MySpace announces redesign, businesses urged to experiment

Social network MySpace has unveiled a complete redesign in an attempt to regain market share lost over the past few years, with the site emphasising the sharing of content such as music and videos to carve a niche in an industry dominated by Facebook.

Stewart Media chief executive Jim Stewart says businesses should consider creating a profile and attracting users just like they would on Facebook – but only if they have the intention of keeping their profiles updated.

“Traditionally MySpace has been really good for musicians. Where it’s being used for business, people have used it to give themselves backlinks. There is an argument that you could get some backlinks out of it.”

“If your audience is a youth audience, or it’s a music-related product, then maybe MySpace is somewhere you should be looking.”

The company announced its redesign overnight, unveiling a new logo, new profile pages and a complete change in the site’s user interface. MySpace said the redesign has a focus on “creating a rich, highly personalized experience for people to discover content and connect with other fans who share similar interests.”

“The entertainment experience will span music, celebrities, movies, television and games and will be available through multiple platforms, including online, mobile devices and offline events,” the site said in a statement.

The redesign is an attempt to focus on what analysts believe MySpace does best – the sharing of content such as music and videos. When users visit the site, they are now prompted to “share something”, whether a video or a photograph.

The colour palette of the site has entirely changed, with an emphasis on darker shades such as black and grey. When a user visits the site, their home page is populated with content from the site based on their interests and previous browsing history.

MySpace has also introduce the new “content hub” feature, which aggregates content from across the site in a number of different genres including movies, music and games.

And with the site realising that it can’t fight Facebook for dominance in the sector, MySpace has integrated Facebook and Twitter into the redesign. Users can now share content across all three of the networks, and when accounts are integrated MySpace updates appear on Facebook news feeds.

MySpace wants to start rewarding people for sharing content. If a user starts promoting material among their friendship group, the new design of the system seems to recognise those users more than others.

But analysts are still questioning whether the redesign will be enough to stop the flow of users to Facebook. Currently MySpace has only 122 million users, compared with Facebook’s 500 million, and last month Twitter overtook the site in terms of unique browsers.

The redesign also comes after a tumultuous period for the site, which has undergone a series of job cuts and changes in the executive structure. Mike Jones is currently the chief executive, after co-president Jason Hirschhorn departed earlier this year. Previously, Owen Van Natta held the CEO position for less than a year, after replacing Chris DeWolfe in 2009.

Stewart says businesses should consider setting up a profile of their own, particularly if the new site deals with sharing new types of content. However, he warns that businesses simply can’t set up a profile and abandon it.

“They become virtual ghost towns. It doesn’t look good. If MySpace is where your target market is, get involved and contribute. You can’t just let it die. What does that do to your brand? It just reflects badly on you.”

The redesign is currently in beta, and will be rolled out to all users over the next month.