1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,840 Speaker 1: Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 2 00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:08,920 Speaker 1: It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology? With 3 00:00:09,039 --> 00:00:17,880 Speaker 1: tech Stuff from how stuff works dot com. Hello again, everyone, 4 00:00:17,880 --> 00:00:20,160 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech stuff. My name is Chris Bollett 5 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:22,120 Speaker 1: and I am an editor here at how stuff works 6 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:25,360 Speaker 1: dot com. Sitting across from me as usual laughing because 7 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:28,720 Speaker 1: we just had an out pick. And senior writer Jonathan Strickland, 8 00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:33,239 Speaker 1: you are a sad, strange little man. That was in 9 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:37,599 Speaker 1: fact the quote that I grabbed. And before we get 10 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:47,000 Speaker 1: into this topic, we have a little listener me. This 11 00:00:47,159 --> 00:00:50,519 Speaker 1: listen mail comes from Ben. Ben says, Hey, guys, love 12 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:53,159 Speaker 1: your podcasts. What happened to my Space? I'm new to 13 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:56,120 Speaker 1: social networking, but remember friends of mine talking about my 14 00:00:56,200 --> 00:00:59,040 Speaker 1: Space and how cool it was for some time. Then overnight, 15 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:03,680 Speaker 1: almost literally, there's Facebook, this new thing and has been 16 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:06,440 Speaker 1: ever since. What is it that separates the two and 17 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:10,000 Speaker 1: what is it that gives Facebook it's edge? Well, Ben, 18 00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:13,240 Speaker 1: we're gonna talk a little bit about my Space, the 19 00:01:13,319 --> 00:01:16,160 Speaker 1: history of it, what's happening with my Space now and 20 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:20,480 Speaker 1: kind of you know, it's sort of fall from grace really, yes, yes, 21 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:23,039 Speaker 1: As it turns out, Facebook is has housed in a 22 00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:28,520 Speaker 1: giant cube in space and the people onboard are androids. 23 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:32,440 Speaker 1: That's no moon, that's a social networking site. You will 24 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:35,200 Speaker 1: be assimilated. Okay, no, none of that is true. No, no, 25 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:37,880 Speaker 1: that's not true. But it does sort of seem like 26 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:40,000 Speaker 1: they popped up out of nowhere and took over and 27 00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:43,600 Speaker 1: about the same time. Actually, my Space started back in 28 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:48,960 Speaker 1: two thousand three. Man, that's really old. Yeah, well at 29 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:51,440 Speaker 1: least in Internet terms. Internet terms of this pretty old. 30 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:53,080 Speaker 1: What's weird is that I sit there and I think 31 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:55,240 Speaker 1: about how long some of these things have been around, 32 00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:58,000 Speaker 1: Like I feel like I've been using Twitter forever, and 33 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:00,560 Speaker 1: I think, wait a minute, it's been a little over 34 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:05,880 Speaker 1: two years. That's it. Um. So with with my Space. 35 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:09,000 Speaker 1: It began as a for profit company back in two 36 00:02:09,040 --> 00:02:11,680 Speaker 1: thousand three. And if you joined my Space back in 37 00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:16,400 Speaker 1: the day, you might be familiar with Tom. He was 38 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:19,200 Speaker 1: your first friend on my Space. Yes, he was referred 39 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:21,800 Speaker 1: to Tom Anderson, one of the co founders of the 40 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:26,040 Speaker 1: of MySpace dot com. And um, Tom was the automatic 41 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:28,840 Speaker 1: first friend you had, and then you could search for 42 00:02:28,919 --> 00:02:32,200 Speaker 1: other friends using things like you know their email addresses? Yes, 43 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:36,040 Speaker 1: so you could look around and join um and uh, 44 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:39,200 Speaker 1: request friends with all the people you know, and then 45 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:42,040 Speaker 1: build up your network that way, same way as most 46 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:45,600 Speaker 1: social networks work. Really, yes, I am and looking at 47 00:02:45,639 --> 00:02:49,360 Speaker 1: the diagram we have on our now aging article on 48 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:52,679 Speaker 1: my Space, it reminds me of LinkedIn, Like you had 49 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:55,960 Speaker 1: circles of friends, you know you friends and friends of 50 00:02:56,040 --> 00:02:59,240 Speaker 1: friends and friends and friends of friends, which really it 51 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:03,000 Speaker 1: looks just like what Zuckerberg would call the social when 52 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:05,040 Speaker 1: he steps up in front of like, you know, he 53 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:07,160 Speaker 1: he would have his own grid of showing the social 54 00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:09,800 Speaker 1: network and how your friends. You have a you have 55 00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:11,960 Speaker 1: a circle of friends, and then they have their own 56 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:14,280 Speaker 1: circle of friends, some of which overlap your circle and 57 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:16,799 Speaker 1: some which don't. And then what will be really what's 58 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:19,880 Speaker 1: really interesting is when you start finding connections between friends 59 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:22,800 Speaker 1: that you didn't know existed, Like you had you have 60 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:26,560 Speaker 1: a friend over here who's from your let's say baseball team, 61 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:28,919 Speaker 1: like you played baseball with them, and a friend over 62 00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:31,680 Speaker 1: on the other side who was in um uh a 63 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:34,640 Speaker 1: class with you at a college that was across the 64 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:37,520 Speaker 1: country from where you played baseball, and yet these two 65 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:40,120 Speaker 1: people are also friends with each other. And then you think, 66 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:42,720 Speaker 1: how the heck did that happen, And did you realize 67 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:45,200 Speaker 1: Wait a minute, I'm not the connecting point for these people. 68 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:48,680 Speaker 1: They knew each other before without independently of knowing me. 69 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 1: Small world, as they say. Yes, you know when you 70 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:56,160 Speaker 1: said a moment ago connections between friends you didn't even 71 00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:58,600 Speaker 1: know existed, I thought, somehow you found out about my 72 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:01,080 Speaker 1: imaginary friends, and I was kind of go, how did 73 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 1: you know a totally different social networking site, non space 74 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:08,720 Speaker 1: is what that was called. So my imaginary friendster? Yeah, 75 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:12,040 Speaker 1: oh well, and and Friendster was around. Actually, Friendster was 76 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:17,080 Speaker 1: the dominant social networking site back when my Space first arrived. 77 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:20,800 Speaker 1: So my Space goes online around two thousand three, end 78 00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:23,400 Speaker 1: of two thousand three, and Facebook pops up at the 79 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:27,320 Speaker 1: beginning of two thousand four, So that that was straight 80 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:32,840 Speaker 1: again there we go. That was Facebook popping and your 81 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:35,880 Speaker 1: your face has been booked, as they used to say 82 00:04:36,839 --> 00:04:40,120 Speaker 1: in my head. So anyway, Facebook popped up in around 83 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:43,600 Speaker 1: two thousand four. And when Facebook first started it was 84 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:47,520 Speaker 1: limited to college students. It was later opened up to 85 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:50,960 Speaker 1: high school students and college students. Actually, originally it was 86 00:04:51,080 --> 00:04:55,120 Speaker 1: just Harvard students, but indeed Harvard then college, then high 87 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:58,760 Speaker 1: school then eventually everyone else. Well, there was a two 88 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:02,880 Speaker 1: year period where Facebook was not open to the public, yes, 89 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:06,200 Speaker 1: but my Space was. So my Space got a jump 90 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:09,520 Speaker 1: on Facebook on anyone who was not currently in school. 91 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:12,839 Speaker 1: I remember at this time I was out of school. 92 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:15,240 Speaker 1: I could not join Facebook when it first started because 93 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:19,680 Speaker 1: I no longer had a college email address, so I 94 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:22,839 Speaker 1: created a profile on my Space. Many of my friends 95 00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:25,560 Speaker 1: also created profiles on my Space, so my space got 96 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:27,800 Speaker 1: a pretty big jump early on. I got a lot 97 00:05:27,839 --> 00:05:33,120 Speaker 1: of users. Um, and it had a different style from Facebook. 98 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:36,120 Speaker 1: Oh yes, it has a much different style from Facebook. 99 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:38,440 Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, one of the ways that 100 00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:42,560 Speaker 1: I first became affiliated or I'm sorry, more aware of 101 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:46,640 Speaker 1: my space was I thought of it as a band 102 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:50,200 Speaker 1: site because b A N D not B A N 103 00:05:50,320 --> 00:05:54,720 Speaker 1: N E D depends on where you work, but because 104 00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:58,919 Speaker 1: it was both in some instances. This is true um 105 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:01,920 Speaker 1: and probably still has but yeah, I mean it was. 106 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:04,280 Speaker 1: That was one of the things that I thought was 107 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:08,480 Speaker 1: really neat about my my spaces. Um. And for people 108 00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:13,960 Speaker 1: in independent label bands like myself, Um, you could post 109 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:17,120 Speaker 1: samples of your music up, the whole songs and give 110 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:22,040 Speaker 1: people an opportunity to hear it and I actually thought, uh, initially, 111 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:24,720 Speaker 1: I thought that that's what the site was for, was 112 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:28,280 Speaker 1: for bands to put music up in musicians to work 113 00:06:28,279 --> 00:06:31,680 Speaker 1: with other musicians. Very prescient of you, Yes, as it 114 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:34,159 Speaker 1: turns up, but we'll get into that. Yes, but yeah, no, 115 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:35,800 Speaker 1: that was that. That was kind of funny because I 116 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:38,600 Speaker 1: thought it was specifically for that, and it had it. Definitely, 117 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:41,240 Speaker 1: my Space had a huge advantage over Facebook as far 118 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:45,960 Speaker 1: as sharing things like getting it discovering bands. Yes, my 119 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:50,560 Speaker 1: Space was superior to Facebook in that sense, even after 120 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:55,279 Speaker 1: Facebook went public, because Facebook groups were primitive compared to 121 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:59,400 Speaker 1: my Space band pages. So on a band page you 122 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:02,120 Speaker 1: could find not just music, but also things like schedules 123 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:04,920 Speaker 1: and blog posts, photo albums, all that kind of stuff, 124 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:07,680 Speaker 1: just like any person's profile. That's the other thing is 125 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:10,840 Speaker 1: my Space allowed you to have a customizable profile page, 126 00:07:11,920 --> 00:07:14,880 Speaker 1: which was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing 127 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:17,000 Speaker 1: in the sense of if you had some if you 128 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:21,520 Speaker 1: had really good design skills, you could create an attractive, 129 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:25,720 Speaker 1: easily readable my Space layout. You could even if you 130 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:28,640 Speaker 1: wanted to. You could incorporate things like songs that you 131 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:30,680 Speaker 1: really liked. You could find songs on my Space and 132 00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:35,200 Speaker 1: add them to your profile. Uh. Sadly, this usually resulted 133 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:38,120 Speaker 1: in auto play, which means meant that if you were 134 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:40,800 Speaker 1: visiting someone else's profile and they picked a song that 135 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:44,240 Speaker 1: you hated, uh, you know, it would suddenly start blasting 136 00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:47,400 Speaker 1: out of your computer until you either muted it, muted 137 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:51,080 Speaker 1: your computer, or found the um the control on the 138 00:07:51,080 --> 00:07:54,200 Speaker 1: profile page and and paused it. And because those pages 139 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:59,080 Speaker 1: were customizable, the control was not always in the same spot. Yes, 140 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:02,240 Speaker 1: it became really irritating. Like you'd go to like, I 141 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:05,720 Speaker 1: have friends and I love them to death, but my god, 142 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:11,640 Speaker 1: they have terrible music. Terrible music, tastes horrible. Some of 143 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:14,640 Speaker 1: them don't even know who the Ramons were, that's how 144 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:17,200 Speaker 1: bad they were. Yeah, for a moment, I thought you 145 00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:19,160 Speaker 1: were talking about me, but then I realized I know 146 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:21,440 Speaker 1: who the remon are, so it's probably not. No, not 147 00:08:21,440 --> 00:08:24,480 Speaker 1: talking about you. I've listened to you play. Your band's 148 00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:27,000 Speaker 1: music was not. It did not make me want to 149 00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:29,520 Speaker 1: go out on a rampage, all right, But some of 150 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:33,319 Speaker 1: my friends had music that did. Um Yeah, especially if 151 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:37,280 Speaker 1: they picked really irritating uh Internet songs. Like there was 152 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:39,880 Speaker 1: one person who had what was it the it was 153 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:43,880 Speaker 1: essentially the same people who did the hamster dance music. Oh, 154 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:48,480 Speaker 1: the the really high pitched stuff. It wasn't crazy Frog. 155 00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:53,000 Speaker 1: That's it crazy Frog. Oh I Love you the Death Girl. 156 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:57,800 Speaker 1: But man, that crazy Frog song on auto play just 157 00:08:58,240 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 1: it was enough for me not to go and visit 158 00:08:59,880 --> 00:09:04,520 Speaker 1: your profile. So anyway, the customizable profile was a blessing 159 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:06,400 Speaker 1: and a curse. It actually was something that it had 160 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:10,360 Speaker 1: that Friendster did not have, and that may have contributed 161 00:09:10,400 --> 00:09:14,880 Speaker 1: to people adopting my Space over friendster Um. And again, 162 00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:18,000 Speaker 1: because it was open to everyone, it wasn't just restricted 163 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:20,680 Speaker 1: to college students, it meant that my Space got a 164 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:24,240 Speaker 1: lot of people pretty quickly. So I'm sorry you were 165 00:09:24,240 --> 00:09:26,120 Speaker 1: about to say, I was just also going to add 166 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:30,760 Speaker 1: that apparently my Space was set up on a better platform, 167 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:35,040 Speaker 1: which also aided it over Friendster because friendster Um had 168 00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:38,040 Speaker 1: difficulty with the amount of traffic it was getting. It 169 00:09:38,120 --> 00:09:42,920 Speaker 1: grew very quickly, and it really kind of outgrew itself 170 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:47,480 Speaker 1: very quickly to the point where an alternative like my Space, 171 00:09:47,559 --> 00:09:52,920 Speaker 1: which was which had the traffic disseminated over the company's 172 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:57,480 Speaker 1: network more efficiently, was able to handle the load. And um, 173 00:09:57,559 --> 00:09:59,960 Speaker 1: we all know on the Internet, people don't wait around 174 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:03,880 Speaker 1: once they're Even when their favorite site UH starts having 175 00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:07,520 Speaker 1: difficulties or is completely reformat it in a way that 176 00:10:07,600 --> 00:10:11,600 Speaker 1: makes it unpopular to use, people will bolt even from 177 00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:14,679 Speaker 1: their most favorite sites, or at least about it at length. 178 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:17,160 Speaker 1: Yes to anyone who will listen, because that's one of 179 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:19,920 Speaker 1: the things about Facebook is that it kept During this time, 180 00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:23,520 Speaker 1: Facebook changed it's its user interface a couple of times, 181 00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:27,160 Speaker 1: and each time it's it's the same today. Each time 182 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:31,000 Speaker 1: Facebook does that, uh, you could expect the next week 183 00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:34,840 Speaker 1: to be filled with complaints about Facebook's new user interface, 184 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:39,079 Speaker 1: both on Facebook and also on Twitter. Yes, I particularly 185 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:43,560 Speaker 1: enjoy how it seems like of people are screaming about 186 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:47,040 Speaker 1: the layout. Why did they put fill in the blank here? 187 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:49,880 Speaker 1: Over filling the blank there? Because they can't find the thing. 188 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:53,480 Speaker 1: And then there's always one person. There's always one, or 189 00:10:53,559 --> 00:10:55,000 Speaker 1: it could be more, but there's always one of goes, 190 00:10:55,559 --> 00:10:58,559 Speaker 1: I don't know, I don't think it's that bad. I'm 191 00:10:58,640 --> 00:11:00,400 Speaker 1: usually the one who says I can't I don't think 192 00:11:00,400 --> 00:11:03,840 Speaker 1: it's that bad. Here's the thing is that by the 193 00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:06,559 Speaker 1: following month, everyone's forgotten about it, and then the next 194 00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:08,840 Speaker 1: change becomes the one that you're like, oh, seriously, this 195 00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:10,680 Speaker 1: is terrible. I can't believe you did this. And you're like, 196 00:11:10,679 --> 00:11:13,360 Speaker 1: wait a minute. You hated these changes back when they 197 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:16,040 Speaker 1: made them like three months ago. Why is it now 198 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:19,880 Speaker 1: the best thing ever? And you hate new changes because 199 00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:24,079 Speaker 1: we're people, well friends. Store was was just hard, outright 200 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:27,160 Speaker 1: hard to use at that point, and my Space was there. 201 00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:31,200 Speaker 1: Facebook was still restricted to a certain group. So my 202 00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:33,600 Speaker 1: Space took off and it was a very popular site 203 00:11:33,640 --> 00:11:35,640 Speaker 1: for a very very long time. It'll let you create 204 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:39,439 Speaker 1: photo albums, that let you create a blog on your 205 00:11:39,480 --> 00:11:43,000 Speaker 1: MySpace profile. You could leave messages for other people. Eventually 206 00:11:43,040 --> 00:11:45,520 Speaker 1: you could chat with other people through an instant messaging 207 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:49,000 Speaker 1: on on the MySpace platform. Of course, they also had 208 00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:51,600 Speaker 1: to be a logged into my Space at that time 209 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:53,200 Speaker 1: for the chat to work, but you could leave messages 210 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:56,040 Speaker 1: if they weren't. Um. So, I mean, there's a lot 211 00:11:56,040 --> 00:11:58,160 Speaker 1: of the functionality that we later saw built into other 212 00:11:58,240 --> 00:12:01,400 Speaker 1: social networking sites. And uh, it was doing really well, 213 00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:04,520 Speaker 1: in fact, so well that in two thousand five another 214 00:12:04,559 --> 00:12:08,400 Speaker 1: company swooped in and um and paid a pretty penny 215 00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:12,200 Speaker 1: for MySpace dot com. Yes more than a pretty penny. Actually, 216 00:12:12,200 --> 00:12:17,959 Speaker 1: it was Intermix, the company that owned my Space. Um. 217 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:24,600 Speaker 1: They were acquired by a little known magnet from Australia. Yes, 218 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:35,920 Speaker 1: Mr Murdock, Rupert Murdock, scourge of the Internet. Yeah, Rupert Murdoch. 219 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:41,400 Speaker 1: Who who who probably has lost more money and and 220 00:12:41,559 --> 00:12:44,160 Speaker 1: won it back again than I will ever see in 221 00:12:44,240 --> 00:12:49,400 Speaker 1: my entire life. Um. His his, His company Newscore purchased 222 00:12:49,559 --> 00:12:52,319 Speaker 1: MySpace dot Com in two thousand five for five hundred 223 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:57,600 Speaker 1: eighty million dollars. It's million with an M. Yes. Um. 224 00:12:57,640 --> 00:13:00,840 Speaker 1: Interestingly enough, I went back to look at the coverage 225 00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:05,280 Speaker 1: at that time because I've thought of my space is 226 00:13:05,400 --> 00:13:08,240 Speaker 1: being synonymous with Fox and News Corps for so long 227 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:10,800 Speaker 1: that I was I was trying to get a sense 228 00:13:10,840 --> 00:13:13,000 Speaker 1: of what happened and when it happened and how much 229 00:13:13,040 --> 00:13:17,080 Speaker 1: it was. And it was funny because the coverage at 230 00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:23,520 Speaker 1: the time said that news Corps had acquired Intermix theoretically 231 00:13:23,559 --> 00:13:27,800 Speaker 1: to gain my Space. So it's funny because I think 232 00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:31,040 Speaker 1: of it specifically in those terms. But um, there were 233 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:35,160 Speaker 1: other technologies that that Intermix had that were not nearly 234 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:38,240 Speaker 1: the newsmaker that that my Space was. I would say, 235 00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:40,080 Speaker 1: I think it's safe to say that my Space was 236 00:13:40,080 --> 00:13:43,680 Speaker 1: definitely the crown jewel of the acquisition for news corp. 237 00:13:43,720 --> 00:13:45,000 Speaker 1: And they thought it was going to make them a 238 00:13:45,040 --> 00:13:47,080 Speaker 1: whole lot of money. Well, at the time, my Space 239 00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:50,960 Speaker 1: was incredibly successful. There was no sign that that was 240 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:53,160 Speaker 1: going to change at all. Yes, as far as anyone 241 00:13:53,200 --> 00:13:55,520 Speaker 1: could tell, my Space was just going to keep on growing. 242 00:13:55,520 --> 00:13:57,720 Speaker 1: It was going to be a monster and see double 243 00:13:57,720 --> 00:14:01,160 Speaker 1: digit growth each year and um, and this was two 244 00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:05,080 Speaker 1: thousand five. Two thousand six is what I think the 245 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:10,640 Speaker 1: event that eventually reverse the fortunes of MySpace dot com. Right, Well, 246 00:14:10,960 --> 00:14:12,839 Speaker 1: I think before we go on to that, sure we 247 00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:16,280 Speaker 1: should add that my Space you know, talking about the 248 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:18,760 Speaker 1: growth and you're saying, okay, so what does maybe what 249 00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:21,040 Speaker 1: does the growth mean? You know, Okay, so they've got 250 00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:24,680 Speaker 1: lots of people, they're growing at a very very rapid pace. Well, 251 00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:27,880 Speaker 1: they were making their money off of advertising. So the 252 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:32,280 Speaker 1: more people that visit your site, um and click on advertising, 253 00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:35,000 Speaker 1: the more money the site makes. So news Corpus looking 254 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:39,880 Speaker 1: at this is an opportunity for advertising dollars and that's important. 255 00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:42,560 Speaker 1: I think it will be important because of the two 256 00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:46,680 Speaker 1: thousand six part. Yeah, because clearly the thing that you're 257 00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:50,040 Speaker 1: advertising relies upon is heavy traffic. Yes, the heavier of 258 00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:52,400 Speaker 1: the traffic, the more money you make. If the traffic 259 00:14:52,400 --> 00:14:54,760 Speaker 1: starts to slack off, then you don't make as much money. 260 00:14:54,800 --> 00:14:57,040 Speaker 1: And if the traffic lacks off enough, you start to 261 00:14:57,080 --> 00:15:01,160 Speaker 1: lose money. Right. So that's that's that was their income stream, 262 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:05,680 Speaker 1: right And Murdoch is known for having pretty um concrete 263 00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:07,920 Speaker 1: ideas of how profitable a business needs to be in 264 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:10,000 Speaker 1: order for it to be worthwhile. We didn't get to 265 00:15:10,040 --> 00:15:13,800 Speaker 1: be successful as successful as he is by not having 266 00:15:13,840 --> 00:15:17,480 Speaker 1: any business acumen. He is certainly not a charity. Um. 267 00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:20,800 Speaker 1: He is in the business of making money and he's 268 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:24,200 Speaker 1: very very good at it. Yes. So anyway, that's that 269 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:28,040 Speaker 1: no one could have seen in two thousand five necessarily 270 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:29,880 Speaker 1: that my Space was going to be headed for a 271 00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:32,840 Speaker 1: reversal unfortune. However, in two thousand and six, that's when 272 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:38,040 Speaker 1: Zuckerberg and crew opened up Facebook to the general public. Yes, 273 00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:42,040 Speaker 1: and of course traffic took off at that point because 274 00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:45,440 Speaker 1: Facebook was an alternative to my Space. People wanted to 275 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:47,280 Speaker 1: see what it was about. They tried it out, they 276 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:49,920 Speaker 1: liked it. Also, they had a lot of young folks 277 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:52,120 Speaker 1: on Facebook at that point, because you had people who 278 00:15:52,160 --> 00:15:56,280 Speaker 1: were either either you know, in high school just getting 279 00:15:56,280 --> 00:15:58,760 Speaker 1: into college, or maybe you have just graduated from college, 280 00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:00,920 Speaker 1: but they had created a profile back when they were 281 00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:04,880 Speaker 1: in college. So uh so you have this young, dynamic 282 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:08,240 Speaker 1: audience that's already built into your social network. There were 283 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:15,040 Speaker 1: also some stories in the news about um about predators 284 00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:18,720 Speaker 1: on my Space. There was it actually became kind of prevalent. 285 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:22,640 Speaker 1: In fact, my Space rightly or wrongly, began to develop 286 00:16:22,640 --> 00:16:25,880 Speaker 1: a reputation as being a wretched hive of scum and 287 00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:29,480 Speaker 1: villainy if you were um It's I'm not saying that 288 00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:32,960 Speaker 1: that reputation was actually earned, but it certainly had it. 289 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:36,360 Speaker 1: You know, I remember people saying, like I remember seeing 290 00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:40,080 Speaker 1: news interviews where kids were saying they preferred Facebook over 291 00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:43,600 Speaker 1: my Space because my Space was where all the sleazy 292 00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:46,200 Speaker 1: people were, the people you don't want to have contact with, 293 00:16:46,280 --> 00:16:50,200 Speaker 1: strangers who uh would try and befriend you, and it 294 00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:54,240 Speaker 1: was just creepy and Facebook was the friendly site. Well 295 00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:57,200 Speaker 1: I will I will say this. Another thing that that 296 00:16:57,280 --> 00:17:01,720 Speaker 1: my Space had that really bugged me was um I. 297 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:05,440 Speaker 1: When I first signed up for a MySpace account, UM 298 00:17:05,480 --> 00:17:08,320 Speaker 1: I did have Tom as a friend. I also had 299 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:13,639 Speaker 1: solicitations from all kinds of spammers almost immediately, not immediately, 300 00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:16,000 Speaker 1: but very close to it, and it it didn't seem 301 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:18,680 Speaker 1: what I like, what I was doing with my settings 302 00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:21,280 Speaker 1: affected any of it. So eventually got fed up and 303 00:17:21,400 --> 00:17:25,879 Speaker 1: left because my Space hadn't really gotten a grip on that. 304 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:28,720 Speaker 1: It seems that I have since started a newer account 305 00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:30,800 Speaker 1: on my Space, I don't really use it for anything 306 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:33,400 Speaker 1: other than to keep up with a couple of friends 307 00:17:33,440 --> 00:17:35,399 Speaker 1: that I only know we're on my space, and um, 308 00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:37,800 Speaker 1: you know it's it's set as private as it will go. 309 00:17:38,680 --> 00:17:41,960 Speaker 1: And no, I have not gotten anything from anybody, including 310 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:45,679 Speaker 1: the friends I tried to keep up with. Very sorry, 311 00:17:45,720 --> 00:17:49,480 Speaker 1: so two thousand and six. Facebook was public in two 312 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:53,200 Speaker 1: thousand eight and or two thousand nine, depending upon whom 313 00:17:53,359 --> 00:17:58,159 Speaker 1: you consult, Facebook overtakes my Space in traffic, yes, so 314 00:17:58,480 --> 00:18:01,439 Speaker 1: keep in mind my Space had an enormous head start 315 00:18:02,160 --> 00:18:06,119 Speaker 1: did but Facebook is growing faster than my spaces and 316 00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:09,320 Speaker 1: in fact, in some quarters, my Space is posting a 317 00:18:09,359 --> 00:18:12,800 Speaker 1: loss in total number of visitors. So there was a 318 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:15,879 Speaker 1: point where Facebook was just growing faster, like both companies 319 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:18,840 Speaker 1: were growing, but Facebook was growing leaps and bounds ahead 320 00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:21,720 Speaker 1: of my Space, and then eventually Facebook continued to grow 321 00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:24,160 Speaker 1: and my Space stopped growing, and a VEC started to 322 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:27,840 Speaker 1: to lose members as people just let their accounts die, 323 00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:32,080 Speaker 1: kind of like Pullett did. Um, I I can tell 324 00:18:32,119 --> 00:18:34,320 Speaker 1: you so two thousand eight is where we see the 325 00:18:34,400 --> 00:18:37,360 Speaker 1: Facebook start to take the lead. Two thousand eight, coincidentally 326 00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:40,360 Speaker 1: is the year where I received my last message from 327 00:18:40,359 --> 00:18:43,720 Speaker 1: a friend on my Space. I logged into my account 328 00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:47,200 Speaker 1: to check and the last time I received a message 329 00:18:47,240 --> 00:18:50,199 Speaker 1: from someone I actually know, as opposed to some random 330 00:18:50,240 --> 00:18:52,639 Speaker 1: update from a group that I belonged to, it was 331 00:18:52,680 --> 00:18:57,679 Speaker 1: two thousand eight. Well. Um. On a recent article on 332 00:18:57,800 --> 00:19:00,879 Speaker 1: cnet from one of my favorites net writers don Rie 333 00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:08,359 Speaker 1: Singer Um, they noted that currently here in my Space 334 00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:13,240 Speaker 1: still has more than a hundred million users worldwide. However, 335 00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:18,200 Speaker 1: Facebook has more than five hundred million active users and 336 00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:24,879 Speaker 1: Twitter has about a hundred seventy five million registered users registered, 337 00:19:24,960 --> 00:19:27,520 Speaker 1: meaning all those people and that includes all those people 338 00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:30,119 Speaker 1: that got on Twitter, posted one tweet and left and 339 00:19:30,160 --> 00:19:34,400 Speaker 1: never came back. Still, that's a lot of users compared 340 00:19:34,440 --> 00:19:38,280 Speaker 1: to my Space, especially with Twitter is a fledgling service 341 00:19:38,359 --> 00:19:41,760 Speaker 1: compared to my Space, fledgling because Twitter, I see where 342 00:19:41,760 --> 00:19:45,280 Speaker 1: what you did there? Um, so yes, they won't hear 343 00:19:45,280 --> 00:19:49,320 Speaker 1: another so that that that is the uh that sort 344 00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:53,080 Speaker 1: of brings us to where we are now, because two 345 00:19:53,119 --> 00:19:55,480 Speaker 1: things have happened recently that have put my Space back 346 00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:58,159 Speaker 1: in the news. One is the redesign. Yeah, my Space 347 00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:01,800 Speaker 1: is undergoing a massive redesign, and in fact, they're kind 348 00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:06,000 Speaker 1: of positioning themselves as no longer being a social networking site. Yes, 349 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:09,040 Speaker 1: they're going to be partnering with sites like Facebook, which 350 00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:11,359 Speaker 1: you know, that's kind of weird. Yeah, a couple of 351 00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:15,320 Speaker 1: years ago would have been unthinkable. But they instead they're 352 00:20:15,359 --> 00:20:19,240 Speaker 1: positioning themselves as a social entertainment site. So it's going 353 00:20:19,280 --> 00:20:22,160 Speaker 1: to be kind of a portal in a way for 354 00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:26,800 Speaker 1: various uh forms of entertainment. We're talking about music, movies, television, 355 00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:30,320 Speaker 1: that kind of thing. Actually, the company competitor that immediately 356 00:20:30,359 --> 00:20:33,680 Speaker 1: came to mind was not Facebook in that case, but Yahoo. Yeah, 357 00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:37,040 Speaker 1: because that's what Yahoo does so well, serve as a 358 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:39,440 Speaker 1: portal for that kind of material. Yeah. Who yeah, Who's 359 00:20:39,520 --> 00:20:42,480 Speaker 1: kind of transitioned from being a search engine to a 360 00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:47,879 Speaker 1: uh content portal. Yes, So the same sort of thing 361 00:20:47,920 --> 00:20:50,240 Speaker 1: with MySpace. It looks like it's going to specifically be 362 00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:54,320 Speaker 1: stuff like music videos and uh movies, television that kind 363 00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:57,560 Speaker 1: of thing. And there still will be social elements at play, 364 00:20:57,600 --> 00:20:59,360 Speaker 1: and you will still be able to have a social 365 00:20:59,359 --> 00:21:02,399 Speaker 1: profile on MySpace, but the focus will no longer be 366 00:21:02,440 --> 00:21:05,240 Speaker 1: on the profile page. It will be on these these 367 00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:10,159 Speaker 1: pages about various kinds of entertainment. Um. I have not 368 00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:13,800 Speaker 1: received this new version of my Space as of the 369 00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:16,720 Speaker 1: recording of this podcast. They're rolling it out gradually in blocks, 370 00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:20,960 Speaker 1: and I still have the old profile based MySpace. Yes, 371 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:24,240 Speaker 1: I do as well. Um, they are supposed to be 372 00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:28,800 Speaker 1: getting it out to everyone by the end of November. Yeah, 373 00:21:28,880 --> 00:21:31,560 Speaker 1: and that's when we're recording this is the is early November, 374 00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:34,920 Speaker 1: so we will probably, I'm sure we will go back 375 00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:36,399 Speaker 1: to our desks and it will be there by the 376 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:41,639 Speaker 1: time that we finish. Very well, may have access to it. 377 00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:45,000 Speaker 1: But so we can't really talk from a personal perspective 378 00:21:45,400 --> 00:21:48,080 Speaker 1: what this new redesign is really going to do and 379 00:21:48,119 --> 00:21:51,600 Speaker 1: whether whether or not it will be enough to keep 380 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:56,840 Speaker 1: my Space going after all the hits it's taken over 381 00:21:56,880 --> 00:21:58,280 Speaker 1: the last couple of years. And I think that kind 382 00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:02,040 Speaker 1: of brings us to the other item in the news 383 00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:05,880 Speaker 1: that has uh brought my Space into focus again. Yes, 384 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:09,240 Speaker 1: now going back to my earlier comment on my Space 385 00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:14,240 Speaker 1: relying so heavily on advertising. Facebook also uses advertising, but 386 00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:18,440 Speaker 1: they have One of the things that my Space had 387 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:23,800 Speaker 1: to work to emulate was Facebook's ability to integrate things 388 00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:27,840 Speaker 1: like games. Uh. You know, Facebook is something of a 389 00:22:27,880 --> 00:22:33,200 Speaker 1: games destination, casual gaming destination for many many people. Of course, 390 00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:38,560 Speaker 1: it made Zinga a very very uh um well, I'm 391 00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:40,399 Speaker 1: trying to say, trying to think of the word I 392 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:43,280 Speaker 1: want to use here. Well, successful, yes, but I mean 393 00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:47,639 Speaker 1: that they're worth you would imagine not releasing you know, uh, 394 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:52,280 Speaker 1: console games or PC games, but they really launched them 395 00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:57,800 Speaker 1: into being a very uh uh high value company from 396 00:22:57,880 --> 00:23:01,480 Speaker 1: Facebook alone, which which apparently if you had said that 397 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:05,119 Speaker 1: backward Facebook first released the the a p I, you 398 00:23:05,119 --> 00:23:07,360 Speaker 1: would have said, what, No, there's no way. I mean, 399 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:10,959 Speaker 1: this is an interesting tool for developers, but there's no 400 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:13,879 Speaker 1: way you would ever really make money off it unless 401 00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:16,600 Speaker 1: you were selling people's information to advertisers. Because it turns 402 00:23:16,600 --> 00:23:19,560 Speaker 1: out that's not entirely true. Yeah, and my Space, my 403 00:23:19,640 --> 00:23:23,040 Speaker 1: space is model just wasn't keeping up with Facebook's ability 404 00:23:23,119 --> 00:23:27,119 Speaker 1: to use that information and build on that. So Facebook 405 00:23:27,880 --> 00:23:31,280 Speaker 1: has sort of outpaced it in worth as well, which 406 00:23:31,440 --> 00:23:35,120 Speaker 1: is made Mr. Murdoch a very unhappy man and he's 407 00:23:35,119 --> 00:23:37,959 Speaker 1: not the only one. So the The News Corps President 408 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:43,240 Speaker 1: and chief operating Officer Chase Kerry was recently quoted as saying, 409 00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:47,640 Speaker 1: we've been clear that my Space is a problem. That's 410 00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:49,760 Speaker 1: not something you want to hear if you're working at 411 00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:52,840 Speaker 1: my Space. Yeah, yeah, you don't want to hear that 412 00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:56,439 Speaker 1: your company is a problem. So we need to redefine 413 00:23:56,520 --> 00:24:00,320 Speaker 1: and rebuild this business. We've made adjustments in the costs, sure, 414 00:24:00,359 --> 00:24:02,919 Speaker 1: and most importantly in the last few weeks, we have 415 00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:05,960 Speaker 1: relaunched my Space with a focus on social entertainment, which 416 00:24:05,960 --> 00:24:08,320 Speaker 1: is what we were talking about just a second ago. Um. 417 00:24:08,480 --> 00:24:12,320 Speaker 1: But he further went on to say current losses are 418 00:24:12,359 --> 00:24:17,800 Speaker 1: not acceptable or sustainable. That's also bad news. Our current 419 00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:20,760 Speaker 1: management did not create these losses, but they know we 420 00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:23,359 Speaker 1: have to address them. And as long as we know 421 00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:26,160 Speaker 1: where the blame lies, well he says, they didn't create them, 422 00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:29,879 Speaker 1: So it's the previous the previous uh management, not the 423 00:24:29,880 --> 00:24:36,000 Speaker 1: current management. Yeah, it's ah, that's those are some harsh words. 424 00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:40,040 Speaker 1: And and my Space has famously had some pretty big 425 00:24:40,119 --> 00:24:43,680 Speaker 1: rounds of layoffs over the last couple of years well, 426 00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:47,200 Speaker 1: as Risinger said Uh, I'm quoting him. He said, carry 427 00:24:47,280 --> 00:24:50,199 Speaker 1: said that my space is time is running out, so 428 00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:55,080 Speaker 1: they do not It's not just that they see, uh 429 00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:59,080 Speaker 1: the losses is not being sustainable. What he's saying is 430 00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:02,560 Speaker 1: if we don't fin this soon, it means that we're 431 00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:05,879 Speaker 1: not going to have a site. Yeah, add revenue analyst 432 00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:09,600 Speaker 1: E Marketer released a report saying that my Space is 433 00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:12,560 Speaker 1: ad revenue is expected to drop to two hundred ninety 434 00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:16,560 Speaker 1: seven million dollars in eleven. But back in two thousand 435 00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:21,520 Speaker 1: nine it was earning four hundred seventy million dollars, So 436 00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:26,200 Speaker 1: not quite a fifty drop in two years, but that's significant. 437 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:29,600 Speaker 1: I mean, going from four seventy million to two seven 438 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:34,800 Speaker 1: million in two years is not good. So yeah, my 439 00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:37,960 Speaker 1: Space has got to He's got an uphill battle to fight. 440 00:25:38,359 --> 00:25:43,960 Speaker 1: So assuming that this relaunch actually captivates some some interest 441 00:25:44,119 --> 00:25:47,040 Speaker 1: and perhaps the you know, marrying it so that it 442 00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:50,760 Speaker 1: works with Facebook as opposed to competing against Facebook, that 443 00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:54,920 Speaker 1: might that might be enough to help save it. Um, 444 00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:58,920 Speaker 1: We'll have to wait and see, because uh, I think 445 00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:00,919 Speaker 1: I think a lot of people just you know, they 446 00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:04,600 Speaker 1: don't even my Space is not even in their mind 447 00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:09,159 Speaker 1: space anymore. Yeah, there's no mind share. If you like 448 00:26:09,280 --> 00:26:12,160 Speaker 1: that term, I don't, but I'll use it. Yes. Well, 449 00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:14,320 Speaker 1: a phrase that it has gone around a lot, at 450 00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:16,960 Speaker 1: least in the United States during the economic downturn of 451 00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:20,359 Speaker 1: the last few years is the too big to fail. 452 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:24,520 Speaker 1: And I think there's probably no such thing for Internet 453 00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:27,439 Speaker 1: sites that's too big to fail. My Space would have 454 00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:30,280 Speaker 1: been one of those things. Facebook to Facebook right now, 455 00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:32,280 Speaker 1: you would think it's too big to fail. But if 456 00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:34,240 Speaker 1: you know, if the story of my my Space has 457 00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:37,160 Speaker 1: had anything to go by, it's you know. The lesson 458 00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:41,280 Speaker 1: there is that you can't rest on your laurels. You know, 459 00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:44,919 Speaker 1: you can't. You can't ignore competition, and you can't just 460 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:47,159 Speaker 1: assume that the model that's working today is going to 461 00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:50,520 Speaker 1: work tomorrow. You'll always have to be innovating and ready 462 00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:55,359 Speaker 1: to move once things start to shift. Um, which sounds 463 00:26:55,359 --> 00:26:59,479 Speaker 1: exhausting to me. Well, yes, I'm sure. Well, you know, 464 00:26:59,840 --> 00:27:02,680 Speaker 1: the stuff I've read about the new MySpace design seems 465 00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:05,960 Speaker 1: fairly positive. Most of what I see as well, it's 466 00:27:06,040 --> 00:27:10,399 Speaker 1: very nice. But is it too late? Um? You know, 467 00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:12,600 Speaker 1: it may not be. Uh. And it also maybe that 468 00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:18,520 Speaker 1: News Corp Is able to leverage it's new asset it's 469 00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:23,359 Speaker 1: redesigned MySpace in a smaller capacity and gradually build it 470 00:27:23,359 --> 00:27:26,840 Speaker 1: back up to what it once was. But but yeah, 471 00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:29,280 Speaker 1: I think it's it's it's going to have to overcome 472 00:27:29,359 --> 00:27:31,000 Speaker 1: a lot of the bad publicity, a lot of the 473 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:33,880 Speaker 1: bad press over the past few years, and a lot 474 00:27:33,920 --> 00:27:37,320 Speaker 1: of the momentum on the side of Facebook because people 475 00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:39,560 Speaker 1: like That's one of the things that Facebook has done 476 00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:43,399 Speaker 1: so well in integrating the other other websites, um, you know, 477 00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:47,040 Speaker 1: making a like feature available on other websites. You go 478 00:27:47,119 --> 00:27:50,440 Speaker 1: to a um, you know, a news site, you find 479 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:52,399 Speaker 1: an article that you think is interesting, and you, you know, 480 00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:54,800 Speaker 1: press the button on the site. Well, you know, that's 481 00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:56,600 Speaker 1: the big blue button that people are getting used to 482 00:27:57,080 --> 00:27:59,119 Speaker 1: a lot of cases there is a MySpace button, but 483 00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:03,760 Speaker 1: now you know, it's who's who's clicking that besides the 484 00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:08,600 Speaker 1: people who wrote the article. So um nice, but hey, 485 00:28:08,640 --> 00:28:12,760 Speaker 1: I do it. I do it for Facebook. So you know, 486 00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:16,480 Speaker 1: it's just gonna have to overcome that that thing where 487 00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:18,480 Speaker 1: you know, people are going to the hub, and the 488 00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:21,040 Speaker 1: hub right now is Facebook. Here's here's one way I 489 00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:24,920 Speaker 1: can see it. Follow me with this one. I'm following, 490 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:33,000 Speaker 1: all right. So Newscore owns my Space. Yes, Newscore owns Fox. Yes. 491 00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:38,800 Speaker 1: What if they did a two pronged attack where they 492 00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:47,040 Speaker 1: very aggressively attacked any unauthorized videos from Fox Networks on 493 00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:52,120 Speaker 1: any other site including YouTube, Yeah, but had authorized versions 494 00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:55,120 Speaker 1: on my Space and allowed you to link to those 495 00:28:55,240 --> 00:29:03,880 Speaker 1: versions on your Facebook account. Glee could save my Space. Um, 496 00:29:04,040 --> 00:29:06,080 Speaker 1: you know what, that is the kind of thing that 497 00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:09,920 Speaker 1: a shrewd business person would probably take to heart and 498 00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:13,680 Speaker 1: go after. We knew somebody who let me give you 499 00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:18,560 Speaker 1: the address to which you can write to the big check. Well, 500 00:29:18,560 --> 00:29:21,400 Speaker 1: considering he wants to put the Wall Street Journal back 501 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:24,720 Speaker 1: behind a paywall, I'm sure he's already thought of it. 502 00:29:24,800 --> 00:29:29,080 Speaker 1: But um, but just in case that address is I'm 503 00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:33,760 Speaker 1: just kidding. I'm just kidding, all right, then, So let's 504 00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:37,160 Speaker 1: wrap this up. Will it survive? Um, probably at least 505 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:41,760 Speaker 1: for the the immediate time now, you know, my space 506 00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:45,560 Speaker 1: is as we alluded to earlier, they're looking at time 507 00:29:45,560 --> 00:29:49,120 Speaker 1: now in quarters, not years. So it could be interesting 508 00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:52,320 Speaker 1: to see if news Corp. Would actually sell off the 509 00:29:52,440 --> 00:29:56,440 Speaker 1: asset to someone else, Because I don't I don't foresee 510 00:29:56,440 --> 00:29:58,840 Speaker 1: this becoming like an issue with Cool where they just 511 00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:01,480 Speaker 1: pull the plug one day and there's no longer on MySpace. 512 00:30:01,680 --> 00:30:06,600 Speaker 1: No that those uh, those subscribers are valuable assets still, 513 00:30:06,720 --> 00:30:09,400 Speaker 1: so they may sell it off to someone else. I 514 00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:11,800 Speaker 1: wonder who might purchase that. I would hope it wouldn't 515 00:30:11,800 --> 00:30:14,560 Speaker 1: be Google, because they've pretty much demonstrated that the social 516 00:30:14,560 --> 00:30:18,200 Speaker 1: networking thing and Google don't work so well, at least 517 00:30:18,240 --> 00:30:20,560 Speaker 1: on the United States. Actually, the Purple guys that I 518 00:30:20,600 --> 00:30:23,000 Speaker 1: mentioned earlier would be a good no. I mean that 519 00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:25,560 Speaker 1: we're all This is a wouldn't surprise me if Facebook 520 00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:28,680 Speaker 1: did it. Yeah, Facebook purchasing MySpace so that it would 521 00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:31,400 Speaker 1: have the access to the social entertainment I mean because 522 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:35,840 Speaker 1: still to this day, the MySpace band page is I 523 00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:39,600 Speaker 1: would say, if not superior, at least equal to Facebook 524 00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:43,040 Speaker 1: groups that are formed around bands fair enough, and of 525 00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:47,760 Speaker 1: course friend Feed another acquisition by Facebook. They've pretty much 526 00:30:47,800 --> 00:30:50,160 Speaker 1: almost left it alone and I haven't seen a big 527 00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:54,080 Speaker 1: change that some of the technology into Facebook though, right, 528 00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:56,000 Speaker 1: But they've kind of left it alone and left it 529 00:30:56,080 --> 00:30:58,640 Speaker 1: its own site. So they might have they might leave 530 00:30:58,800 --> 00:31:01,400 Speaker 1: my Space and independent in sight even if they did 531 00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:04,280 Speaker 1: acquire it, But I don't know. They may. It's hard 532 00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:06,680 Speaker 1: to say at this point because it's still a viable property. 533 00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:08,960 Speaker 1: I think News Corps still hopes to get something out 534 00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:10,720 Speaker 1: of it if they can. I'm wondering if one of 535 00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:13,560 Speaker 1: us will make a prediction about my Space at the 536 00:31:13,640 --> 00:31:19,440 Speaker 1: end of the year. Well, you know, that's the thing 537 00:31:19,520 --> 00:31:21,600 Speaker 1: is that we're recording this in the early November, which 538 00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:24,200 Speaker 1: means pretty soon we are going to have to record 539 00:31:24,320 --> 00:31:29,800 Speaker 1: our Technology Predictions episode eleven. It also means we'll have 540 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:32,720 Speaker 1: to go through the predictions episode we did for twenty 541 00:31:32,840 --> 00:31:35,880 Speaker 1: ten and see how many we got completely wrong. I'm 542 00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:38,760 Speaker 1: not letting you have access to the scoreboard this time. No, 543 00:31:39,560 --> 00:31:42,760 Speaker 1: I'll get an impartial judge. It'll be it'll be my 544 00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:49,640 Speaker 1: friend Juan Stricklando. Okay, anyway, let's wrap this up. If 545 00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:52,440 Speaker 1: you guys have a topic you would like us to tackle, 546 00:31:52,760 --> 00:31:55,000 Speaker 1: you can let us know one this is gonna sound bad. 547 00:31:55,240 --> 00:31:59,640 Speaker 1: Twitter or Facebook. Not my Space because we aren't there, 548 00:32:00,120 --> 00:32:02,000 Speaker 1: but Twitter and Facebook you can fight us. Our handle 549 00:32:02,120 --> 00:32:05,200 Speaker 1: is tech dot HSW or you can email us and 550 00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:08,960 Speaker 1: that address is tech stuff at how stuff works dot 551 00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:11,800 Speaker 1: com and we will talk to you again really soon. 552 00:32:15,800 --> 00:32:19,200 Speaker 1: Jonathan Um, Actually this was just handed to me. It 553 00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:21,280 Speaker 1: looks like how stuff works dot Com now has an 554 00:32:21,280 --> 00:32:25,400 Speaker 1: iPhone app. Sweet, that's awesome. Yeah, actually, um, I got 555 00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:27,840 Speaker 1: to to take a look at this earlier, and guys, 556 00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:30,920 Speaker 1: this is pretty cool. The iPhone app is sort of 557 00:32:30,920 --> 00:32:32,920 Speaker 1: a way to integrate all the cool stuff we do 558 00:32:32,960 --> 00:32:35,160 Speaker 1: at how stuff Works dot com. So you, guys may 559 00:32:35,200 --> 00:32:36,840 Speaker 1: have listened to one of our podcasts and we talked 560 00:32:36,880 --> 00:32:38,920 Speaker 1: about there's this great article on the site, but you're 561 00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:41,640 Speaker 1: not at your computer, so you can't really check it. Well. 562 00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:45,719 Speaker 1: The iPhone app actually lets you browse articles and blog posts, 563 00:32:45,760 --> 00:32:47,880 Speaker 1: even lets you interact on Facebook and Twitter, and you 564 00:32:47,920 --> 00:32:50,360 Speaker 1: can listen to podcasts at the same time. And it 565 00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:52,760 Speaker 1: has all the how stuff Works dot Com podcasts on it, 566 00:32:52,840 --> 00:32:55,160 Speaker 1: not just ours, but you know good ones too, so 567 00:32:55,200 --> 00:32:57,240 Speaker 1: you can listen to those and look at the articles 568 00:32:57,280 --> 00:33:00,240 Speaker 1: and and go on Facebook and Twitter. And it's should 569 00:33:00,280 --> 00:33:05,000 Speaker 1: work perfectly with your iPhones and iPod touches. Awesome. What's 570 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:07,120 Speaker 1: it looks like. It's now available on the iTunes Store, 571 00:33:07,320 --> 00:33:09,080 Speaker 1: so that's good to know. How much does it cost? 572 00:33:09,920 --> 00:33:26,200 Speaker 1: It's freeze Ah, brought to you by the reinvented two 573 00:33:26,240 --> 00:33:28,720 Speaker 1: thousand twelve camera. It's ready, are you