Facebook Vs. MySpace: Why one succeeded while the other failed, and why it’s relevant

Intro: What is Facebook?• Facebook is a collaborative social media tool used to

communicate with others who have an account.• Communication includes sending messages,

liking/commenting on others posts, and posting pictures.• The Facebook homepage is a “timeline” of posts/activities

made by friends, giving users the opportunity to comment on or like what they see

What is MySpace?• Similar to Facebook, MySpace was originally used as a social

media tool to help friends keep in contact with each other.• Most prominent around 2006• Known as the “Facebook before Facebook”• Friends could comment on each other’s profiles, send each other

messages, and post bulletins for all their friends to see.Different than Facebook, MySpace allowed its users to customize

their profile with colorful and themed layouts, as well as song tracks that play when a profile is opened

Due to its loss of users, MySpace is now currently utilized by musicians attempting to get their music heard by large audiences.

Example MySpace Profile

Note the customized layout

Differences in upbringingMyspace: • Founded by employees of

eUniverse (internet marketing company)

• Had resources Facebook did not: such as human resources departments, technical expertise, and high server capacities. Used the old social media site Friendster as a starting point; took most popular parts of the old site to create MySpace

• Sold to News Corporation, a media company, in 2005

Facebook:• Created by a

Harvard student in order to bring together college students

• Started from a small idea in a dorm room

Which will succeed?• Based off the information in the last slide, it would seem that

the more successful company would have been MySpace, and for a while, it was.• One month into its initial launch, MySpace already had 1 million

people registered• 6 months later, they had 5 million users. • It was the most popular social media site from 2005-2008

Then…. What happened?• However, if you ask kids and teenagers now, they will have no

idea what MySpace is.• Their website began losing members as Facebook started

gaining them.• The real question is: Why did this happen?

Major Issue #1• While Myspace’s vast amount of resources was seen as a

reason for its success, it actually turned out to be one of the reasons for their failure

• Facebook, without professional management, allowed their concept to be guided by what the users wanted• Followed market shifts, kept what worked, changed what didn’t

• However, Myspace and the professionals running it used specific professional, structured plans, with the inability to adapt to new users and new situations• Use of PowerPoints presentations, data analysis for what will

work and what will not, data predictions• Ran MySpace like a business while forgetting the creativity that

comes along with new and social innovations

Bonus for Facebook: Exclusivity• From a basic, psychological standpoint, people are attracted

to things they can’t have• For Facebook, this could be a huge reason for their success.• Mark Zuckerberg originally created Facebook solely for

Harvard Students • However, more and more people wanted access to it.

Exclusivity Continued• Zuckerberg slowly allowed for other colleges around the

United States to have access, while finally opening to the public in 2006.

• In other words: People wanted what they couldn’t have, and it worked to Facebook’s advantage, whether or not intentional

• MySpace was public from the onset, removing this psychological aspect in terms of gaining users

Clarity• Facebook:• Clear, user-friendly

layout• Photos, comments,

likes, and activity all easily found under individual profiles

• FAQ pages to help answer user questions

• Myspace• Cluttered home page,

making it hard to know where and what to click

• Layouts make profiles hard to read

• No help database: Users have to navigate through the site on their own

MySpace versus Facebook Profile Layout

Ads• MySpace functioned like a business, which means it wanted to

produce high revenue• So, the website became dominated by ads.• Ads were on the homepage, profiles, toolbars, and led to

annoyance amongst users.• Facebook had the luxury of using money from venture

capitalists and investors to start up the site.• They now use ads as well, but they are placed to the side,

outside profiles or timelines, and are tailored specifically to each individual

MySpace Ads

Global Village• MySpace predominately allowed for communication between

friends of an adolescent age group• However, Facebook has become a global village, allowing

users to connect with people all over the world.• Location is not an obstacle. All it takes to connect is an internet

connection and a Facebook account. • Users sign up regardless of age. Teenagers, adults, and the

elderly all use Facebook to communicate

Why does this matter?• As users and internet consumers, it is important to see what

aspects of technology and social media are attractive to us.• For businesses and other social media sites, it matters so that

they know what to do and not to do in order to gain users.• Learn from past mistakes (i.e.: Do what Facebook did, not what

Myspace did)

Why does it matter? Cont.• As users, it shows how social media, technology, and the

internet have become such a huge part of our daily lives.• The perfect site has to be tailed for US, the user.• If it’s not good enough, we’ll move on to the next• We now live in a world of constant contact, with phones,

texting, and email. Facebook has expanded on this by allowing us to see exactly what is going on with another person, in real time, through photos, status updates, and messages.

This can’t be• No way, humans aren’t that focused on the internet, are we?• Food for thought: How many times have you gone on

Facebook without even realizing it?• Answer for myself: more than I can count

• We can access the site on our phones, labtops, iPads, even our TVs. It’s everywhere.

Something to note:SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT ALL THE SAME.

If it was, then new sites and communication tools would not need to pop up, as one would suffice for all. Facebook was able to take advantage of this key fact, and expand to create a world where the people are at the center of the site, not the cooperation

• Social media might stem from a common idea (communication) but each site is different in its approaches, capabilities, and strategies for success.

• Each of these processes come together to encourage users to join the site.

• Facebook has been able to integrate all these pieces to create a website that is enjoyed all over the world.

• As such heavy users ourselves, it is important to take a step back and understand how such an integral social system became part of our everyday lives.

Does that mean Facebook will come to an end too?• Possibly• One research study mentioned that Facebook will lose 80% of

its users by 2017• However, another mentioned that Facebook has avoided the

pitfalls Myspace fell prone to, and therefore, is not doomed to die.

All in all• Facebook has used Myspace’s problems as a way to prevent

history from repeating itself.• With over 1.19 billion users currently active across the globe,

it seems improbable that Facebook will disappear from the map anytime soon

• As innovators, we can use these facts, see what worked and didn’t work, to help foster individual creativity and understand how certain communication agents succeed while others failed.

Bibliography• http://www.forbes.com/sites/adamhartung/2011/01/14/why

-facebook-beat-myspace/

• Google Images• http://theweek.com/articles/452558/facebook-not-doomed-

die-like-myspace• https://www.quora.com/Why-specifically-did-MySpace-fall-

so-fast-and-so-far• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/29/myspace-

history-timeline_n_887059.html• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/30/how-myspace-

fell-apart_n_887853.html