Warning: Tom is at risk of losing millions of friends. That's because social networking website Myspace has officially been put on notice. It's parent company News Corp recently gave the site "quarters" of time rather than years to make improvements or risk being shut down for good. That means no more Tom in his recognizable grin and white t-shirt!
According to a recent report on Wednesday from Yahoo News, News Corp. which is owned by Rupert Murdoch, has noted their are unsustainable losses at the Myspace site. The main goal will not only be to make a catchy re-design but ultimately attract more consumers to the web property.
News Corp president and CEO Chase Carey notes that Myspace "has the potential to be an exciting business for us" but "we need to make real headway in the coming quarters to get this business to a sustainable level."
"Our traffic numbers are still not going in the right direction and we have to stabilize that and have a predictable path forward, the right cost structure and a clear path to be a profitable business."
In addition to Myspace, News Corp has a vast publishing empire which includes The Sunday Times, New York Post and The Wall Street Journal. Other companies in the mix are Fox Broadcasting Company and 20th Century Fox movie studio as well as Dow Jones. Myspace may soon be a blip in that extensive portfolio though. Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter have been able to quickly eclipse Myspace and maintain current popularity while growing exponentially in members by the day. In the wake of those huge successes, Myspace seems to have fallen by the wayside and gets little love.
It seemed like a bold but smart move when News Corp. bought Myspace for a tidy sum of $580 million dollars in 2005. It was originally considered "the social networking" site of all others. Back in the early days of social networking, it seemed Myspace was the place to be and everyone was Tom's friend (because he made it that way). Who would have thought that years later it would be Facebook getting its own feature film and becoming the stalwart of online social media?
News Corp president and CEO Chase Carey notes that Myspace "has the potential to be an exciting business for us" but "we need to make real headway in the coming quarters to get this business to a sustainable level."
"Our traffic numbers are still not going in the right direction and we have to stabilize that and have a predictable path forward, the right cost structure and a clear path to be a profitable business."
In addition to Myspace, News Corp has a vast publishing empire which includes The Sunday Times, New York Post and The Wall Street Journal. Other companies in the mix are Fox Broadcasting Company and 20th Century Fox movie studio as well as Dow Jones. Myspace may soon be a blip in that extensive portfolio though. Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter have been able to quickly eclipse Myspace and maintain current popularity while growing exponentially in members by the day. In the wake of those huge successes, Myspace seems to have fallen by the wayside and gets little love.
It seemed like a bold but smart move when News Corp. bought Myspace for a tidy sum of $580 million dollars in 2005. It was originally considered "the social networking" site of all others. Back in the early days of social networking, it seemed Myspace was the place to be and everyone was Tom's friend (because he made it that way). Who would have thought that years later it would be Facebook getting its own feature film and becoming the stalwart of online social media?
Do you think Myspace has a shot to reclaim the glory days it once had, or has it become eclipsed by Twitter and Facebook to a point it can't recover from?
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