Earlier this week we brought you news of last month’s online statistics which revealed the social networking website Facebook was the second most visited site on the internet in the UK, cementing its place further as the most popular social network in the UK. The same was revealed in the US although it wasn’t always the case, as before Facebook came along there was MySpace.
This time five years ago, MySpace was the most popular social network in the US. It continued to be right up until 2008 when Facebook finally over took it in terms of unique monthly visitors. Since then MySpace’s visitors have continued to decline and last month’s results saw the site ranked eightieth most visited with 19.7 million visitors compared to Facebook’s 140 million.
Today we have news that the singer and actor Justin Timberlake has invested in a share in the struggling social network, which went up for sale for $35 million. As the article at Guardian explains, Timberlake is one of a group of investors, however he is said to be playing a ‘major role’ in the way MySpace is moving on.
Although his experience when it comes to social networking and running an online business seems only to extend as far as playing a part in the recent hit movie The Social Network, in which he played the role of Facebook investor Sean Parker, it appears that he is now taken his role on for real with the investment and will also gain a share with Specific Media, the online advertising company.
According to Tim Vangerhook, Specific Media Chief Executive who announced the deal last night, Timberlake will ‘lead the business strategy.’ The low $35 million price tag is but a fraction of what the site was once worth, but since its 2008 dethroning the site has been drowning and this therefore is there forced lifeline.
It is also reported that News Corp, the original MySpace investors who bought the site for $580 million back in 2005, will continue to have a minority stake in the social network after being forced to sell shares. Check out the full article at Guardian for more details about how much MySpace was once worth in its peak days.
What do you think of the investment from the singer and actor? Do you think MySpace could make a comeback and regain its throne?
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