- Andrea Ballinger,
ISU associate vice president of administrative technologies
NORMAL, Ill. – He brought “sexy” back, but can he also bring back MySpace? Justin Timberlake and Specific Media Corporation are promoting a newly re-designed MySpace to connect music artists with their fans, set to be unveiled in late November.
The new MySpace is a completely different product than the classic MySpace, which gained its popularity in 2003 but soon lost users to Facebook, which launched in 2004. The redesigned site will incorporate features of today’s top social networking sites including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram in hopes of reaching a broader audience.
Previous MySpace user and senior information technology student, Bradley Siegel, has high hopes the new MySpace will take off and regain popularity. “Social networking sites are at an all-time high and I think people will be interested in exploring one that incorporates Facebook and Twitter, particularly since MySpace has had a good track record in the past,” Siegel said. “The company is also doing a good job with promotion by having Justin Timberlake as a spokesperson, which is how I heard about the new site.”
Timberlake became part owner of Specific Media in 2011 when the company bought MySpace from News Corp. Timberlake has invested his creativity into the new product and has consistently promoted the new MySpace on his own social media accounts. Despite good promotional tools, information technology professor, Glen Sagers, does not believe the new MySpace will become a success. He said that although college students are usually accepting of new technology, they won’t adapt, or change back, to the new MySpace unless they are having a problem with their current social media sites.
“While Facebook may have won out based on superior features a few years ago, unless people have a reason to rejoin MySpace, they are not likely to jump to a new site unless their friends do,” Sager said. “Even if the new MySpace is technologically better, people probably won’t change over to the new site unless it gives them a huge advantage.”
Specific Media CEO, Tim Vanderhook, has no intention of taking over Facebook. Rather, the company is integrating Facebook and Twitter into MySpace so users can simply carry over their current identity. Siegel thinks the company is on the right track by not asking social networking users to change their site preferences. “In my experience as a technology student, and working in technology at State Farm, I do not envision college students and young people adapting to a whole new idea of social networking when their current sites suit their needs,” Siegel said. “Specific Media seems to understand that concept as well because they are incorporating Facebook and Twitter on their new site to make the transition more convenient.”
Andrea Ballinger, ISU associate vice president of administrative technologies, agrees with Siegel that the new MySpace has the potential to become a hit. “Young adults are somewhat obsessed with constantly being connected,” Ballinger said. “They are already interacting on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram; the list goes on. I don’t think the new MySpace will have a hard time getting young adults to follow just one more social network.”
The new MySpace presents itself as a link between music artists and their fans, similar to the way the social networking site LinkedIn links businesses and potential employees. A video preview released by Timberlake on his personal Twitter account gives potential users an idea of how the new site works and what people can gain from becoming a user.
The new MySpace will be releasing its final round of invites, or roll outs, to the site by then end of November, 2012. For a sneak peak at the new MySpace, visit http://www.myspace.com/video/myspace-today/new-myspace-preview/106909756.