Sunday, February 13, 2011

MySpace: The Eulogy

Does anyone remember MySpace? (Or as it's now called, Myspace or My____.) Have you even heard of it? Okay, well I'm assuming that sometime in the last five years, you either owned a MySpace account (as it was called back in the old days), or you at least knew about it but chose not to become a member of the MySpace world (or you have no idea what I'm talking about). Regardless, as we enter into the year 2011, eight years after MySpace's 2003 birth, perhaps its time to pay our last respects. As MySpace lies on its deathbed, I would like to prepare the eulogy...

My first encounter with social networking happened through MySpace, so you could say that MySpace was my first love. He promised me the world, and I promised him loyalty. I would spend hours editing my profile so that it was as visually appealing as possible, choosing colorful and pretty backgrounds that made a statement. I re-wrote my "About Me" section dozens of times, and I made sure that MySpace was always proud to show me off. He was good to me...but apparently, not good enough for me. I soon left him for Facebook, a younger, hotter, and better social network boyfriend. I know that I broke MySpace's heart, and he hasn't been the same since. In fact, he's dying now. What went wrong? Was it the breaking of my vow to MySpace to be with Facebook? Yes, it was. Not just me, though. It seems that while MySpace still has loyal followers, Facebook has stolen almost all of MySpace's significant others. As a result, MySpace is now alone and unwanted (just like AOL was before it died in the late nineties-though a zombie version of it still exists online).

Recently, MySpace fired about half of its staff, for budget reasons. The fact is that MySpace can't compete with Facebook anymore. Sadly, many people agree that MySpace is outdated now. According to a recent article in the New York Times:

"On one level, the decline of MySpace again shows the fragility of social media where fickle consumers and changing tastes can make sensations out of services like Tribe and Friendster that quickly fade from public imagination. According to comScore, MySpace reported 54.4 million users at the end of November, a loss of more than nine million from the previous year."

So Myspace, you had a nice run. You were good to all of us and we'll never forget you (even though all of us left you for Facebook). As you came before Facebook, you really were a trailblazer in social networking, and you gave me my first technology kiss (aww). It's time for us to once again part ways, though. I'm sure that Facebook is right behind you, so don't worry, maybe one day we'll be together again. May you rest in cyber peace. Now I'm logging out...




1 comment:

Ashley said...

The internet community certainly is fickle with the websites it chooses to love. I remember when Xanga was the most popular blogging website and when Yahoo was one's primary mapping source. I believe that, because the creation of new websites is becoming easier and more accessible, these internet fads will become shorter. I certainly wouldn't invest in Facebook now because, like you, I believe it will soon be replaced by a newer, more hip website.