Facebook Overtakes MySpace, MySpace Cuts Jobs
Facebook now leads the social networking arena, overcoming MySpace recently, and heavily outpacing Twitter. According to ComScore, Facebook had 70.28 million active users last month while MySpace had only 70.26 million.
In addition to having more active users than MySpace, Facebook's user base more than doubled while MySpace lost users from a year ago. Facebook has been targeting a wider audience of users than MySpace such as; young parents and retirees.
Not only is MySpace loosing ground in social networking, the profits from the company isn't looking good either. News Corp, owner of MySpace, announced today that they would be laying off about 400 employees or nearly 30% of its staff leaving only 1,000 employees left.
"Simply put, our staffing levels were bloated and hindered our ability to be an efficient and nimble team-oriented company. I understand these changes are painful for many. They are also necessary for the long-term health and culture of MySpace. Our intent is to return to an environment of innovation that is centered on our user and our product." said Chief Executive Owen Van Natta.
I think MySpace had this coming because they've had one misstep after another. It would appear as though the company doesn't have a clear vision of what it wants to become and where it wants to be. There also seems less innovation coming from the company as of late, while Facebook continues to change and evolve in the ever changing world of social networking.
MySpace is also currently more geared towards your entertainment life and younger audiences while Facebook is geared towards everything in between and your life as a whole. Facebook to me seems much more well-rounded and this could be the biggest downfall of MySpace.
MySpace will need to make some drastic changes in order to stay afloat in the social networking realm, I think the job cuts are a start but I think what the public wants to really see is some new innovation and a more well-rounded and balanced site.
