MYSPACE's INDIVIDUALITY

Myspace's Uniqueness

This time last year, if you were to lurk in one of those places where “young people” accumulate, chances are you'd hear them barking “What's your MySpace?” at each other through their silly fringes. No need for telephone numbers, email addresses or complicated URLs.

But 2007 might be the year when MySpace becomes, like, so 2006. At the heart of all social networking services is a relatively simple framework, and one of the things MySpace had over its original rivals such as Friendster is the comparative freedom its users are allowed within it: it was also canny enough to allow their users to exploit this to their own satisfaction.

But what happens when, instead of offering a totally blank slate, new social networks crop up to serve the specific interests of an audience? This is what we're likely to see happen increasingly in 2007, as every man and his dog finds a niche social networking site just for them. Literally. Just look at pet-networking site Dogster, car-owning community Boompa, or London Fridaycities, the intentionally localized networking site hoping to nurture real-world connections (more localities are promised for the future).

To make matters worse for MySpace, companies are specializing in every part of the spectrum – with younger users lured to the chirpier and more focused Bebo, and people looking for a higher level of virtual social interaction and representation moving into new spaces like Second Life.

Meanwhile, functionality such as event-sharing (covered previously) and bulletins is being handled better by dedicated services. Take Twitter for example, the up-and-coming communication tool that actively encourages you to barrage your friends with a constant stream of updates about what you're doing via every conceivable platform.

Let's not forget, though, that MySpace is still in a very strong position, and it didn't get there without being flexible. Like YouTube or the iPod it also has a brand advantage and a specialization of its own: a healthy reputation for indie music. Even with white-label equivalents available to anyone off the cybershelf, for MySpace the groundwork has already been done, and for that reason it's not likely to be forgotten any time soon, even if the kids get momentarily distracted by something else.