Ok, so I was wrong on my prediction that MySpace would be bought by a foreign corporation. Instead, it’s been bought by an investment group that includes Justin Timberlake. That’s actually even better because I’m going to tell you how Myspace should be saved and Mr. Timberlake is the lynchpin in that plan.
However, the first thing they should do is change the name. The name MySpace is about as trendy as the pet rock and parachute pants. Not to mention it conjures images of sexual predators and garishly designed profiles.
Now the one thing that MySpace did better than any other social site, in my opinion, was music. That should be MySpace’s main focus in the future. Establish itself as the music site on the internet. However in order to achieve that they would need a major star besides Mr. Timberlake to endorse it and it would need someone big. Someone like Lady Gaga or Justin Bieber to push it. Say what you will about their musical talents or lack thereof but both currently have a huge following.
It also needs to be integrated with Facebook. Don’t try to be the end-all and be all social network. Facebook ate your lunch once and could do it repeatedly.
This one is key. Limit the amount of customization a user can do on their profile. No more animated gif backgrounds and no more loading up the page with so much flash that it would make the mightiest browser cry.
In short, be minimalist. Do one thing and be the best at it.
The Trench Reynolds Report 