You see, two years ago, Rupert
plunked down US$580 million for a cool little website called Myspace.
Admittedly, it’s now worth many times what he paid for it but alas, in
cool terms, it no longer is. Rupert understands this. Hence the
sadness.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal back in June (before he
bought that too), the journalist suggested that traditional media
consumers were now moving to Myspace. “I wish they were” Rupert replied
gloomily. “They’re all going to Facebook at the moment.”
He’s right. We are. Myspace is, like, sooooo five clicks ago. Facebook
was founded by Harvard graduate Mark Zuckerberg in 2004 as a social
networking site for college students. That’s him in the picture above. And doesn’t he look happy! The name refers to the ‘paper
facebook” given to new students to familiarise them with other people
on campus. Now anyone can join Facebook and 39 million people worldwide
have. 60% of them log in every day and hang out for an average of 19
minutes a day.
And while everyone from Microsoft to Yahoo to Google to Rupert himself
is rumoured to be trying to buy a piece of the action, 24 year old
Zuckerberg is not selling a sausage and he’s already turned down offers
of US$975 million. Internally, it’s apparently valued at US$10 billion.
Now you know why he looks happy.
The key difference between Myspace and Facebook is this: Facebook is
for grown-ups. On Myspace, I always felt like I’d walked into a
nightclub full of wasted19 year olds dancing to doof doof music at 2am.
Not. My. People.
While Myspace is visually loud, cluttered and ugly, Facebook is clean
and simple. Like Myspace, it’s free and generates its revenue from
banner ads. You create a personal profile, post photos, find old and
current friends, poke them, exchange messages and generally waste time.
But happy time.
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OK Sarah, you have convinced me! I'll give LJ a go. I've been on Myspace for a couple of years.
To me, Facebook appears to be intended for kids. Poking, writing on walls, buying drinks, etc. It's all very juvenile...