Wal-Mart's MySpace Clone Gone, Missed By Nobody

from the deep-sixed dept

Tue, Oct 3rd 2006 8:05am — Joseph Weisenthal

It was pretty obvious from the outset that Wal-Mart's attempt to create a MySpace-like social-networking site was a non-starter. The G-rated site with limited functionality had all the makings of a politician wearing a backwards baseball cap in a bid to win the youth vote. So it's no surprise at all that the project has been abandoned. It's not clear that the site ever had any users, though the company apparently tried propagating the site with fake profiles of hip kids wearing Wal-Mart gear. The dead giveaway was that the kids were talking about Wal-Mart clothes in their profiles. The failure doesn't mean that it's silly to use social networking to promote retail. There's obviously a major social component to how young people make their purchases, and retailers would be wise to keep experimenting with ways to tap into that. And so for future reference, trying to trick kids with phony sites that are little more than marketing ploys doesn't work too well.

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37 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 3 Oct 2006 @ 8:08am

kids nowa'days are too smart for this... how hard is it to employ 13 year olds?
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Anonymous Coward, 3 Oct 2006 @ 8:27am

Hood Rat Nation
But couldn't kids have traded info on how to knock out the parking lot lights with slingshots, weld the shopping carts together, do funny things with the RFID tags?
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Anonymous Coward, 3 Oct 2006 @ 8:40am

Darn, now where is Mark Foley going hang out when online ??
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Leo, 3 Oct 2006 @ 8:41am

waste of resources
this idea was completely ridiculous from the moment it was conceptualized. im interested in knowing just how much money Walmart wasted from initiation to failure.

Another reason why companies should remember what their core product is, and stick to it.
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CJ, 3 Oct 2006 @ 8:54am

"Another reason why companies should remember what their core product is, and stick to it."

walmart's core product is having the lowest price on the cheeapest shit out there.

i find it funny that they wasted money on this.
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Still Laughing!!!, 3 Oct 2006 @ 8:55am

Re: Darn, now where is mark Foley going to hang out when online...how funny but true.
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Republican Gun, 3 Oct 2006 @ 8:56am

Funny
"kids were talking about Wal-Mart clothes in their profiles."
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- FAz, 3 Oct 2006 @ 9:50am
  
  Re: Funny
  Yes.. if i was 13... and on a social network site.... trying to impress them ladies... my pick up line would be....
  
  "hey little lady you dig ma $10 walmart Tees" HAHA AAHHAH HA
  
  poor old walmart... oh gosh o goly
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JS Beckerist, 3 Oct 2006 @ 8:59am

To add to that...
or for that matter, getting a dozen people to play hockey in the aisles with random equipment? or organized kart races in the parking lots, or chemistry experiments with the household cleaning products (Works toilet bowl cleaner + aluminum foil = hours of messy fun!)
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boomah, 3 Oct 2006 @ 9:36am

for best results...
try Snow Bowl brand toilet bowl cleaner, thin strips of tin foil and a gotorade bottle. fill bottle with foil strips but do not pack foil in. add 2 cups of cleaner, cap it and give it a few shakes, then walk away. the cleaner is stronger than most and the thick plastic bottles allow more pressure to build up. do not attempt this inside due to the fact that you will prolly scare at least 4 of the over 80 year old employees to death.
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Anonymous Coward, 3 Oct 2006 @ 10:06am

We'll miss MySpace just as much it when it goes away too...
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WhooTAZ, 3 Oct 2006 @ 10:09am

What ever happened to "Made in USA"
Cheapest crap all made in China......

Sammy is rollin in his grave.... He was the proponent of cheap and Made in the USA.

Now that he is dead. Greed takes over as well as sending all our manufacturing across the border.

DAMN YOU TO HELL WAL-MART and all your "Associates"
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- Anonymous Coward, 3 Oct 2006 @ 11:52am
  
  Re: What ever happened to "Made in USA"
  Hey man, don't damn us associates, we're just trying to make a living and this is where we fell in. Believe me, the turnover rate speaks for itself. But you gotta work somewhere.
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  - slide23, 3 Oct 2006 @ 12:31pm
    
    Ah, the Nuremberg Defense...
    Don't hold me accountable! I'm just doing my job!
    
    I am not saying that it is a dishonorable job, but your attitude that you are somehow there against your will or have no other choice speaks volumes.
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    - Anonymous Coward, 3 Oct 2006 @ 12:48pm
      
      Re: Ah, the Nuremberg Defense...
      Well, you can hate the company but enjoy working at a certain store. Me, I couldn't stand the idiotic corporate policies so I left.
      
      But yeah, you're right. I also use this logic for when people start saying walmart's evil cuz they treat their employees like crap. Then why don't the employees just get different jobs? Its not impossible to get the same type of job at a nearby Target or grocery store or even... god forbid... go to tech school to better themselves.
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- Anonymous Coward, 3 Oct 2006 @ 5:49pm
  
  Re: What ever happened to "Made in USA"
  You could spout ignorance, or understand that Walmart has single handedly shaved several points off our CPI over the years (which is astounding if you understand the size of the market and the vast measure which is the CPI, and the huge impact that represents coming from just a single entity). Might also understand that structural unemployment is a long-term positive for our own economy; our workers are obviously unable to do those particular jobs as cheaply or at a lower overall cost than workers overseas, so it allows those freshly unemployed workers to find jobs that better fit their skills or forces them to obtain skills in order to continue to compete in an economy that becomes more technologically advanced every second. Gains from trade would also be good to understand.
  
  And whats wrong with greed, anyway? I only hear bitching about profit motive from those too lazy to pursue it themselves. That very social element is why Europe's growth is half of our own, and partly why our own is half of Hong Kongs for example.
  
  But of course, it's much easier to be ignorant and blame 'greed'. Oh, and whootaz, your welfare check is in the mail, and dont worry, the government made sure there will be flu shots available for you this year, so you dont even have to worry about a runny nose.
  
  People like you make me more libertarian by the day :D
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  - WhooTAZ, 3 Oct 2006 @ 8:45pm
    
    Re: Re: What ever happened to "Made in USA"
    Just wait until there are no manufacturing jobs left in America and the biggest A__H____ to blame will be WalMart.
    
    They have single handedly taken out 80,000+ mom and pop stores. Corporate Greed is emphasised here..
    
    WalMart needs to get their asses beat and their heads knocked off for the dog and pony shows they make vendors run and jump thru to sell their goods....
    
    Maybe one day 1 in 4 Americans wiill be working at WalMart while the other 2 are on welfare and the last poor bastard is a Govt employees (federal, state or local)
    
    Ever see Wall Street the movie? Most Greedy Wealthy people have stepped on the heads and backs of other Americans to rise to the top of their hills, and most have not done it legally..... So dont give me your stupidity remark about welfare......
    
    You'll be cashing your check before I wouild ever humble myself to. I work serveral jobs to stay afloat in the past and if it comes to that again I would do it again in a heart beat then to be behind you in a line of handouts....
    
    Glad to see your hands are full of the govt cheese and milk........ Don't choke and die we need your feeble thoughts give us a chuckle......
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    - jhb, 21 Aug 2007 @ 12:32pm
      
      Re: Re: Re: What ever happened to "Made in USA"
      You are on food stamps right?
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- jhb, 21 Aug 2007 @ 12:30pm
  
  Re: What ever happened to "Made in USA"
  union labor!
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- jhb, 21 Aug 2007 @ 12:35pm
  
  Re: What ever happened to "Made in USA"
  unions labor? work less pay more were did my job go?
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SailorAlphaCentauri, 3 Oct 2006 @ 10:29am

I think that..
the death of MySpace might be missed just a smidge more, but when it dies, the kids'll move on to other sites.

It's kind of like Hell, as depicted in Johnny the Homicidal Maniac: the masses move from place to place like herds of cattle just to be seen, because you don't want to be in a place that's been done and abandoned.
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- Annoying Bastard, 3 Oct 2006 @ 11:23am
  
  Re: I think that..
  WalMart is a steaming pile.
  
  Mooooo. :-P
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Anonymous Coward, 3 Oct 2006 @ 10:52am

Shows that as long as a product is within the walls of Wall Mart they can sterilize it, such as dumb downed music with wall mart control of lyrics. Looks as if they learned they can only function within the safety of their own facility, if the public doesn't need to go ,then they won't
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Your Mom, 3 Oct 2006 @ 1:05pm

I think it needs to be pointed out how rich walmart is. I know that people are wondering how much they wasted, but it was probably pretty much nothing in comparison to their profits overall. they could give away digital cameras for free and it wouldn't make a dent in their earnings.
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- wodie water, 3 Oct 2006 @ 5:16pm
  
  Re:
  yah walmart is a powerhouse in the retail business (fortune 500 #1 many years in a row) but the idea of venturing off into this fake social networking website was not a good idea. especially if your a mr. wal-mart capitalist, it was'nt a smart move to throw money away like that... publically. and umm... why would they give away digital cameras for free? they did'nt become huge by giving away digital cameras. they grew by selling huge volumes of common goods, at the lowest price, and putting local business out of business. hail wal-mart, king of falling prices.
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  - Anti Wally World, 3 Oct 2006 @ 8:59pm
    
    Re: Re:
    Anything to make a buck!
    
    They would sell illegal drugs if they could do it with not getting caught.
    
    I would not be affraid to read one day that Military weapons arrive in China packed in a WalMart cargo shipment container.....
    
    If a penny were on the street and an old lady went down to pick it up, the WalMart CEO would probably knock the poor old lady over and grab the penny and give it to one of his "Associates" and put in his "2nd to find but ended up with it" collection.
    
    WalMart treats their so called "Associates" like slaves... "Master what else can I do for my half pennies this hour?" "Do I get a dinner break after 12 hours of work?"
    
    Someday they will proabably bring in cages for the "Associates" to live in because their wages are so meager they can not find rent on their pay..
    
    Ooooo they may wise up!! 10 or 12 "Associates" might pitch their pay checks together to afford a 2 bedroom apartment......
    
    I have talked to several of these "Associates" and they feel trapped, I tell them the GRASS DEFINATELY IS GREEN on the other side of the fence.....
    
    I still see them there and think the poor bastards, what do we need to do burn down the building in order to kick their ass in gear to see brighter pastures.....
    
    I truely hope they do leave and move on...
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Brandon Rusnak, 3 Oct 2006 @ 2:23pm

Walmart had a social networking site?
Walmart had a social networking site? When did that happen? Anyway, I don't think "social networking" and "corporate america" go together. When will they learn?
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- wodie water, 3 Oct 2006 @ 5:19pm
  
  Re: Walmart had a social networking site?
  umm...
  
  corporate america thrives through social networking.
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- wolff000, 17 Oct 2006 @ 10:17am
  
  Re: Walmart had a social networking site?
  "Anyway, I don't think "social networking" and "corporate america" go together."
  
  Who do you think runs the big social networking sites now? I got news for you it's not some guy and a couple of servers anymore. It kills me when I hear people say things like that. Look around corporate america is in everything we do. This very website is a company trying to make a buck.
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mmrtnt (profile), 3 Oct 2006 @ 9:34pm

Seriously
I hope to god someone captured the whole site and can roll it back out in 5-10 years. What a hoot.

MjM
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Obvious Man, 5 Oct 2006 @ 10:19am

Oh of course, kids are too smart for marketing ploys, *cough* BLING, *cough* Neopets, *cough*, I remember there was once such a thing as "Magic the gathering" and "Pokemon," and other "trading cards" but they've all simply been replaced with ... more playing cards? From a slew of different shows? Jeez ... apparently people think this stuff works ...

Marketing does works. That's what pisses me off. It's like a disease in that it preys upon the young and the old.
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Shedao, 2 Nov 2006 @ 11:46am

Fashion
"Kids were talking about Wal-Mart clothes in their profiles"

That's funny. I don't know a single 13 year old who buys clothes at Wal-Mart. Most of the kids I know think they are too 'cool' for that.
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myspace_clone, 6 Dec 2006 @ 6:59pm

myspace clone custom development
maybe they should have hired these guys to do their myspace clone ?
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myspace clone, 15 Dec 2007 @ 1:19pm

myspace clone
I was blow away by the quality of Ventura IT's custom social networking development, programming, and design. These guys are real pros! myspace clone
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nick, 10 Jan 2008 @ 9:52pm

Hillarious
Yup, I completely agree, and Wal-mart isn't the first to make a MySpace lookalike. There are actually even scripts you can buy for 100 bucks that are like MySpace in a can lol
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myspace clone, 24 Feb 2008 @ 1:51pm

myspace clone
yes, but are those scripts really any good?
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rapedbywalmart, 7 May 2008 @ 11:11am

they raped my ass hard
wallmart is so fucking gay. they raped my black nigga ass and i wanna get those mutha fuckas back!
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