It’s difficult to imagine an Internet without MySpace, isn’t it? Believe it or not, there was no such thing as a MySpace until the year 2003. A similar social networking site called Friendster had launched in 2002, and employees of a company called eUniverse who were members of Freindster decided that they could do much better themselves.
At first, Myspace was populated only by employees of eUniverse. This was done intentionally to keep the site from being so “empty” when other users came along. eUniverse then held contests to see which employee could sign up the most new members, and MySpace was soon the top social networking site of all. In fact, people left Friendster en masse to join and use MySpace instead to interact with friends and co-workers. MySpace allowed much more user customization than Friendster did, and kids and adults both enjoyed the challenge of making their MySpace layouts look just the way they wanted them to appear.
Everyone on MySpace knows Tom. You know, Tom Anderson, the first Friend on your list when you joined MySpace. What you might not know about Tom is that he was a co-founder of the site, along with Chris DeWolfe, who was around when the original intention of the MySpace URL was a data storage site.
With its main headquarters located in Beverly Hills, California, today MySpace is owned by Fox Interactive Media, and has the distinction of being recognized internationally. In April of 2008, MySpace was overtaken in popularity on an international level for the first time by Facebook. However, with the proposed improvements that MySpace has in the works, it is entirely possible that the site will soon overtake Facebook once more.
Why is MySpace so popular? In the beginning, there was not nearly as much to use and enjoy when putting together a profile such as MySpace layouts , widgets, graphics, and apps, as well as music and video content. Today, MySpace users can enjoy features such as MySpace Applications, including Bumper Stickers and Real Top Friends. Music is a big part of MySpace, as bands old and new use the site to post samples of their music for all to enjoy. Many bands were discovered on MySpace, and it remains a prime spot to read news and pinpoint concert dates for music lovers. Forums, polls, groups, and the new MySpace Karaoke are just a few of the many things a Myspace user can participate in.
People flocked to the site because of the social aspects of MySpace. The idea of being able to communicate online with people from other parts of the world just as easily as you could chat online with a co-worker or friend from your own city was far too intriguing for most computer users to pass up. Then ability to share photos, music, and videos just cinched the deal! In 2006, there were around 106 million MySpace user accounts. The social networking site continues to be highly popular, attracting around 230,000 new members each and every day!
