MySpace: It's, like, so 2006

Is MySpace already becoming yesterday's news? The New York Times this weekend became the latest to weigh in with that assessment.

If it's true, no one should be surprised. Even Blogma pointed out that such communities have always had limited shelf lives, going back to the early days of AOL, Geocities and, more recently, Friendster.

This is not to say, of course, that News Corp. necessarily wasted the entire $580 million it paid for MySpace. It just underscores the inherent risk of investing in anything that relies on the enduring loyalty of teenagers. If anything, it can be (and has been) argued that the Fox empire only hastened its decline by conferring mainstream status to MySpace.

Blog community response:

"Media Guardian reports that Bebo has overtaken MySpace at the most popular Teen site in the UK. While the lead is slender at the moment, and MySpace is souping up its UK offering, the popularity window that brands enjoy is shrinking all the time. Gone are the days when brands used to survive unchallenged for years and years."
--oneangrycustomer

"If changes aren't made at MySpace, someone will happily come in and gobble up that market. Think of it, they at 14-25 year olds who will be spending money for a very long time. Creating brand loyalty now will pay off for 100 years."
--SoKy Local Business

"Teenagers, ever the fickle crowd, have moved on to different (but not necessarily better) things, and pressure from parents have really put a lot of negative publicity on the site in recent months."
--Damox's Technology Blog