MySpace could be saved by Throwback Thursday
Young music and entertainment fans are heading back to the site — as well as older ones looking to take part in #tbt — and visitors are up 575% in a year
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.MySpace was long thought to have been in decline but is steadily seeing users return — particularly on a Thursday, when social media users share old pictures of themselves.
The site is still visited by 50 million users a month, up 575% since last year, and its videos received over 300 million plays in November.
People that used the site during its mid-noughties heyday are slowly returning to the site, with Thursdays proving particularly popular, reports the Wall Street Journal. On Thursdays, social media users on a number of sites including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram post old pictures of themselves, tagging them “Throwback Thursdays” or #TBT.
“MySpace was an early photo-sharing platform,” Tim Vanderhook, CEO of the parent company of MySpace’s owner, told the WSJ. “So we still see a lot of people coming back to access old photos. They may not visit every day but they come back once a week or once a month.”
The site is also finding increasing use by 17-25 year olds — one of advertisers favourite demographics — looking for music and entertainment. MySpace re-invented itself as a musical social network in 2012, after it was bought from News International for just $35 million in 2011.
That has allowed it to catch on with younger audiences, according to the Journal, who head there for music as well as the video content that’s on there. MySpace features original content as well as ads from brands such as Jeep.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments