Advice For The Next CEO Of MySpace

April 23, 2009

There are many reasons to explain why MySpace lost ground to Facebook over the past year.

The social networking site that is owned by News Corp. is more commercial than its rival, more infused with advertising and less focused on the desires of users.

Chris DeWolfe steps down at MySpace

Chris DeWolfe steps down at MySpace

There is a perception as well that it is for teenagers, while Facebook has set itself up as mature enough for any age (read: adults).

So it comes as no surprise that CEO Chris DeWolfe left the company on Thursday. But here is an occasionally surprising list of business suggestions for the person tapped to fill DeWolfe’s shoes. It comes from Jason Calacanis, founder of Mahalo:

1) Buy a search engine. They are a great advertising platform;
2) Focus on mobile after admitting that Facebook won on the web;
3) Increase international efforts;
4) Build an entirely new platform while maintaining the existing site;
5) Build a social and casual gaming business;
6) Create a MySpace virtual currency; and
7) Launch an e-mail service.

Excellent advice.

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Posted by Mark Boslet

MySpace Slumps In February; Facebook, Tagged Soar

March 13, 2009

Even social-networking sites can feel the blues.

Growth in traffic rose a reasonable 4 percent in February, compared with last year, but fell 1 percent from December as the world was gripped by the economic crisis, says Hitwise.

Facebook soared during the month, taking it out of the hide of MySpace as older users migrated from the News Corp. property to Mark Zuckerberg’s brainchild.

Traffic to Facebook grew 149 percent while MySpace visits fell 28 percent. Traffic to Tagged skyrocketed 280 percent.

According to Hitwise, the market share ranking among the top social networking sites are as follows: MySpace, 52.2 percent; Facebook, 36 percent; Tagged, 2.5 percent; and MyYearbook, 1.6 percent.

MySpace had the highest amount of time spent on-site: 29 minutes, 38 second.

But here is the most interesting observation. People 18 to 34 make up between 54 and 59 percent of people using Facebook and MySpace. People 35 and older prefer Facebook. Traffic among these older adults increased 23 percent on Facebook while falling 2 percent at MySpace.

Seems Rupert Murdoch can’t related to people his age.

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Posted by Mark Boslet

Hulu Says it has 40,000 Videos And 175 Advertisers

March 12, 2009

Along with introducing social-networking features, Hulu on Thursday provided an equally interesting one-year anniversary update on its business.

The video-on-demand site said it now has 40,000 videos, up from 12,000 a year ago – 333 percent growth. It also has 175 advertisers, compared with 30 a year ago.

The site indeed has seen remarkable growth. It is now sixth on the Internet measured by video-viewing audience, following Google, Fox Interactive, Yahoo, Microsoft and AOL.  In January, 24.5 million people visited.

In its Thursday update, the company said its sources of content continue to expand. Video now comes from 130 partners, compared with 50 a year ago.

As reported by The Wall Street Journal, Hulu, jointly owned by NBC Universal and News Corp., now has Hulu Friends. The social-networking tool lets people establish profiles and share videos. Hulu Scorecard let’s people track what they watch.

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Posted by Mark Boslet

The Shifting Ground Under Web Photo Sites: Photobucket Down, Flickr Up

March 6, 2009

The waning fortunes of MySpace is taking a toll on photo-sharing site Photobucket.

Meanwhile, Flickr is gaining ground, shifting the sands in the online photo-storage world.

According to Hitwise, Photobucket attracted 27 percent of visits to photo-sharing sites in the U.S. in February, down from 36 percent a year ago.

The decline is most likely tied to the decline in visits to social-networking site MySpace, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., says Heather Dougherty, Hitwise’s director of research. MySpace accounted for 54 percent of Photobucket’s traffic in July, but now channels just 38 percent.

Flickr, owned by Yahoo, and Picasa, owned by Google, are less dependent on traffic from social networking sites. Both are owned by search engines and get more traffic from Web-based e-mail services and image searches.

Both also have seen the share of traffic grow, says Hitwise. Flickr attracted 17.9 percent in February while Picasa drew 3.6 percent.

Market Share of photo-sharing sites. Source: Hitwise. (Photobucket, blue; Flickr, yellow; Picasa, grey)

Market Share of photo-sharing sites. Source: Hitwise. (Photobucket, blue; Flickr, yellow; Picasa, grey)

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Posted by Mark Boslet

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