It’s hard to believe that just six years ago MySpace was the most popular social network on the planet. World Wide Webbers were absolutely enamored with the ability to fully customize an online identity for all to see. What a difference six years can make. Members of online social communities are still clamoring to update friends, family members and absolute strangers on every minute detail of their lives, but the landscape of these interactions has changed significantly.
Today Facebook is the clear king of social media (with no foreseeable end in sight), while MySpace continues to become the Albatross of the Internet. So why did MySpace fail, while sites like Facebook and Twitter continue to maintain dominance amongst an ever-growing surge of new social competitors?
Pure aesthetic and organization of content is one obvious reason. In retrospect, MySpace now feels like it was modeled after the inside of a high school locker. It was abrasive and overwhelming, with music, video, pictures, and comments flying at you from every direction. The freedom to customize led to a lack of structure, and if Facebook has proven anything, it is that members of social networks are creatures of habit. Just look at the online uproar created every time Facebook updates its layout (there are over 30,000 Facebook members on pages dedicated entirely to the hatred of the new Facebook Timeline profile).
More important than visual appeal, Facebook and Twitter have managed to make themselves central hubs for all other social networking sites through reciprocal brand integration. If you’ve recently tried to join any new social media site, you were likely asked if you would want to connect through your Facebook or Twitter account. For most people, this acts as validation of the new site and also saves time in getting started.
Rather than panic at the growing popularity of niche sites like Pinterest, TheFancy, Spotify, and Groupon, Facebook and Twitter have embraced these new communities and allow them to grow within their own sites. Both sites acknowledge the varied interests of their members and allow them to incorporate those interests into their Facebook and Twitter accounts – in turn placing these social media giants even more solidly at the core of our online lives.
It’s a brilliantly beneficial strategy for all parties involved. Up-and-coming social sites gain immediate access to 350 million potential customers, while Facebook and Twitter remain connected to the cutting edge of social network trends and sink their claws even deeper into our online habits.
The only people who may not benefit as much are the members themselves. It is somewhat disconcerting how quickly we have become comfortable with the idea of one company being at the center of all our online activities. We’ve reached a point where Facebook probably knows us better than most of our Facebook Friends.