MySpace sprucing up home page
Ellen Lee | Sunday, 29 June 2008
MYSPACE plans to begin remodeling its home on the Web Monday, simplifying how users navigate the site and design their personal profiles.
"This is a pretty big overhaul for us," said Steve Pearman, MySpace's senior vice president of product strategy. "We took a step back and looked at some of the key parts of the site."
MySpace, like other Web sites, has regularly tweaked its site since it was founded in 2004. But it said the new look will represent one of its most ambitious redesigns.
The change comes as MySpace continues to face off against Palo Alto's Facebook and other social networking sites. MySpace remains the dominant social networking site and by one measurement received nearly 75 per cent of the market share in April, according to Hitwise, a research firm. Facebook, coming in second, received nearly 15 per cent. But Facebook has been quickly catching up and drawing attention, particularly after it introduced the ability for outside developers to create special programmes for the site last year.
In the past, users have complained that MySpace can feel too busy, with flashing banner ads and too many elements crowded onto one page. It's one of the reasons, some observers believe, that users have turned to Facebook, which is known for a cleaner appearance.
Pearman said that in some cases, MySpace is streamlining its site, such as its navigation tools, which became complicated as it added more and more links for the growing service. But at the same time, users will retain the ability to make their profile as flamboyant or modest as they would like.
In fact, MySpace, in an effort to draw a wider network of users, is simplifying the tools for members to personalise their page. Users will be able to pick from prepackaged themes and colours, which they can then tweak. In the past, users needed some software skills or had to go to a separate site for help designing their page.
MySpace also is updating its video player so that it can offer high-definition videos. And it is improving its search tools so users can look for other members relevant to them -- that is, a person who might be in their network of friends or live in the same city, instead of the person with the same name who happens to be the most popular on MySpace.
Facebook is also making changes to the look of its site. It said last month it is revamping how it organises users' photos, applications and other information.
"This is a pretty big overhaul for us," said Steve Pearman, MySpace's senior vice president of product strategy. "We took a step back and looked at some of the key parts of the site."
MySpace, like other Web sites, has regularly tweaked its site since it was founded in 2004. But it said the new look will represent one of its most ambitious redesigns.
The change comes as MySpace continues to face off against Palo Alto's Facebook and other social networking sites. MySpace remains the dominant social networking site and by one measurement received nearly 75 per cent of the market share in April, according to Hitwise, a research firm. Facebook, coming in second, received nearly 15 per cent. But Facebook has been quickly catching up and drawing attention, particularly after it introduced the ability for outside developers to create special programmes for the site last year.
In the past, users have complained that MySpace can feel too busy, with flashing banner ads and too many elements crowded onto one page. It's one of the reasons, some observers believe, that users have turned to Facebook, which is known for a cleaner appearance.
Pearman said that in some cases, MySpace is streamlining its site, such as its navigation tools, which became complicated as it added more and more links for the growing service. But at the same time, users will retain the ability to make their profile as flamboyant or modest as they would like.
In fact, MySpace, in an effort to draw a wider network of users, is simplifying the tools for members to personalise their page. Users will be able to pick from prepackaged themes and colours, which they can then tweak. In the past, users needed some software skills or had to go to a separate site for help designing their page.
MySpace also is updating its video player so that it can offer high-definition videos. And it is improving its search tools so users can look for other members relevant to them -- that is, a person who might be in their network of friends or live in the same city, instead of the person with the same name who happens to be the most popular on MySpace.
Facebook is also making changes to the look of its site. It said last month it is revamping how it organises users' photos, applications and other information.