Myspace, one of the most popular social networking websites in the mid 2000′s, is set to “cease operations come June 30,” according to reports online from journalists working for The Wall Street Journal.
Its believed owners News Corporation could not find a buyer for the $100 million asking price and will shut down Myspace for good, despite still attracting over 20 million unique users per month.
Myspace, one of the original social media networks, was the most popular social network online from 2006 to 2008, used by hundreds of millions world wide.
But since those 2000′s glory days, Myspace has been fast perishing, so much so that even the founders of Myspace Chris DeWolfe and Tom Anderson have failed to update their own status’ on Myspace for well over a year.
Over the last 2 years Myspace has lost about one million users a month and the final sword to the heart of Myspace may be just days away.
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp bought Myspace in 2005 for a costly $600 million, however a $900 advertising deal with Google meant the purchase was not a complete disaster.
The social network used to be a uber-hip hub of pop culture, page personalisation and a place where thousands of music artists would showcase their work to fans and potential markets.
Depsite its demise, Myspace was still used widely by teens and young adults keen on discovering new music trends, and for up and coming artists to network and display their content cheaply.
If the Wall Street Journal report is correct, millions of pictures, song uploads, wall posts and more will be consigned to the dustbins of Internet history.
Reasons for the demise of Myspace? Most point the finger at the rise of Facebook with millions of Myspace users migrating to the current king of the social media world. Facebook sucks a lot of energy out of Myspace and other parts of the internet, with some 750 million active Facebook users.
Others blame poor management, and several fatal decisions by the leadership at Myspace for it’s demise.
Business Insider: “Mismanagement, a flawed merger, and countless strategic blunders have accelerated Myspace’s fall from being one of the most popular websites on earth—one that promised to redefine music, politics, dating, and pop culture—to an afterthought.”
24/7 Wall Street: “Why did MySpace fall so far behind Facebook? No one knows for certain. It may be that Facebook had more attractive features for people who wanted to share their identities online. It may have been that it appealed to a younger audience which tends to spend more time online.”
Another explanation from blogger Robert Scoble: The talk from insiders at Myspace point to two fatal decisions. One was to base Myspace HQ in Los Angeles, California, away from the the areas rich in tech human capital like Silicon Valley and the other was to use Microsoft brand software systems.
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