Like a cockroach, MySpace continues to crawl forward even after its head has been chopped off. Yes,  Facebook has overtaken Myspace eMarketer shows us. TechCrunch predicted the fall of MySpace’s empire back in May, and like vultures, we’ve all been watching. (Also, of note, MySpace today cut 30% of its U. S. staff, says Caroline McCarthy at CNET).

Sure, there’s still thousands of people using MySpace, but its just not the giant it once was. Nowadays, MySpace exists mainly for celebrities and bands. At one point, businesses tried to make MySpace their space, but Facebook offered a much sleeker deal and so began the downward cycle.

Here are some of my thoughts on why MySpace is dying:

• Poor Design – You’ve seen it. Clutter. Just pick a random page and its busy enough to cause early eye-strain. The navigation tools aren’t user friendly and the interface just screams 90s. MySpace assumed that its connectivity out-weighed simple design.
• Advertising – They could probably change the name from MySpace to AdSpace. Modern audiences want their ads to unobtrusive. MySpace made “LOOK-AT-ME!” obnoxious video ads famous.
• Bathroom Wall - I once heard MySpace called the bathroom wall of society. Of course every chat room, forum or social website has people without decency. MySpace just made the news more often with them.
• Younger Audience – Based on a presentation by Bob Hazlett of One Half Amazing the average user age on MySpace is significantly lower than other social media sites. This audience has less money, more time and less… restraint. Many migrate to other places, like Facebook, after they “grow out of” MySpace.
• Fluidity – Most social media sites rely on ease of use. The fact that each profile is so customizable often causes more confusion that personalization.

As MySpace takes its nose dive, I have very little remorse. The site will probably continue to limp along, and markets may even continue to seek a target audience there (musicians and teenagers) but most of us will move on to greener pastures.

What are your thoughts on MySpace? Sad to see it go? Hardcore supporter? Don’t care either way? Why do you think its declining?

The past few posts I’ve been focusing my research and attention on the phenomenon of social media. I have to admit it fascinates me, but the goal of course is to make it work, from a business stand point. How can online social networking help your business? And how do you choose from the hundreds of sites that make this available?

I’m going to deal with a number of well-known sites, each one I have reviewed in the last few weeks. Now I’m going to list out each service’s pros and cons so they can all be compared.

Pros:

• Networking Intensive
• Open and chatty community
• real time answers.

Cons:

• Time intensive
• Navigation not intuitive
• Leans towards the internet savvy

Pros:

• Great way to “poll”
• Close to Real Time but simple to use
• Ability to automatically feed blog posts

Cons:

• Too much down time
• Often Tweeple are more interested in getting follower than networking
• Superfluous information

Pros:

• Community Opportunity
• Clean Profile look – user friendly
• Ability to create applications, events and blog posts

Cons:

• Audience not “marketing” friendly
• Networking more social
• Ability to be tagged in notes and images that may not be work appropriate

Pros:

• Massive Audience
• Forum opportunity
• Widely-Accepting to advertising

Cons:

• Spammy
• “Bathroom wall of the internet” – reputation isn’t great
• Friend Collectors instead of clients

Pros:

• Simple, Clean, Business-friendly
• Opportunity to get business feedback
• Chance to get reviewed by clients

Cons:

• People may “reject” your link because they don’t remember you
• Many users don’t check-up on their profile regularly
• Not all people network with others they actually know

Pros:

• Viral effect for blogs
• Simple way to get noticed
• Easy to use

Cons:

• Many people “digg” things because their friends do, not because they like it
• Hitting the front page of Digg has been known to crash websites from too much traffic
• Millions of submission to compete with

Pros:

• Easy for any website
• Allows for site indexing
• Allows for reviews and keywords

Cons:

• Takes a little more time
• Can be bad for niche sites with advertising
• Allows the opportunity for people to rate you negatively

Pros:

• One of the longest standing Social Bookmarking sites
• Allows you to import bookmarks
• Ability to share of keep private based on user needs

Cons:

• Usefulness is merely just an extra link without good user connections
• A hassle without a toolbar extension
• Format is not instinctive

Are there any other social media sites you’d like to see reviewed and added to this list? Let me know what business tools you use.

MySpace is probably the most controversial social networking site in existence. Having a reputation for everything from advertising Russian mail order brides to being the premiere way for pedophiles to stalk children, Myspace has gone from bad to worse.

Myspace is every teenage-girl’s father’s worst nightmare. The site is full of pictures of barely adolescent girls in tiny skirts and tons of make-up in provocative poses. Many news stations have reported on how these girl become targets for internet predators.

On the tamer side of things, Myspace is know as spammy and full of people who only want thousands of people on their “friends” list. Even after the revised MySpace layout the user-interface is covered in (often nonsensical) advertisement.

But the real question we want to get down to is are there really any opportunities for businesses on MySpace? The answer is yes, if you are willing to wade through the masses of silly profiles and find a few serious people it is possible.

The key is to create a profile that stands out a little and then get involved in forums, groups and other ways to interact with MySpace’s massive user-base. Just creating a static profile and never touching it won’t bring you customers. MySpace especially will take some invested time. Be aware that if you are an MLM or trying to find subscribers there are millions of others doing the exact same thing and the best clients will ignore you. Start by finding people you know in real life and build that base for your profile. Put event invitiations on your account and keep people updated with little blog entries. Despite my general despise for MySpace as a business (go read up on their history sometime) it is overall a better tool for businesses than Facebook: why? It is more generally accepted. On Facebook no one wants to get sold, but on MySpace it happens everyday.

Check out a few of your favorite musicians, most of them have a profile and keep it updated, these are good examples on how to make MySpace work in your business. Just remember, MySpace is a time investment so be prepared to put effort into it before really becomes your space.

Had an experieince with MySpace? Share what happened!

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