Myspace Creates New Fun Space for Gen Y

Social networking site Myspace has decided to position itself as a social entertainment destination for the young users. With this aim, it has announced a new brand, website and a suite of products.

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.

“This marks the beginning of an exciting turning point for Myspace. Our new strategy expands on Myspace’s existing strengths – a deep understanding of social, a wealth of entertainment content and the ability to surface emerging cultural trends in real time through our users,” said Mike Jones, CEO of Myspace.

Today, it is believed that more than 500 million users (active or inactive) in the world are connected to various social networking sites.

Also Read:
5 Reasons I Love My Facebook Friends
How to become a Facebook Star: 10 Tips
10 Deadly FAD Symptoms (Facebook Addiction Disorder)
But Why Don’t You Pay for Using Facebook?

The online social networking phenomenon is not only gaining momentum on the land, but it has also gone to the outer space.

Recently, NASA astronaut Doug Wheelock became the first person to “check in” from space using the mobile social networking application Foursquare. (Read: Social Networking from the Outer Space)

The social networking popularity has even attracted leading movie makers. In The Social Network film, director David Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin have tried to depict the moment at which Facebook, the world’s leading social hangout on the Net, was created. (Read: Why Do We Need a Movie on Facebook?)

Now services are being offered to teach social networking etiquette to users. Physicians Formula, which offers advice in bronzing and color correction, is ready to help women use tools that keep them looking great on social networks.

So whether Tweeting or Facebooking is your full time obsession, or if an eHarmony.com or LinkedIn membership is on the horizon, checking out the new Physicians Formula Profile Guide can be the initial step before uploading any profile pictures, it says. (Read: Cat and Rat No More, Put Your Own Pretty Pic)

Dedicated social networks targeting special interest groups are also coming up. A “virtual science playground,” the Mad Science Kids Club offers children a science-based platform for connecting, exploring and learning with peers online through science enrichment programs.

It is claimed to be the first-ever science social network platform created specifically for kids. (Read: Now a Science Social Network for Kids)

Advertisements:
Come, Work with Us
Digital Media Campaigns

Myspace will also focus on promoting curators – a subset of its audience whose reputation and knowledge around particular entertainment topics and emerging cultural trends make them uniquely influential – by supporting them with the resources, tools and a platform to expand their reach within the Myspace community.

It has rebuilt its website, with a new visual identity and product features that put content center stage. From the color palette to the way the site is organized to the improved navigation, everything has been redesigned to help people easily find relevant content, it says.

Registered users can now also toggle between three different views of the homepage, each specifically designed to display their stream in the way that resonates most. These include:

List view: Traditional view

Grid view: A magazine-like format

Play view: A video format that allows users to watch, forward and resize their updates to full screen

To complement the online experience, Myspace will soon release a mobile version of the beta site, accessible on any mobile browser. A new Myspace app for iPhone and Android devices will follow later this year.

Myspace has released a suite of initial features that empower people to discover, collect and display entertainment content, while also offering tailored recommendations. These features include:

Topics – Myspace features more than 20,000 entertainment-focused, dynamic pages organized around topics. These pages provide a centralized location to view aggregated information about specific subject matter from a wide variety of news sites and blogs including MTV, Los Angeles Times, Access Hollywood, New York Times, Village Voice and Just Jared.

Content Hubs – These comprehensive entertainment destinations are specifically dedicated to movies, television and celebrities. The pages combine programmed editorial with trending articles that feature news, videos and photos from various content partners. Additionally, each individual article within the hubs recommends related content and topics. Hubs focused on games, comedy, sports and fashion will be revealed in the coming months.

Personalized Stream – The new stream automatically learns what to feature based on a user’s preferences and habits, so they see more of what they love and less of what they don’t.

Recommendations – This feature recommends relevant topics and other fans based on algorithms that learn the type of content a user views, listens to or watches and from whom or where they discovered it.

‘Right now on Myspace’ – This feature shows trending content in real time on Myspace, helps fans find recently added music and videos, and lets them listen or watch right from the interactive chart. Myspace uses these trends to inform recommendations that promote discovery and engagement.

Discovery Tab – This always accessible tab combines videos that friends are watching with what’s trending in real time on Myspace. Scroll to the top of any page and the new Discovery Tab drops down as a horizontal film strip.

My Stuff Tab – My Stuff is an easy way to see all that’s personal to a user – their profile, photos, videos and uploaded content, structured as a drop-down menu with different content areas.

Badges – This feature recognizes and rewards curators and fans for their social activity around entertainment topics on the beta site and promotes them with badges – graphic icons that appear in a user’s stream.

Myspace has also introduced a new logo that captures its revamped brand identity and values. The bracket in the logo represents a space where people can express themselves, enabling users to personalize the logo and make it their own – just as they can throughout Myspace.

The newly-designed Myspace begins rolling out today (Oct. 27) in beta and will be available to all users worldwide by the end of November. New users will have immediate access to the beta site.

Myspace, Inc. is a leading social networking service provider. The company is headquartered in Beverly Hills, CA and is a division of News Corporation.