Be my friend?
It's always interesting when a company reaches its moment of truth - a juncture when it becomes apparent that it must fundamentally change or die. Of course many remain in denial and it takes strong leadership to admit that the way they have been doing things is wrong and to start again.
One example of this happening is with Microsoft and Windows Phone 7. It admitted that Windows Mobile was completely outclassed by the likes of iOS and Android, so went back to the drawing board and came out with a completely new OS that is being warmly received.
A more fundamental moment of truth was confronted by social network Myspace yesterday, when it announced ‘Mashup with Facebook'. In essence this is the announcement that you can now log into Myspace with your Facebook account and export your interests from Facebook to Myspace. Of course, competing companies tend not to collaborate, unless as part of a cartel, so this formally marks the end of competition between the two.
When News Corp acquired Intermix - the company that owned Myspace - back in 2005, CEO Rupert Murdoch said: "Intermix is an important acquisition for News Corp, instantly doubling the number of visitors to our sites and providing an ideal foundation on which to meaningfully increase our internet presence."
But traffic to Myspace has been in decline for quite some time and the main reason is Facebook, which has claimed the status of default social networking location that Murdoch must have assumed he'd acquired in Myspace. In terms of traffic, Myspace hasn't been competitive with Facebook for some time, and this announcement is a forelock tug of deference by Myspace in formal acknowledgement of that fact.
Surely there can be no better illustration of the imbalance of power between the two than the respective spokespeople they have offered up. Myspace mobilised its CEO - Mike Jones - to herald the deal, while Facebook only saw fit to call upon its partnership marketing VP - Dan Rose. I.e. what is a momentous event for Myspace is a minor new partnership for Facebook.
"We are thrilled to further our collaboration with Facebook through Mashup with Facebook," said Jones. "This new feature is a great illustration of our strategy around social entertainment and enabling the real-time stream."
"Sharing entertainment and music interests is part of many of our friendships, online and off," said Rose. "Myspace is giving people an easy way to bring their favorite bands, celebrities and movies from Facebook to create a personalized experience on Myspace from the start."
This move is a cornerstone of the attempt to reposition Myspace as a ‘social entertainment destination'. It's not that obvious how all these revamps fundamentally alter the nature of Myspace enough to enable it to coexist with Facebook. It's supposed to be the place where you share your entertainment interests, but isn't that something people also do on Facebook?
