PDA

View Full Version : The New MySpace is Coming



vangogh
09-26-2012, 06:46 PM
It looks like a new design is coming to MySpace. It's not ready yet, but you can watch a video preview here (http://vimeo.com/myspace/the-new-myspace). I have to say it looks really nice. Seems like they copied the look of Pinterest in many ways, but it's not an exact copy.

I have no idea what will happen with MySpace. Maybe it missed it's opportunity. Maybe Justin Timberlake can bring it back to relevance. So far it does seem to have improved since he came on board. What I see in the video preview makes me want to check out the place once the new design is in place.

Wozcreative
09-26-2012, 07:59 PM
I've seen this a few days ago, and I have to say it looks a lot better than facebook.. and seems to "function" a lot better with the fluid Modal's. My only qualm with it is that, is it intuitive enough? Will people know what to do with it when they get it? I think those that are on pinterest (whom gave it alonger shot than I did), might get the hang of it quicker. I personally thought Pinterest was difficult to navigate, and I found I was lost too often. However, I think this one will take off better than G+, I don't mean quantity of users, but I feel the quality of content will likely build up and people will be on it for a few hours a day. If this works, I will definetly give it a try, the new facebook timeline UI is eye scorching.

I also wonder what the UI would look like on mobile devices as well. I think that will be the key for it's sustainability.

Any idea when this may be out for release/beta testing?

Pack-Secure
09-26-2012, 08:59 PM
Wow, I saw that and thought Pinterest with Music.

vangogh
09-27-2012, 12:39 AM
I'm not sure when this new design will officially launch. I just happened on an article pointing me to the video earlier. Awhile back Harold started a thread about MySpace and I was planning on adding this to that thread, but figured why not start a new discussion.

It'll be interesting to actually use the site and see how well it functions. It looks really nice in the video. Definitely better looking than Facebook. It's a lot nicer looking than most sites actually. How usable it is will be another story and we'll need to be able to use it to know. The video makes it seem pretty easy to use. I was watching what was being clicked and thinking about what I expected to see after. There weren't any surprises, which was good. That's no substitution for actually using it, but it looks like it will be usable.

I haven't had a hard time with Pinterest. I can't say I use it a lot. I added the Pin It bookmarklet to my browser and when I come across an image I like I pin it. I don't really spend a lot of time looking for what others pin, though when I have I didn't find it difficult. Of course I was just browsing at the time and not specifically looking for anything. More random clicking and exploring.

MySpace still has a lot of connections to music and it's possible they can use that to their advantage, especially given Justin Timberlake's involvement. I assume he has plenty of connections in the music biz and the world of entertainment in general.

There wasn't any mention of a mobile version of the site or how this version will work on mobile devices. The article I found was actually being critical because the site wasn't a mobile app. I would think this is just a first step though and in time we'll see apps for iOS and Android. I think there are still a lot of people who feel loyalty to MySpace and perhaps some dislike for Facebook and Google+ They might still have enough value in their brand to build themselves a network that can compete again. It'll be interesting, but so far I've liked the changes I've seen. I was never a big MySpace user in their heyday. I opened an account at some point and never did anything with it. Now I find myself rooting for them and so far I do like where they seem to be heading.

Wozcreative
09-27-2012, 09:29 AM
Now I find myself rooting for them and so far I do like where they seem to be heading.

I'm definetly looking forward to trying it. I never did get Google+ account, for some reason the hype just wasn't there, I didn't feel that when it came out, it would replace facebook.. but now I think we need something better. MySpace could be it.

KristineS
09-27-2012, 12:42 PM
Looks like this could definitely be interesting if you're into music. Not sure of other applications, it kind of depends who adopts it.

DeniseTaylor
09-27-2012, 01:29 PM
This is great news about myspace! They've been a bit steamrolled. I hope they can make a comeback as their platform was so much better for certain things.

Business Attorney
09-27-2012, 01:46 PM
I saw the new MySpace video the other day and agree it looks very nice. However, for the video everything seems to be very visual-oriented, and very nice looking photos at that. I wonder how it handles the equivalent of a status update or tweet consisting of only text with no image. Even when my Facebook friend do post photos, the shots are often too light or dark, poorly framed, out of focus or just uninteresting. I don't think that the content would look nearly as attractive on MySpace as their video does.

As an aside, I will say that I have been pleasantly surprised by the relatively high percentage of my Facebook who have been able to come up with great cover photos for the new time line. Photo selection and cropping is really much better, on average, than I would have expected. I guess that is a function of the advances in point-and-shoot cameras and even cell phone cameras, together with the ability to take lots of shots without worrying over the costs of film, developing and printing.

vangogh
09-27-2012, 11:56 PM
I wonder how it handles the equivalent of a status update or tweet consisting of only text with no image.

Hard to know until we get to try. It looked to me like there is some good design to the site and while they mainly showed images in the video, thought was put into how the site will look and function in places where images aren't present.


I have been pleasantly surprised by the relatively high percentage of my Facebook who have been able to come up with great cover photos for the new time line.

That could be a result of the apps people use to post photos. I doubt people are spending a lot of time in image editors, but plenty of the apps on smartphones will quickly crop photos. I wouldn't be surprised if many crop the images for you automatically

Pack-Secure
09-28-2012, 12:12 AM
Justin Timberlake's Hip New Myspace Looks Awfully Familiar - Yahoo! Finance (http://finance.yahoo.com/news/justin-timberlake-s-hip-new-myspace-looks-awfully-familiar.html)

Will Cunningham
09-28-2012, 01:06 AM
Actually to me it looks like G+ and FB combined with a little Pinterest thrown in for good measure.

Honestly I don't think more than two or three major social networks will be that big at the same time. So, if one takes off, it will be at the cost of another.

However, I DO see social networks evolving into smaller NICHE social networks like forums, but not so post/reply oriented. In fact, I think either the social networks will figure this out, or the forums will.

Your thoughts?

vangogh
09-28-2012, 06:46 PM
Thanks for the link Mary. I can definitely recognize the design influences, especially Pinterest.

@Will - I think it depends on how you define major networks. Off the top of my head I'd say we already have


Facebook
Twitter
Google+
LinkedIn
Pinterest


MySpace probably has the numbers right now to be considered in that group. Beyond that there are plenty of niche communities that are still pretty large. I do agree with you in general that only a handful of general social networking sites are likely to remain big, with the rest being niche to some degree.

I can actually envision a time when instead of one person having a Facebook profile and another having a Twitter profile, we each have our own profile that we allow different sites to have different access to. It'll allow us to build our profiles the way we want and maintain whatever level of privacy we want.

jamesray50
09-29-2012, 03:14 PM
I just read on another forum that Tumblr was the new social media website. I don't get it, it looks more like a blogging platform to me. I don't understand Pinterest either. What am I suppose to do in it except Pin things I like? And what is the purpose of doing that?

Wozcreative
09-29-2012, 03:23 PM
Tumber - Not really "new".. and the steam has dyed down. It is a blog, but is inter-connected. You can "follow" friends and you see their updates and posts.. similar to twitter.. with the exception that you get to post a LOT more content and you can build a website all around it.

Pinterest - Collecting pictures and sharing them with people, if you have a common interest (some of my friends collect inspiration on typography) it works really well.

vangogh
09-30-2012, 12:01 AM
I was going to say the same. Tumblr is a blogging system meant to make blogging as easy as possible. It usually has shorter posts that might be just an image. It is very interconnected to make following others and sharing easier too. Pinterest is a network focused on images. Images are a big part of what people share on most every social network. I mainly pin images that I like. Sometimes it's so I can find them again easily. Sometimes it's because I think others will like them. Sometimes it's because I want to help the person who created it get more attention.


some of my friends collect inspiration on typography

I do too. Typography is one of my boards (http://pinterest.com/vangogh99/typography/).

vangogh
10-11-2012, 03:20 AM
I came across another article about the new Myspace so I thought I'd share it here.

Myspace’s Comeback Strategy: Giving Music A Totally New Look (http://www.fastcodesign.com/1670963/myspaces-comeback-strategy-giving-music-a-totally-new-look#1). It has the same video I linked to in my original post and also some observations. For one, it's Myspace now instead of MySpace.


There’s a smart, multivariable search function that pulls in all the results across artists, albums, and users.
artists will have access to some nice visual tools for assessing their fan bases, things like dynamic infographics that show demographic data and maps detailing where people are listening.


In general it seems the idea is to help artists and fans better connect and interact with each other.

I'm still liking the design from what I see int he video and looking forward to the relaunch. I don't know if I'll ultimately spend a lot of time at Myspace, but the teasers are at least going to get me to take a look.

MostHeather
10-11-2012, 08:23 AM
Great thread about the Myspace - past, present and future.

After reading this thread I checked it out and found my last update there was made back in 2006. That's a LONG time to be away!

It will be interesting to see how things play out with Justin Timberlake in an ownership role..

vangogh
10-12-2012, 03:30 AM
I opened an account years ago, but don't recall ever posting. So far I've been encouraged by what Justin Timberlake has done. I do like what I see in the video. I'll be the first to admit I'm a sucker for design and I know a certain amount of my enthusiasm is the design I see. We'll have to wait till it launches to know if the design is actually usable and more importantly if people start using it. It looks like they're on the right track, though.

dianecoleen
10-15-2012, 04:50 PM
It looks great. I try to go to the main website but it redirects me to Google.com. Is there something wrong with the website?

vangogh
10-16-2012, 01:37 AM
The site seems to be working (http://www.myspace.com/). It is for me anyway.

dianecoleen
10-16-2012, 07:26 PM
It's working now. Thanks!

vangogh
10-17-2012, 12:11 AM
Weird. Maybe it was a glitch of some kind when you last checked. Glad to know it's working now.

foidesigns
10-17-2012, 06:40 PM
It has been a looooong time since I have been on myspace. But the video does make it seem like the new design will be pretty sweet. Will have to try it out and see when it launches

vangogh
10-18-2012, 12:28 AM
Yep. The video looks impressive. Now who knows if the real site will live up to what we see, but given what we've seen I'm at least wiling to give Myspace a try. That's something I couldn't have said a few months ago.

angelajason06
11-15-2012, 05:42 PM
Wow!! i am getting excited for this!!! :)