I’d bet that in 5 years, give or take, Myspace might unthrone facebook. Not kidding.
Think about it: teens and tweens are leaving facebook, and they need (could use) a place where to hang out. Myspace is a hangout place about music. music unites people, creates tribes. teens hang out in tribes, not personally but socially. Myspace is the perfect place where to hang out with people “like you”.
I saw it with Fotolog and argentinian flocks of thousands gathering to talk and dance “Electro” online, and then even offline through the connections created in Fotolog. Myspace is perfect for supporting that social behaviour for teens and tweens everywhere.
Teens and tweens (in my experience) tend to be the most forgiving when it comes to uneasy interfaces, so they make great early adopters. They tend not to flock to empty sites, and places where their friends are are much more attractive, but the idea of getting to know new friends is also an enticing for them. Think IMVU with music as an avatar.
I really think there’s room for Myspace, as much as I feel Facebook cannot be the only place, the only online social network place. I feel there’s also plenty of room for other ways of socialising.
My bet is on an era of specified, specialised online social network places, where different people can have different, and several social needs covered more specifically.
Note: I specifically left undefined what “unthroning” means in this context. Let’s for now say that it means for Facebook not to be the only significant online social network service.
