I just got done reading this thread over on Digg about someone who did a Myspace homepage redesign and although it is better than the current version, many of the commentors agree that there really is no point since Myspace will not change. Let me rephrase that by saying Myspace can not change. Myspace is stuck in the position they are now and it would take some mighty fine programming to get people to move to a new form of layouts and code without breaking the millions of disgusting ready-made templates already available. But I got to thinking and what if they just simply created another Myspace?
They have all the data they need in their databases, so why not just create a whole new site on another domain? You can start fresh and scale as you wish with new features while also slowly moving your current userbase over to the new site. Many people believe that over time when a person gets tired of Myspace that they will simply go on to the next best thing. Why can’t that next best thing be done by Myspace?
Maybe I am being feeble-minded here, but I can’t help but draw comparisons to how games work. Every once in a while a great game comes along and a strong community builds up around it. Maybe the community is focused around modifications (mods) of the game and continue to make it exciting for each other as time goes on. However, there comes a point where you can only take a game so far and by this time the game publisher is usually already hard at work creating the next version.
There is a chance you will alienate a small population of your audience with the new game, but you have a greater chance of bringing even more people on board. People like new versions, with the exception of movies. Hell, I was even going to suggest Myspace2.com as the domain, but that is uglier than Myspace 1. In any case, am I thinking crazy here and why don’t we see this done more often outside of video games? Isn’t there a time where you just can’t add anymore to your website and you need to start from a fresh perspective?
When it comes to social networking sites, the biggest features aren’t what the site can do, but who is using the site and Myspace has that feature on lock.
Originally posted on January 29, 2007 @ 11:22 am