Commentary

MySpace Sounds Conciliatory Note, Facebook Gloats

Like a beleaguered presidential candidate who won only two states in a general election and yet refused to concede for months, MySpace has finally surrendered social networking functionality to Facebook. On the heels of a flashy redesign where MySpace quite literally struggled with its identity, actually visually replacing the "space" in its name with a blank line, the News Corp-owned social network Thursday announced a partnership with Facebook.

Essentially, the Facebook Connect functionality officially turns MySpace into the online publisher with its own separate community that we've all known it's been for the past couple of years (though, admittedly its community is more robust than most).

MySpace CEO Mike Jones made the announcement Thursday, referring to his goal of making MySpace the "leading social entertainment destination." But while MySpace sent its top dog to make his conciliatory announcement, Mark Zuckerberg watched from the comfort of Palo Alto, and sent Dan Rose, vice president of partnerships and platform marketing at Facebook to the press conference -- the equivalent of the sitting president staying at Camp David and not sending his Veep, but maybe the Treasury Secretary, or another low ranking cabinet member.

Which is not to say that Rose didn't bring any swagger. In fact, it seems his sole function was to put MySpace in its proper place. "This is a great example of MySpace's new direction, which is very focused on entertainment," he said, the way you'd tell a child his crayon drawing is really terrific, and doesn't that look just like a real dog. Oh it's a horse?

3 comments about "MySpace Sounds Conciliatory Note, Facebook Gloats ".
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  1. Joe Mandese from MediaPost Inc., November 19, 2010 at 8:09 a.m.

    A horse of a different color! Personally, I think it's a smart move when an organization recognizes that its market has shifted -- even if it was shifted by a superior competitor -- and uses it as an opportunity to refocus its model on what works best. Yeah, Facebook has supplanted Myspace as "the social network," but Myspace is still one of the biggest places where people share, sample and consume entertainment content, often user-generated. So what's wrong with that? Adaptation beats extinction in my (face) book, anytime.

  2. Paula Lynn from Who Else Unlimited, November 19, 2010 at 10 a.m.

    So not only can one's privacy be compromised by one company at a time, it can be done all at once. There is room at the top for only one king to colonize........

  3. Khalid Nurredin from VEGAS FLAVA ENTERTAINMENT, November 19, 2010 at 4:03 p.m.

    One big thing people are neglecting here...people go to Myspace to consume entertainment, to check out bands so they can buy downloads,or see a movie, or go to a comedy club. NO ONE I know goes on Facebook to buy anything! The advertisers are going to figure that out sooner or later. Facebook may have more eyeballs,but the reason people left Myspace was because they were bombarded by ads to buy things. They're not on Facebook to buy anything, just socialize. You'll find that out if and when the IPO ever comes about.The newspapers can tell you that a business model based solely on advertising can go sour. Just wait and see. They're building it up so they can cash in on an IPO and leave the suckers holding the bag. Facebook is just a newspaper on the internet where people can catch up on the latest goings on with friends. Do you go on Facebook to buy anything?

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