In August 2003 a revolution was born on the internet, the real start of 'Social Networking' as Myspace was born. We all used to use Myspace until we fell out of love and moved to Facebook. I myself even still have an active Myspace account and over the last few months have found myself logging into it again and this week NewsCorp (owner of Myspace) started the work to sell off the flagging social network.
My personal love of Myspace was lost by its lack of development, we all moan and hate our favorite sites changing but if they don't we find ourselves moving away to more revolutionary sites. Which was the case with MySpace, as people started tagging friends in photos on Facebook, Myspace lost out.
MySpace has always been good for creative people with its Music section or Filmmaker section. This though is seeing more and more rivals against it, and less and less change to the site. Though it seems that is changing as slowly Myspace is bringing some new features and concentrating more on Music.
Apple recently launched iTunes Ping to bring a social aspect to buying and listening to Music. People have complained of its lack of Facebook integration but I ask what about Myspace. It seems some of Myspaces best features are migrating to Facebook and Myspace is now developing a closer affiliation with the 'Social Networking King'.
NewsCorp has already said it is looking for either a merger or a sale of MySpace. I see both happening, if Facebook and Myspace merge users and Apple taking a financial stake to bring its Music Social Media functionality to the site, we could se a new revolution with MySpace.
I think MySpace could go even further and tap into the fan market in a way that saw thousands of Bootlegs sold in the 60's. Myspace is trying but I honestly think that it needs to embrace music in and entertainment from a fans point of view, something I believe Apple is trying to do with Ping.
If Myspace developed artist pages that are populated by content from fans as well as artists, it would improve on the traffic for advertisers. We could see interviews and performances from TV and Concert appearances posted from video channels. We could even see some of these bootleg recordings posted, which could see these rare recordings re-mastered and released by record companies. You never know some unknown tracks could be found with posthumous releases as we have seen with Micheal Jackson. It could just see new exciting ways of exploring music that we would later buy from iTunes.
People could post memories of concerts (the biggest music payday currently) with fans tagging concert photos or videos. This would show tours over time and location as the fans bring back the memories for others. There could be chance meetings with artists, stories shared making it a real fan genrated appreciation of artisits.
Of course these can always lead to sales, with links to merchandise, downloads, adverts around posted video content. You can see this becoming a real money maker for these companies but also give fans a proper fan site for the 21st century. I'd rather explore musical tastes with friends and fans rather than go to a artists website that never gets updated.
This idea could go a step further and be extended to Films, Artwork, TV shows, and all the people involved. Add integration to sites such as IMDB and you can start to see endless possibilities. If Apple were to take Ping to the same level as Get Glue, you'll soon find your exploring more and more entertainment.
I for one love the idea of going to my next concert and posting pictures, reviews or even just sharing other peoples memories of the concerts I couldn't make. I love the idea of watching a TV show and recommending it to friends. I remember getting friends into '24', ten years later and my fondest memories are based around watching or talking about that show. In fact watching series chronicles a particular time in my life.
So I look forward to the next twelve months of MySpace, I really want to see it merge with Facebook in an original way. If this happens I believe we shall see Apple investing in MySpace and its vision for iTunes Ping taking leaps forward.
