The Rise and Fall of Myspace

Only a few names come to mind when thinking of historic social media platforms. The first for me being Myspace. Founded in 2003 by Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe, it quickly became a cultural phenomenon, which ultimately changed the landscape for social networking sites. This post will explore the evolution of myspace, it’s significant impact on digital history, and how it helped foster creativity in anyone who joined.

Logo during its peak (2004–2010)

When looking at Myspace and its history it can be divided into three separate parts. From its rise in 2003, to its peak from 2005–2008, and then its untimely fall starting in 2009. Originally Myspace was created to compete with Friendster, taking similar aspects but adding more advantages that the other site did not. One of the biggest being the ability to modify as you please. The site found quick appeal among the masses, due in no small part to the degree of independence given. Personal pages were highly customizable, letting users edit nearly every aspect of their page, from the background color to the font to the music playing. By 2005, the social media site surpassed all its competition to become the most widely used platform of that time. Starting around 2006 Facebook started to become a worthy contender in the battle for social media domination, and the numbers on Myspace started to decline slowly. This resulted in investors demanding an increase in the amount of ads shown to users, just to stay afloat. While this strategy worked out temporarily, the site began to look overly cluttered and unattractive, especially in comparison to the sleek design of Facebook. This resulted in even more loss of users over time. Each time Myspace took a large hit in user numbers the company would be sold, ultimately trading hands four times during its twenty year run. Each change of ownership came with a change in management and a redesign of the site’s layout, further turning off users.

“Changing the styling of your MySpace profile was a way to distinguish yourself from your friends. With a cursor depicting a favorite movie character, or font color combinations that recalled a favorite sports team’s colors, users could use every pixel on the profiles to set themselves apart (Team, 2020).”

Something Myspace was unwilling to do was adapt and change with the times, they stayed stuck in the mid 2000s, and this ultimately led to their demise. Unlike its competitor, Facebook, who we’ve seen change drastically to fit the trends over their own twenty year run. Staying relevant with your users is important, as we age we expect our interests to age with us or they are left behind. The youth that loved Myspace once, began to love Facebook instead as we aged out of the more childish aspects that they offered.

Personalized Profile

From a personal stand point Myspace was exactly what we needed at the time. Coming from a girl who loved AOL instant messenger it was the next best thing. The kind of creativity it fostered for us was next level. This was my first memory of creating an online persona that felt 100% me. It helped build community, and make you feel truly represented. From opening my own personal page you could immediately know three things about me; my favorite color, my favorite sport, and my best friends. Dare I say the most important things for a thirteen year old girl. Facebook was very much alive and well when I created my Myspace page but it felt too adult, and also they had a higher age restriction. But as much as I loved Myspace as soon as high school came, Myspace left.

Even though it’s been well over a decade since its demise most people will never forget having a top 8, auto played music, and of course the iconic Tom. We continue to see the impact of Myspace through Facebook, Instagram, and even Pinterest profiles. It’s safe to say Myspace left a lasting impression on our social media history.

Everyone's first Myspace friend, Tom

“An essential moment in the history of social media and pretty revolutionary at the time (McFadden,2020).”

References

How, M. (2024, August 12). Capital Commerce — Tech Consulting Group. Capital Commerce — Tech Consulting Group. https://www.capital-commerce.com/insight/echoes-of-myspace-how-the-first-social-media-titan-lost-its-crown

Kozlowski, L. (2012, May 15). New Life: How MySpace Spawned A Start-Up Ecosystem. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/lorikozlowski/2012/05/15/how-myspace-spawned-a-startup-ecosystem/?sh=374c575540ba

McFadden, C. (2020, July 2). The long and short chronological history of social media. Interestingengineering.com. https://interestingengineering.com/lists/a-chronological-history-of-social-media

Team, C. (2020, February 14). MySpace and the Coding Legacy it Left Behind. Codecademy Blog. https://www.codecademy.com/resources/blog/myspace-and-the-coding-legacy