You remember MySpace, don't you? That was the place to be for cyber-social networkers before Facebook caught on. It was such a well-known property that Rupert Murdoch added it to his News Corp. portfolio a few years back.
It now appears that Murdoch made the classic mistake of buying a company at its peak. Since the rise of Facebook, MySpace has become a relative ghost town, with somewhere south of 200 million users to Facebook's half-billion-plus. Music pages are the service's one bright spot, which is the likely reason MySpace relaunched as an entertainment site this past fall.
But it appears the relaunch won't save most of MySpace's workforce. All Things Digital (a unit of Dow Jones & Co., also owned by News Corp.) reported Dec. 31 that the Beverly Hills, Calif.-based company is in the midst of plans that could result in layoffs for as many as half of its 1,100 employees.
The report stresses that details of the cost-cutting plan are still being worked out, but whatever emerges will likely be large, for News Corp. has made it clear that it cannot continue to carry MySpace's large losses.
The report goes on to say that the most likely outcome of News Corp.'s attempt to shrink MySpace to size is a sale of the company. One rumor reported in the story has game publisher Zynga as a potential buyer - which, if true, would be somewhat ironic, for its current chief operating officer was once also MySpace's CEO. More irony: Zynga has itself become a moneymaker largely off providing popular games on Facebook.
Perhaps some of the likely-to-be-laid-off MySpacers might want to send their resumes over to Zynga?
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By Sandy Smith
Sandy Smith is an award-winning writer and editor who has spent most of his career in public relations and corporate communications. His work has appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia CityPaper, PGN, and a number of Web sites. Philly-area residents may also recognize him as "MarketStEl" of discussion-board fame. He has been a part of the great reserve army of freelance writers since January 2009 and is actively seeking opportunities wherever they may lie.
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