MySpace: The Rise And Fall Of An Era

Before today’s social media platforms, there was MySpace — a revolutionary social networking website during its time. It quickly became the “go-to” web page from 2003 to 2008 that allowed users to modify their profile and embed music and videos (McFadden, 2020).

Although created for aspiring musicians to market their talent, music, and tour dates, it instantly exploded in popularity with adolescents. The idea to customize your profile using basic coding skills, share your thoughts on bulletin boards and blogs, and find new music gave teens a sense of freedom to utilize the space and make it their own without censorship.

So how did MySpace start?

Partially inspired by Friendster, founders Chris De Wolfe and Tom Anderson created MySpace with one goal in mind: to let its target audience connect with their friends and favorite artist or band. As a result, it quickly became an internet sensation, and a year after it launched in 2004, News Corp acquired it for $580 million (Lee, 2011).

How does the popular website go from breaking one million visitors per month (Jackson, Madrigal, 2011) and the top social network in the country (Lee, 2011) to becoming a forgotten platform? The result, the launch of Facebook in 2008.

Although its competition had a similar layout to its own, MySpace has something it lacked where Facebook didn’t – simplicity.

For users, the Facebook website was ascetically pleasing to the eyes with its clean, user-friendly layout. It had relevant content for all age groups, constantly innovating itself, and genuine concern for its users. Not to mention MySpace pages were filled with ads, many of which suggested sexually suggested pictures (T.B., 2016).

Although MySpace is not as popular as before, it is still available for those who wish to use it again.

When it comes to the reason as to why I chose this particular company among the rest are for two reasons. First, there will always be a sense of nostalgia when reminiscing about MySpace. From the signup process to automatically having Tom, MySpace Co-founder, as the first friend, meant you’ll be part of a large social networking community. Second, it was my first taste on how to market myself — beginning with taking more professional pictures than the bizarre selfie angles in front of the mirror.

Although MySpace has dwindled, it influences how we communicate and use social media today (Swire, 2014).

Peranzo (2016) notes many of the standard social engagement we use today is traced back from using MySpace — beginning with it being free. Other platforms learn early on from MySpace that you don’t need to make users pay a subscription fee to monetize. Allowing people to use the website to reach a wider audience than they thought possible can and will give any platform the exposure it needs to succeed. Not to mention it gave people the ability to engage with followers to produce growth.

Another reason Peranzo (2016) sees how MySpace became a pioneer in social media is it introduces users to personalization. The ability to customize one profile with gifs, images, backgrounds, and text gave people the chance to set themselves apart. In today’s social media world, being unique is fundamental.

It also led to oversharing. It was the first time “individuals connected through the internet to a wider community of people who they interacted with in real life in a way that wasn’t a conversation” (Peranzo, 2016). If there is anything this social networking website has taught us is people will put themselves out there to be heard, share their stories, or market their brand.

These points all gave are reasons as to why MySpace, in my opinion, became a monumental significance to digital history.

Work Cited:

Jackson, N. J., & Madrigal, A. C. M. (2011, January 12). The Rise and Fall of MySpace. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/01/the-rise-and-fall-of-myspace/69444/

Lee, A. L. (2011, June 30). MySpace Collapse: How The Social Network Fell Apart. HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/how-myspace-fell-apart_n_887853

McFadden, C. M. (2020, July 2). A Chronological History of Social Media. Interesting Engineering. https://interestingengineering.com/a-chronological-history-of-social-media

Peranzo, P. P. (2016, April 14). TBT: What MySpace Taught Us About Social… Imaginovation. https://www.imaginovation.net/blog/tbt-what-myspace-taught-us-about-social-media/

Swire, R. B. (2014, March 6). How Myspace Influenced Modern Social Networking. Parallax. https://parall.ax/blog/view/3068/how-myspace-influenced-modern-social-networking

Team, T. B. (2016, May 3). The Rise and Fall of MySpace. Transformation Marketing. https://www.transformationmarketing.com/rise-fall-myspace/