I actually did see that a couple of weeks ago and I've been following the debate to help shape my opinion on it. I think the anthropological thinking is really fascinating as people ebb and flow from one network to another chasing the next big thing. Thank you for sending it to me and I encourage readers to follow the link through and read up. I'll post on it next week.