MySpace’s plunge in popularity from the heydays of 2006 when they were considered the most visited social networking site in United States has been rapid with each passing day. 2009 was a year in which the downslide of the depleted social network got even more pronounced.
And 2010 is a year in which MySpace need to find ways to revitalize the social network so that they can be once again taken seriously in the social networking space.
But the recent departure of MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta is being seen as disturbing to the ailing social network’s efforts to chart their revival path. To put things in perspective, MySpace has been struggling to hold its own after being eclipsed by Facebook in 2008, and Van Natta’s departure could just be a further roadblock in their path of progress.
There’s a lot of buzz generated all around about whether Van Natta’s exit would further dent the fortunes of the depleted social network. Though it’s too early to say anything on this, one thing is for sure: Van Natta’s exit can be termed a tad ill-timed as MySpace has been looking at exploring ways to draws users to the social networking site and ensure they at least compete with the might of Facebook and Twitter, if not seriously challenge them.
The general feeling all around is that Van Natta failed to reinvigorate MySpace during his nine-month stint (remember, he was hired in April, 2009) but whether nine months time is enough to reinvent a business and produce results is debatable.
Clearly, newly-promoted co-Presidents Mike Jones And Jason Hirschhorn, who took over from Van Natta have a humongous challenge at hand in trying to trigger an upswing in the fortunes of MySpace. Interestingly, both Jones and Hirschhorn joined MySpace last April alongside Van Natta, who was hired primarily to revive the fortunes of MySpace but the former Facebook chief revenue officer and vice president of operations, would no longer be part of guiding MySpace to the heights the social network once reached in 2006.
Clearly, MySpace has some serious rebuilding to do.