What is MySpace? The History of a Phenomenon

It's difficult to imagine an Internet without MySpace, isn'tovertaken in popularity on an international level for the
it? Believe it or not, there was no such thing as afirst time by Facebook. However, with the proposed
MySpace until the year 2003. A similar socialimprovements that MySpace has in the works, it is
networking site called Friendster had launched in 2002,entirely possible that the site will soon overtake
and employees of a company called eUniverse whoFacebook once more.
were members of Freindster decided that they couldWhy is MySpace so popular? In the beginning, there
do much better themselves.was not nearly as much to use and enjoy when
At first, Myspace was populated only by employeesputting together a profile such as MySpace layouts ,
of eUniverse. This was done intentionally to keep thewidgets, graphics, and apps, as well as music and
site from being so "empty" when other users camevideo content. Today, MySpace users can enjoy
along. eUniverse then held contests to see whichfeatures such as MySpace Applications, including
employee could sign up the most new members, andBumper Stickers and Real Top Friends. Music is a big
MySpace was soon the top social networking site ofpart of MySpace, as bands old and new use the site
all. In fact, people left Friendster en masse to join andto post samples of their music for all to enjoy. Many
use MySpace instead to interact with friends andbands were discovered on MySpace, and it remains a
co-workers. MySpace allowed much more userprime spot to read news and pinpoint concert dates
customization than Friendster did, and kids and adultsfor music lovers. Forums, polls, groups, and the new
both enjoyed the challenge of making their MySpaceMySpace Karaoke are just a few of the many things
layouts look just the way they wanted them toa Myspace user can participate in.
appear.People flocked to the site because of the social
Everyone on MySpace knows Tom. You know, Tomaspects of MySpace. The idea of being able to
Anderson, the first Friend on your list when you joinedcommunicate online with people from other parts of
MySpace. What you might not know about Tom isthe world just as easily as you could chat online with a
that he was a co-founder of the site, along with Chrisco-worker or friend from your own city was far too
DeWolfe, who was around when the original intentionintriguing for most computer users to pass up. Then
of the MySpace URL was a data storage site.ability to share photos, music, and videos just cinched
With its main headquarters located in Beverly Hills,the deal! In 2006, there were around 106 million
California, today MySpace is owned by Fox InteractiveMySpace user accounts. The social networking site
Media, and has the distinction of being recognizedcontinues to be highly popular, attracting around
internationally. In April of 2008, MySpace was230,000 new members each and every day!