Fred StutzmanThoughts about information, social networks, and privacy

While I certainly spend plenty of time talking about Facebook here at Unit Structures, I’m not averse to other social network platforms, nor am I officially supportive of any platform. All of the fluffy A-list coverage aside, this is a critical moment for Facebook and Myspace. Facebook, as we’re well aware, is on a substantial and hard-earned uptick. Myspace, on the other hand, is growing at a more pedestrian rate, and certainly is not the apple of the press’ eye anymore. Myspace is facing a moment where it must redefine itself as a situationally relevant social network platform, or it will continue ceding its territory to Facebook. Here are a few simple suggestions to get Myspace back on track.

It’s time for a redesign. The Myspace aesthetic that we all love-to-hate has turned from a quirky outlier in Myspace’s success story to a genuine rock around its neck. A redesign that focuses on usability, simplicity and core functionality are certainly in order. Don’t mistake this for a call for an overhaul – Myspace should leverage the experience that users already know, but simply repackage it in a more palatable format. As Facebook has shown, it’s OK to use Ajax to give your users a better experience; the pageviews at the cost of frustrated users simply cost too much. Furthermore, a well-executed refresh would be a nice story, bound to make lots of bloggers happy.

Open the doors to developers. Facebook’s Platform makes sense on many levels, and my favorite reason is that Facebook understands it can’t be all things to all people. In creating the platform, Facebook is allowing users to create applications that answer niche needs, while properly and rightfully allowing developers to monetize on their work. It is a simple ecosystem argument – Facebook’s developer community makes Facebook a better place, and Facebook rewards these developers. It was a happy mistake that Myspace’s CSS was exploited, allowing developers to come in and personalize the space – why didn’t Myspace learn from that? Instead, it has been cutting developers off, preventing them from monetizing, and turning away creative minds who wish to make the space better. Look outside the box and learn from Facebook on this one.

Content, content, content. It’s time for News Corporation to stop looking at Myspace as a churning sea of ad viewers, and embrace Myspace as a full-fledged content distribution network. Think radically here. Put the entire Simpsons back-archive on Myspace. Put the Wall Street Journal into Myspace. Put full-length shows up on Myspace 3 days before they go on the air. And the thing is, this doesn’t seem to be an extremely difficult step; NewsCorp has the content, the rights, and the channel. All they need to do is vertically integrate and give Myspace users millions of new reasons to log back in to the service.

Revitalize the brand identity. danah’s points may have been controversial, but there was truth to her argument. Myspace’s brand identity has been captured by a segment of its userbase, and on top of that all of the sex predator coverage has devalued the brand significantly. It’s time for Myspace to step in and be proactive about its identity. Think it’s impossible? If Wal-Mart can substantially soften its image by stocking organic produce, anything can be done. Leveraging content, new services, and functionalities targeted to Myspace’s ever-aging userbase, there’s a lot Myspace can do to distance itself from the hysteria that surrounds it. In fact, I think a lot of Myspace’s core users would appreciate it.

Find new ways to open the doors to users. If we want to draw an analogy, Myspace is the restaurant/bar that is very popular with its audience, but is failing to draw in the new crowd it so desperately desires (they’re at Facebook cafe down the street). How can Myspace make itself a destination for these people who have latched onto a competing brand? This is obviously a combination strategy; rebranding, new initiatives, openness – but what about mobile, or devices? As it stands, you can only get Myspace Mobile on one phone. Talk about killing a potentially huge market. Myspace needs to look past these exclusives and embrace openness that will bring in a rejuvenated audience.

Finally, the simple stuff. This really should be the first item on my list. Myspace needs to invest in preventing spam and other annoyances that make the user experience regrettable. At the same time, Myspace must bring on a lot more customer support, answer emails, etc – all of the things you have to do to make your customers like you.

It’s always easier to call these things from the sidelines, but I do believe that Myspace is at a critical point in its history. NewsCorp must look at Myspace less as a sunk cost to recoup (the small one-off bizdev deals smell desperate), and more as an ecosystem that needs investment to flourish. However, if that investment doesn’t come, and Myspace doesn’t evolve and develop towards changing tastes, I do worry that we’ve seen Myspace’s peak.