LotsOfSpace
Around 10 million users ditched MySpace in just a single month, according to new figures.
The mass user walk-out took place in January and follows MySpace's desperate bid to keep the network alive with a re-design and a wave of redundancies to cut costs, The Daily Telegraph reported.
The site reportedly lost 10m unique users in January according to comScore figures, falling from 73m to 63m unique users, with around 30m UK users still registered.
It is around a year since MySpace re-launched and rebranded the network to take a step away from Facebook and appeal to youth as a ‘social entertainment destination'.
New Corp owns MySpace and is still trying to offload the ailing company. It has previously said it is considering a merger or spinoff where a VC firm would give the site a financial boost, consequently altering MySpace's ownership structure.
MySpace's CEO, Mike Jones announced 500 redundancies and a new skeleton model at around the same time New Corp's sales strategy was leaked, but The Telegraph reported that sources have told it that the site is still haemorrhaging money.
A senior digital exec reportedly told the newspaper: "MySpace lost $100 million in the first quarter last year. To get it back on track is going to require a massive investment - one which News Corporation it not prepared to make. It has many other priorities to put its money into. So instead, it needs to keep taking costs out of the business while it's still in its hands."
News Corp's CEO Chase Carey has apparently described MySpace as a ‘problem' in the past and that Yahoo! and AOL were 2 firms considering buying the ailing network.
He previously reportedly said: "There are opportunities here to do 20 things [with MySpace] but that doesn't mean you're going to do any of the 20. If there's something there that makes sense you ought to think about it."
He has also praised engineers for the revamp, reportedly adding that it would be ‘pretty tough' to sell MySpace before the redesign and rebranding exercise.
