Myspace

Myspace LLC
Type of businessSubsidiary
Type of site
Social networking service
Available in14 languages
FoundedAugust 1, 2003; 21 years ago (2003-08-01)
HeadquartersUnited States
Area servedWorldwide
OwnerViant Technology LLC
Founder(s)
Key people
  • Tim Vanderhook (CEO)
  • Chris Vanderhook (COO)
Employees150 (2013)[1][needs update]
URLmyspace.com
RegistrationRequired
LaunchedAugust 1, 2003; 21 years ago (2003-08-01)
Current statusActive, most features disabled/dysfunctional

Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace; also myspace and sometimes my␣, with an elongated open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it was the first social network to reach a global audience and had a significant influence on technology, pop culture and music.[2] It also played a critical role in the early growth of companies like YouTube[3] and created a developer platform that launched the successes of Zynga, RockYou, and Photobucket, among others.[4] From 2005 to 2009, Myspace was the largest social networking site in the world.[5][6]

In July 2005, Myspace was acquired by News Corporation for $580 million[7] and, in June 2006, it surpassed Yahoo and Google to become the most visited website in the United States.[8][9] It generated $800 million in revenue during the 2008 fiscal year.[10] At its peak in April 2008, Myspace and Facebook reached 115 million monthly visitors, but Myspace narrowly lost to the newly emerging Facebook in terms of global users.[11] In May 2009, Facebook surpassed Myspace in its number of unique U.S. visitors.[12] Since then, the number of Myspace users has declined steadily despite several redesigns.[13] By 2019, the site's monthly visitors had dropped to seven million.[11]

In June 2009, Myspace employed approximately 1,600 people.[14][15] In June 2011, Specific Media Group and Justin Timberlake jointly purchased the company for approximately $35 million.[16] On February 11, 2016, it was announced that Myspace and its parent company had been purchased by Time Inc. for $87 million.[17][18] Time Inc. was in turn purchased by Meredith Corporation on January 31, 2018.[19] On November 4, 2019, Meredith spun off Myspace and its original holding company (Viant Technology Holding Inc.) and sold it to Viant Technology LLC.[20]

  1. ^ "Myspace stats". expanding ramblings. October 6, 2013. Archived from the original on December 24, 2018. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
  2. ^ Molloy, Fran (March 27, 2008). "Internet connectivity " Science Features (ABC Science)". Abc.net.au. Archived from the original on November 26, 2020. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  3. ^ Cashmore, Pete (September 13, 2006). "MySpace: We'll Crush YouTube". Mashable. Archived from the original on August 4, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  4. ^ "MySpace is a big gaming platform but it hopes to be more of one". VentureBeat. July 24, 2009. Archived from the original on September 21, 2020. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  5. ^ "The rise and fall of MySpace | Financial Times". Financial Times. December 4, 2009. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  6. ^ "These are 13 of the most popular social networks a decade ago that have died or faded into obscurity". Business Insider. December 23, 2019. Archived from the original on October 15, 2022. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  7. ^ "News Corporation". Newscorp.com. Archived from the original on January 13, 2013. Retrieved October 23, 2011.
  8. ^ "Google's antisocial downside". CNET News. Archived from the original on August 13, 2020. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  9. ^ Pete Cashmore (July 11, 2006). "MySpace, America's Number One". Mashable.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2010. Retrieved July 24, 2010.
  10. ^ Dignan, Larry (August 8, 2007). "Fox Interactive turns annual profit; MySpace revenue to top $800 million in fiscal 2008". ZDNet. Archived from the original on January 3, 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  11. ^ a b Moreau, Elise (January 21, 2022) [2021-02-24]. "Is Myspace Dead or Does It Still Exist?". Lifewire. Archived from the original on June 5, 2023.
  12. ^ Albanesius, Chloe (June 16, 2009). "More Americans Go To Facebook Than MySpace". PCMag.com. Archived from the original on August 14, 2020. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference bw-20110622 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Vascellaro, Jessica E. (June 30, 2011). "News Corp. Selling Myspace to Specific Media". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved October 23, 2011.
  15. ^ "MySpace Executes 30% Staff Reduction Today". TechCrunch. June 16, 2009. Archived from the original on September 21, 2020. Retrieved October 23, 2011.
  16. ^ Fixmer, Andy, "News Corp. Calls Quits on Myspace With Specific Media Sale" Archived July 1, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Business Week, June 29, 2011
  17. ^ Spangler, Todd (February 11, 2016). "Time Inc. Buys Myspace Parent Company Viant". Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
  18. ^ Spangler, Todd (February 11, 2016). "Time Inc. Buys Myspace Parent Company Viant". Variety. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved September 30, 2016.
  19. ^ Chokshi, Niraj (March 19, 2019). "Myspace, Once the King of Social Networks, Lost Years of Data From Its Heyday". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 8, 2020. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
  20. ^ "Meredith Corporation Sells Equity Stake in Viant Technology Holding Inc". Archived from the original on January 20, 2022. Retrieved January 20, 2022.