I signed up to Myspace to experience the OG social network and it was a disaster

In 2003, a social networking site emerged from a corner of the internet promising genuine connections and new discoveries. Users could create customizable profile pages, post photos, update their status, and rank their top eight friends.

No, we're not talking about Facebook, here.

Users could also discover new music from up-and-coming bands like the Arctic Monkeys and Owl City, or musicians like Calvin Harris and Colbie Caillat.

It quickly took off, and by June 2006 it became the most visited website in the world - even surpassing Google and Yahoo. By August of the same year, the website had attracted over 100 million users.

But as fast as it rose, it fell.

That website was, of course, Myspace and what TikTok is to Gen Z, Myspace is to Millennials.

There is perhaps nothing more out-of-touch than a person who is actively using Myspace in 2022. I actually don’t know a single person who uses it, mostly because even for people who are hungry for nostalgia, Myspace is a shell of what it used to be.

What was once crawling with neon wallpapers, poorly spelled words, and photos taken at a 35-degree angle is now a black-and-white website with bold font and a simple interface that is mainly used for lowkey musicians.

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It feels a bit fraudulent to try to understand the allure of Myspace when the current website interface looks like this.

The new interface of Myspace is simplistic Myspace

But I did try!

With the resurgence of y2k culture, plus the worries of increasingly addictive social media and Elon Musk's apparent takeover of Twitter, I thought now would be the perfect time to return to the OG social network.

Sadly, what I've gathered from my week trying to get a handle on Myspace, is that the site is really just for underground musicians. It's easy to find new music or read about washed-up actors’ latest prowess, but other than that, there isn't much to do.

There’s no way to discover friends unless you, well, connect to Facebook. And even if you try to search for people an empty photo comes up.

I even tried to search for the iconic posts of Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Jeffree Star, Ke$ha, and more celebrities who actively used Myspace. But each time it turned up a profile with little to no posts or photos.

The lack of photos and posts is because in 2019 the company lost most of its user-uploaded data when it switched servers.

Rude.

Every day I logged into Myspace ready to read articles about random artists. But instead, I found that the people who run Myspace (an estimated 150 employees) rarely update the site with new information.

For example, an article about a musician called Bikini Kill going on the tour had been at the top of the ‘featured’ page for more than two months.

I could rank my top eight friends if I had any, or I could find random users and connect with them but it seems not many active users actually post anymore.

Its sole purpose has become music-orientated. But even for listening or discovering music, it's dead.

I tried to find the most popular songs on Myspace and stumbled across a 'mixes' aka playlists that the platform created. There was a mix available for some music genres but like most things on the site, it was very outdated.

This is their list of top pop songs.

1. Black Widow - Iggy Azalea ft. Rita Ora

2. All About That Bass- Meghan Trainor

3. Bang Bang - Ariana Grande, Jessie J, Niki Minaj

4. Don't Tell 'Em - Jeremih

5. Habits (Stay High) - Tove Lo

So what happened to this once-booming website of people with insane haircuts and body piercings?

In 2005, News Corp, founded by Rupert Murdoch, bought Myspace for $580 million and supposedly told the website’s leadership that nothing would change upon acquisition.

“The reality was that as time went on, the corporate policies creeped in," Sean Percival the former Vice President of Online Marketing for Myspace told The Guardian. "The lawyers came in, the accountants. Everything came in. As opposed to being this nimble, fast-moving sports car, they started to become slow."

With a new parent company that seemed to be operating like an over-protective guardian, it was hard for the site to get anything done. Plus there was no clear direction for the site to go in.

Meanwhile, while Myspace was running in circles trying to figure out what to do, Facebook was creeping up in popularity.

Ultimately by 2010, it was clear Myspace was not going to last much longer. In 2011, the site was sold to Specific Media for an undisclosed amount. Then in 2016, it was sold again to Time Inc. along with its parent company. In 2018, Meredith Corporation bought Time Inc. thus acquiring Myspace.

Giving credit where credit is due, there are a few things Myspace does right. The first being it feels more genuine than Instagram or Facebook nowadays.

Although Myspace went through its fair share of acquisitions and parent company divorces, it seemingly does not succumb to the advertisement-heavy interface that Facebook, Instagram, and even TikTok do.

Its simplicity makes it relatively easy to use and the lack of in-your-face advertisements is refreshing.

I think it’s fair to say most people yearn for a social media app that feels genuine. While I hoped Myspace could be it, it has strayed so far from its beginnings it's hard to tell imagine it resurrecting.

We have Spotify, Soundcloud, Apple Music, and more to listen to our favorite artists and discover new music. We have Instagram to show off our photos. We have Facebook to connect with old friends. And we have TikTok to watch funny videos from across the globe.

I could see Myspace having a resurgence if they pivoted from random musicians to an early 2000s nostalgic wonderland. But otherwise, I fear Myspace is a lost cause.

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