Short Term vs. Long Term – MySpace and Facebook

MySpace laid off almost half of its staff this week and is reportedly for sale amid reports of continuing subscriber loss to Facebook.  MySpace was the social networking site when Facebook reserved its membership ranks to attendees of Ivy League schools.  It was the first site that anyone could log into and create their personal “space” on the web including photos, music, mini-blogs and more.

It took MySpace less than 5 years to become a star and fall from grace in the markets while Facebook accelerated at a pace that now eclipses that of Google.  What happened?  Well … it’s a case of trying to be everything to everyone and the master of nothing.  It spread itself to thin and lost its way.  Facebook has always been straight forward – you get what you get.  Sure, they introduce new products here and there but it’s a “one size fits all” model no matter if you’re a celebrity, student, housewife, or just a regular joe.

The lesson?  Decide who and what you are and stick to your guns.  An ever changing business model that reacts to short term guidance or market pressures ultimately leads to failure.  We’ve seen it before and we’ll see it again – history always repeats itself.

When MySpace was sold to News Corp. it forced itself into the world of short term thinking where quarterly revenue was king.  The pressures to top quarterly analyst forecasts eclipsed a strategic vision that was responsible for its rise in popularity and ultimately led to an ever changing and increasingly complicated social media landscape and mission statement that turned off its core user base.  These users flocked to the simplicity that is Facebook (at least from a UI perspective) and the rest as they say is history.

Maybe Zuckerberg had it right by resisting the pressures for an IPO over the years and keeping Facebook private?  It has meant he can deliver on his strategic vision from a long term perspective rather than a reactionary stance every quarter like most public entities.  You tell me … MySpace is the 49th most visited site globally according to Alexa.com.  That’s nothing to sniff at unless you’re competing against the likes of other social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr and a slew of others that rank higher for visitor count.  They’re all competing in the same space.  Pun intended.

Related Articles

• News Corp considers MySpace sale, what happened? (lostremote.com)
• MySpace Confirms Sale Rumors (informationweek.com)
• ByeSpace to MySpace: The End of an Era (soshable.com)
• As MySpace Sputters, Where Will Musicians Congregate? (paidcontent.org)

I’m Going To Tell You A Personal Branding Secret

“No matter what you did.  No matter who you are.  No matter where you’ve come from … You can always change … Become a better version of yourself.”   – Madonna

Change is a very difficult concept to practice effectively.  While organizational change in our professional lives is an almost constant occurrence, personal change continues to be astonishingly difficult to embrace in practice.

Change is more than switching things up “a bit”.  Change is more than being different from the norm.  Change is an ability to reflect upon the past …  right now … as an opportunity to influence your future.

I’ve been influenced professionally and personally via conversations and interactions in the past few years that would never have occurred without technology like social media.  Our paths are bound together as the distances that have separated all of us in the past become shorter and shorter through social media interactions on a global perspective. For example, personal branding is a global initiative because of Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Google, etc. Your reputation and influence extend further than IRL (in real life) because of technology.

Change is globalization – at both an organizational and a personal level.  We need to think much further than outside the box in order for change to be effective – what’s beyond the box?

The secret is quite simply – knowing that what we were is no longer what we are and taking advantage of the global opportunities that now exist to re-create ourselves …  as a professional organization, as a local networking group, or as an individual.

Related Articles

• Changing Beliefs: Usual vs Unusual (relationship-economy.com)
• Madonna’s 6 Secrets to Personal Branding Mastery (copyblogger.com)
• Changing Beliefs: Staying Ahead or Behind (relationship-economy.com)

Giving Back – The Trevor Project

Too many tragedies in the news these past few weeks involving suicide.  Too many young people that didn’t have anyone to talk to or reach out to.  Too many of us don’t do enough to help …