Posts Tagged ‘MySpace’

The X Factor, the singing competition reality series featuring former American Idol judge Simon Cowell as its executive producer, may not be coming to Fox until this fall, but Myspace users got a taste of it starting Tuesday, as the show hijacked the social network’s homepage.

There’s one platform for old people, one for smart people and one for rich people. And, you need to know where the best marketing hunting ground is.

It’s one of the reasons why the social networking craze has reached mega proportions, modern teenagers would be lost without it and it is arguably the most beloved pastime of today’s youth. It, my friends, is online stalking.

Los Angeles Clippers power forward and National Basketball Association All-Star Blake Griffin will take his talents to Myspace, becoming the latest celebrity to “Hijack” the social-networking site, starting Thursday and running through Sunday.

Griffin will share his favorite music and entertainment content on the Myspace homepage, and the site will feature videos of him dunking with a camera strapped to his head. He will also appear in a short comedy video with comedian Ben Gleib.

And Griffin and Minnesota Timberwolves forward and center Kevin Love will host Myspace’s All-Star Weekend party at the Conga Room in Los Angeles Friday.

Griffin said:

Taking over Myspace this week has been a unique experience for me. I’ve had the chance to make custom videos that show a completely different side of my personality outside of basketball and share some of my favorite music and movies. It was a fun process being the editor-in-chief of Myspace.

Ever wonder about the social media demographics on different social sites, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Digg, Twitter, Digg, StumbleUpon MySpace, Ning and Reddit ? The Infographic below takes a detailed look at who is using which sites. The Infographic is created by Flowtown and was generated using data from Google Ad Planner.

President Barack Obama has been quite the social-media star since giving a simple little speech Tuesday night. First, president No. 44 appeared on YouTube Thursday, where he answered questions submitted by users of the Google-owned video site. Then Friday, as part of the takeover of Myspace by hip-hop mogul and Global Grind founder Russell Simmons, Obama prepared a special message for Myspace members.

Simmons’ introduction:

Over the past week, I have had the great pleasure of taking over Myspace, which was supposed to end Thursday, but I just couldn’t let go. I have shared my musical influences; exclusive excerpts from my new book, Super Rich; inspiring content from Global Grind; the best in art and culture; and even a little yoga. I couldn’t let go because I had one more thing to share. Nothing makes me prouder than what I received late last night from a hero of mine, the president of the United States, Barack Obama, and I am overjoyed to deliver his exclusive message to young people of this great nation. As we move forward, let us move forward together as one.

With great love, all things are possible.

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Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons became the latest celebrity to “Hijack” Myspace, as he will use the social-networking site to host the Hip-Pop Challenge, a contest seeking unsigned hip-hop and pop artists, through Thursday.

Simmons will choose all content to appear on the Myspace homepage, including music play lists, political and culture commentary, and excerpts from his new book, Super Rich: A Guide to Having It All. He will also launch the site’s curators program by selecting an official hip-hop curator in a six-month contest entered by uploading videos explaining why users deserve to be considered for the role.

I’m Hijacking Myspace.

Russell Simmons | Myspace Video

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Not long after laying off 47% of its workforce, News Corp is also likely to hang a “For Sale” sign on its MySpace social networking site, the company’s CEO confirmed to Bloomberg. But as the buzzwords around MySpace move from, “You’re Fired,” to “For Sale,” the bigger question for users is, “What happens to my data?”

MySpace is slashing about 500 jobs which is about 47% of its workforce. CEO Mike Jones maintains the company is not suffering however, but merely undergoing some early spring cleaning.

Myspace’s October launch of a redesigned Web site and shifting of its focus to entertainment apparently wasn’t entertaining enough in the handful of weeks since it went live, as the News Corp.-owned social-networking site confirmed speculation that it would lay off 500 employees, or roughly one-half of its staff.

While News Corp. claims that it the moves were made “in order to provide the company with a clear path for sustained growth and profitability,” they could also be interpreted as making Myspace leaner in hopes of a potential sale.

The statement from CEO Mike Jones:

Today Myspace is implementing a significant organizational restructuring that will result in a 47 percent staff reduction across all divisions globally and impact about 500 employees. With our recent relaunch as an entertainment destination for Gen Y, we introduced a much tighter focus, a significantly streamlined product, and an updated technology platform.

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