Time to recognise not all social networks are the same

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 | By Charlotte McEleny

Ever since Facebook stormed into the social networking arena, sites such as MySpace and Bebo have struggled to maintain the foothold they once had. MySpace has since restructured to focus on music and entertainment, so should we still be comparing it to Facebook, or to other music and entertainment sites?

Over the past year, Bebo and MySpace have either faced closure or seen redundancies affecting a large proportion of staff globally. Bebo has just been saved after it was bought last week by Criterion Capital for an undisclosed sum (nma.co.uk 17 June 2010). It’s still unknown what Bebo will now do to regain its position and be profitable, but MySpace restructured as a music and entertainment site after culling almost two-thirds of its international workforce.

When MySpace announced its new strategy last year, the industry said it would still be a viable platform for advertising as a lot of brands were keen to align themselves with music. According to figures from UKOM, MySpace traffic has dropped by 37% over the past year to 3.1m users in May 2010. Compare that to Facebook, which says it now has more than 26m active users in the UK, and it’s easy to understand why the media is still labelling MySpace as ailing.

Bu, if you compare MySpace to other music sites, it’s a strong proposition. It currently has over double the audience of Spotify (1.4m unique users) and over triple that of MTV (757,000), MSN Music (868,000) and CBS Interactive Music Group (886,000), owner of Last.fm.

In terms of engagement, it also ranks higher than most sites, according to UKOM, for time spent there. Spotify beats MySpace Music by a long shot, but MySpace still boasts double the average dwell time of the majority of music sites.

It’s redundant to compare sites such as MySpace and Bebo to Facebook, because it suggests they’re still attempting the impossible task of dethroning the social network giant. In terms of user numbers and time spent, it’s almost redundant to compare Facebook to most sites, with the exception of Google. It’s time we looked at these sites within the context of their specialisms and acknowledge the merits their social foundations provide: engagement.

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