The Phenomenon Called MySpace

While, I am generally doubtful of the viability of the numerous web 2.0 startups, I definitely think that MySpace has an important place in the Web 2.0 ecosystem – besides being in the top three internet website in the world, its widget programs are beginning to foster a new ecosystem. With MySpace serving around 70 miilion registered users, it’s a real phenomenon. Bambi Francisco points to the upside potential for MySpace in terms of it s ability to monetize its page views much better & the opportunity is really big. The NYTimes article points out that the registered user base today is more than twice as many as MySpace had when Mr. Murdoch agreed to buy it — drawn by a simple format that lets users build their own profile pages and link to the pages of their friends. How does Myspace get so many new registered users? Besides its attractive utility value, it has tapped into three passions of young people: expressing themselves, interacting with friends and consuming popular culture. So much so that MySpace now displays more pages each month than any other Web site except Yahoo. It’s effort to expand the use of text ads is running into challenges in not being able to generate sufficient ads and is currently running tests with Yahoo, Google and several smaller ad providers and is seeking proposals from them for longer-term deals. The bigger opportunity, however, is not so much selling banner ads, but finding ways to integrate advertisers into the site's web of relationships. This means integrating content creators and users in lot more integrated manners depending on the profile, usage and preferences. Look beyond what exists today - integrating business models like that of Craiglist into Myspace may not look so difficult. That’s why I call MySpace a true phenomenon - representing for the first times in the recent few years the potential that can be relaised by fostering a community in the virtual world