For those of us who remember Myspace you'll remember bulletin boards where you would post 'PC4PC' in hope one of your 'friends' would see it and leave you a photo comment. Why we were so keen on having a million photo comments I'm not really sure. What I'm getting at anyway is if you're between 20 and 30 years old I imagine you probably had a Myspace account, that you now only access to 'lol' at old photos and conversations.
Myspace was a strange virtual world that was soon outmoded by the invention of Facebook. Facebook just seemed to make more sense, it was cleaner and most of your 'friends' now really were friends. Myspace has dwindled since the likes of Facebook and Twitter turned up, but one person didn't stop believing in it. Enter Justin Timberlake, ready to give Myspace a complete revamp.
What's The New Myspace All About?
Justin Timberlake saw potential in revamping the site and invested in the new 2.0 version. So what is the new site all about? The owners of Myspace realised that the initial idea of keeping friends in touch has now been taken over by Facebook. They thankfully understood that Facebook is not a brand to be messed with and to move on from the original branding of 'Myspace - A Place For Friends.' These are the general plans for Myspace 2.0:
- Myspace is now planned to be 'A Place For Celebrities And Fans.' Now that's not their actually branding slogan, but the general idea is that celebrities make profiles and can interact with fans through the new Myspace.
- Remember your top 8 friends? It was always hard deciding who made the cut. Well this is still around, but it's now 'My top 8 fans.' Celebs can select their favourite fans to display on their pages.
- The whole display of the site is having a revamp; it is going to be modernised and made easier to use.
- A dream for Myspace 2.0 is that artists use it to find other artists to collaborate with.
What Is the Fate of the New Myspace?
It would seem Myspace 2.0 is an interesting idea, but unfortunately not a new one. Celebrities already seem quite happy communicating with fans through Twitter, tweeting several times a day and re-tweeting fans. Is there really a need for Myspace 2.0? Sure, on Twitter you can't have a top 8...but it was always so agonising choosing your top 8 friends, and that was as a 16-year-old school girl, not as a worldwide celebrity with millions of fans. No matter who you choose you are going to cause arguments and front-page headlines, something most celebrities could probably do without.
As far as I can look into the future, I can't imagine it will be a huge hit. There just isn't really a need for it. But against the odds it may take off. So keep an eye on it: after all, Myspace was very successful originally. In terms of it being a social media platform and helping with SEO, at the moment this is unknown, but certainly worth keeping an eye on. In the future a UK SEO company may have to factor Myspace 2.0 into their social media campaigns. For now it's a waiting game, but I am looking forward to seeing the site design and how it does in an industry with little room for newcomers.