NTP Co-founder Finds New Patents To Threaten Companies With

MySpace Is Like, So Last Week Already

from the over-it dept

Mon, May 22nd 2006 8:33am — Carlo Longino

Is the tide turning for MySpace? Like all social-networking sites, its biggest risk was that it would be little more than the latest blip on fickle surfers' online radar, like so many of its predecessors. It looks like the tide might be turning for MySpace, with a growing number of stories saying it's not cool any more, and plenty of papers looking to pile on, and talk up MySpace's myriad competitors. It's similar to how they all fell in line with the "dangers of MySpace" stories, but really, this cycle shouldn't be surprising to anybody that remembers Friendster, Orkut or any of the other hot new social-networking sites that came before. But, if MySpace is on the downslope, there may be some hope that these things are just cyclical -- just witness the recent resurgence of Friendster. One final question -- if MySpace takes a nosedive, does it still mean Rupert Murdoch gets the internet?

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38 Comments

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Jared, 22 May 2006 @ 9:23am

I think its pretty doubtable myspace is falling anytime soon.
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Andy, 22 May 2006 @ 9:27am

Definitely very doubtful. All this negative PR that MySpace is getting lately is just going to guarantee they continue signing up 200,000 new accounts a day.
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Rawr, 22 May 2006 @ 9:31am

Yeah no way
Myspace has way too many users to be done anytime soon, i think it's over 90 million now?
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Angry Rivethead, 22 May 2006 @ 9:34am

Depends what segment...
I use and like myspace, I use it and most of my freinds use it as aort of glorified address book. For me its like using Outlook or Lotus Notes...Only on a personal scale to track peoples' weddings, pubcrawls, vacations and funerals instead of meetings, training sessions and presentations. Most of the people in this boat are just now joining myspace. If its on any decline, its got to be the pre-"real job" demographic. Which I'm sure makes up the magority of subscribers.
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Sha, 22 May 2006 @ 9:34am

The tides are probably just turning. You know people jump on and then figure out that there's a better ride next door and so they go venture out. The thing is, no matter what anyone says about myspace, I've been a member going on 6 months now and I love it. I have gotten in touch with so many people from my hometown, from college and travels that I just can't get off the site. The only drawback is, besides their bandwidth issues is the youngsters, the peds, pervs, and porn. But just like the internet as a whole, you can't escape it and you can only control it to a certain degree. I think some teeny-boppers might get thrown off by their parents b/c of all the media surrounding children and their profiles and just all that we have been reading. But there is no doubt that Myspace makes a lot of $$ for some people and the networking capabilities of the site have not been matched to date. I also have a disclaimer on my page about porn, and certain content I won't allow on my page or from my friends list.
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SuckerPunch-tm, 22 May 2006 @ 9:39am

the downfall of MySpace?
It's inevitable that there would be a leveling off, and/or a slight backlash, since kids 14-20 ARE so fickle. But just because of that leveling off or backlash happening doesn't mean its "failing" or going away.
I for one do not fit into MySpaces perceived demographics (I am a 40 year old guy) and I have personally found it the most effective way to keep up with long distance friends as well as re-connecting with people I have known through the years. Plus the networking possibilities are great as well.

Just because any business can't continue growing at the rate they were growing at in their heyday doesn't mean its no longer relevant.

L
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TheToe, 22 May 2006 @ 9:40am

MySpace Get Over It
With all the MySpace danger stories out there it is getting very uncool to be associated with it. Who wants to share space on the same site as pedophiles. Social Networking is fun, but this has spun out of control. Reputible businesses and others that had space there are taking their sites down just so they won't feel guilty by association. The local daily paper here had a front page story on how my registered sex offenders had space on MySpace so they could troll for new victims.
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- freakengine, 22 May 2006 @ 10:02am
  
  Re: MySpace Get Over It
  QUOTE: "Reputible businesses and others that had space there (on MySpace) are taking their sites down just so they won't feel guilty by association."
  
  Are you kidding me? Maybe businesses should relocate brick and mortar locations because one pedophile hit on a kid on their street. I think they should all abandon the internet since everyone knows the internet is the method most used by the kiddie-porn peddlers. Perhaps we should all give up email since its a method pedophiles have of communicating with their victims. Pedophiles also enjoy malls, Disneyland, and Chuck E. Cheese's, so let's all abandon those too.
  
  What we don't need is alarmist rhetoric like yours!
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anonymous coward, 22 May 2006 @ 9:48am

MySpace is simply a replacement for AOL for the most simple-minded of Internet users.

Now they have broadband accounts, but they still need a place where they can post about how cool they are and show that they have 100 "friends" (that they have never spoken to in real life).

When Kevin Federline has an account on your service, where is posting his latest "hit", you have definitely jumped the shark.
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- Tyson, 22 May 2006 @ 10:15am
  
  Re:
  I agree with your statement of "...can post about how cool they are and show that they have 100 "friends"" It seems that most people treat it like some kind of popularity contest. "Ha, I have more friends than you... AND I have more vids, pics, and surveys than you. PLUS my layout is so much cooler (as any practical web designer crindges in discust)"
  
  There are some people on there making a killing off of spam profiles though. They simply find a picture of a cute girl to put on there, put some cheesy info there about how they love sex and want to hook up with guys real soon, add a link that says "click here to see my other profile with my nude pics" and then that URL redirect to some dating website with a promo code (hence the get kickbacks for driving traffic to that site), and then just send out firend requests to every guy on there from the ages of 18 and up... You would be amazed at how many people fall for that.
  
  I have to give these people credit for taking advantage of stupid people. :)
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  - Sean, 22 May 2006 @ 10:27am
    
    Re: Re:
    PLUS my layout is so much cooler (as any practical web designer crindges in discust)" God, I've only thought about that since the first one I ever laid my now dead eyes on. The sites these kids make take up to 10 minutes to load and slow any average computer down to a crawl just trying to navigate it.. But on topic, I think MySpace should LIMIT page sizes of these people, if they really are on a decline it's probably because peple don't feel like waiting 10 minutes for a page to open up because it's just going to be a waste of time for them to even look at the piece of shit. My Slogan for MySpace though, has always been: Myspace - A place for child porn.
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- Kraig Delaney, 22 May 2006 @ 10:40am
  
  Re:
  I am still finding uses for my Myspace account. I have found several people I haven't talked to in years. But for everyone that I find, one finds me that I wish hadn't. And the bulletinns get on my nerves! Its like all the people who got blocked from email because they sent 5 FWDs a day, just found a new place to send them! Grow up. I have noticed that my friends (people I interact with) don't update or visit their "spaces" as often in the last couple months. I plan to continue to use it. I just wish I could block certain users from posting bulletins!
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DittoBox, 22 May 2006 @ 10:06am

If its on its way...
Then Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish.
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Andrew Fife, 22 May 2006 @ 10:32am

MySpace is Stickier than Friendster
Social networking may be cyclical and there may be new competitors sprouting up that curtail MySpace's growth. However, MySpace is much stickier than Friendster because it allows a deeper level of site customization that many users will not want to simply abandon for Bebo or whatever the hot new site is. Thus, while I can't say whether or not MySpace will keep adding 200K new users per day, I am certain it won't nosedive the way Friendster did.
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man, 22 May 2006 @ 10:38am

LONG LIVE FRIENDSTER!
I've always thought myspace was a dirty, dirty place.
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Cloksin (profile), 22 May 2006 @ 11:00am

Myspace Decline? Doubt it
Myspace may appear to be declining, but that is just with the teeny bopper crowd. They found a fad, played with it, and then discarded it. The thing I think you'll see is the average age of myspace users going up.
The ability to stay in contact with family and friends that you've been out of touch with for a while is great. I can't see myspace declining any time soon, if anything, as the demographic of its users changes, you might see it grow even more.
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DX, 22 May 2006 @ 11:07am

Ugh!

Most myspace fans just migrated over from the chat room scene. I feel it's mostly a time waster.
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charlie.potatoes, 22 May 2006 @ 11:12am

local daily paper?
duh.. reading it in your LOCAL DAILY PAPER is like saying you heard it on the telephone. my god, the whole world is populated by morons. FUCK YOU TOWEL HEADS ...
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Nick, 22 May 2006 @ 11:15am

Myspace is definately getting annoying, especially if its on the news. I consider it Internet crack -- good at first and then it gets old
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- Mark Kitchen, 23 May 2006 @ 6:31pm
  
  Re:
  Perhaps Crack gets old, but still needed.
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gggggggg, 22 May 2006 @ 12:11pm

ggggggggggggggggggg
no its not BITCH
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someone, 22 May 2006 @ 12:49pm

MySpace > techdirt
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yoadrienne, 22 May 2006 @ 2:23pm

its a fad but there are many business taking off by starting on myspace. so theres definitely a lot of internet traffic that goes through it to the advantage of everyone
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gabyy, 22 May 2006 @ 3:37pm

i think myspace isent getting old cuz its not a song and people are saying that it sucks and its annoying yet they have one and wont delete it
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Anonymous Coward, 22 May 2006 @ 3:58pm

MySpace = null;
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jantox, 22 May 2006 @ 10:02pm

Just did a Myspacecide
I just deleted my myspace account for over 3 years now, no feelings of regret. I just love Flickr now.
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Brad, 23 May 2006 @ 1:14am

200,000 a day, huh?
200,000 new users a day seems like a pretty lofty number there, Andy. That means that Myspace would have 73 million new users a year...which I find a little hard to believe, since their code has been bursting at the seams ever since they crossed the 100,000 mark.

Myspace will fall. That doesn't mean everyone will abandon it, but it will stop being the defacto method of online socail networking because someone else will come along that can do it better, easier, or cheaper.
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xasbestosx, 1 Aug 2006 @ 4:36am

badow
nah myspace isn't going down anytime soon, all the rumors about August 12th being myspace's last day are rubbish. but yeah. www.myspace.com/xasbestosx www.myspace.com/druidcityrockers
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Shane M, 4 Aug 2006 @ 7:46am

Myspace is trash
Myspace is simply a waste of time for anyone who comes across it - internet trash for lowest forms of human trash. The site barely works and is managed in a very unprofessional manner. I seriously doubt this site in its current state has the ability to continue to tomorrow. 200,000 users per day is without doubt bogus.
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Terry, 10 Aug 2006 @ 6:36pm

Myspace popularity
The part that bugs me about Myspace (and similar sites) is the assumption that person one will think that person two is cool if they have a big long list of cool matching items on their lists of cool bands, songs, movies, stars. It's really dense, or thick...whatever.
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Singhman, 7 Sep 2006 @ 6:06pm

Myspace is Their-rubbish.
Myspace is pure moronic bullshit. The pages take so long to load it makes me wonder about the bandwidth. It's like a show-off contest. How aren you really going to have 100 friends? How much time does a person have? How many people can a person talk to? Do the math. I hope myspace overloads and crashes sometime soon.
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kim, 14 Oct 2006 @ 10:24am

get in myspace chat lineing
beause was her it was cool up inb ther
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ejklimjgjbn, 25 Oct 2006 @ 5:59am

jkkxfgefrtjui
myspace is very addicting at first, but after awhile you get on it just for fun. not all people with myspace are using it just for comments or whatever, some people are just trying to keep in touch with family members. myspace can't be unsafe! you accept the friends you want so you allow the comments from the nasty perves. also, you can set your profile to private so if you aren't someone's friend, you can't look at their profile.

stupid grown ups need to stop freaking out about myspace, it's not that bad.
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yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy, 12 Dec 2006 @ 7:02pm

wowwwwwwwwwt
Well even if you do put your profile on private people can still hack it
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Jennifer, 14 Jan 2007 @ 7:04pm

hop off.. seriously .
myspace was very addicting, you will only get your account hacked if your stupid ( a little too harsh ? think not ! ) . the only ones who end up raped or "murdered", are ten year old sluts that parents don`t have time for them. i`ve said enough, i`ll leave it there so you can ponder .
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kristina, 26 Apr 2007 @ 8:05pm

stupid fucking people.
myspace is the fucking shit son;
you dont wanna fucking go on it, THEN STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT HOW PEOPLE SHOULD GET OFF OF IT.
NO ONE CARES WHAT YOU THINK.
AND LET THE PEOPLE WHO LIKE IT, ENJOY IT.

jesus christ.
you people are so fucked up.
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Matt, 17 May 2007 @ 10:00am

Myspace is on the decline because there is too much advertising and spam on it. The owners of myspace have let it get out of hand. No one really wants to deal with that kind of garbage. Many are shifting to Facebook. No Spam... Less Advertising... You control who can see what... more features... overall a better made site.
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Mike Paahana, 9 May 2008 @ 8:59pm

Mike Paahana
but its still a great place to meet girls 4 a quicky
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