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Farewell Tom: The Rise & Fall of Myspace
Description
In this week's episode, I explore the rise and fall of Myspace— the first site that put social networking on the map at a global scale. I look at Myspace's origins, why the site became so popular, and its cultural impact, including some of the most prolific artists and influencers to come out of the platform. I also go into how and why Myspace ultimately failed, and the legacy it left behind for Millennials online. RaWrrrrrr <3
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Timestamps:
5:34 The idea of Myspace
7:58 Myspace launches
8:42 Why Myspace was so successful
15:07 Cultural impact of Myspace - music discovery, influencers, aesthetics & coding legacy
21:45 News Corp buys Myspace
23:29 The downfall of Myspace
Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myspace2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_DeWolfe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Anderson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jb1gWuzczSQ&ab_channel=MagnatesMedia
Kate M. Miltner & Ysabel Gerrard (2022) “Tom had us all doing front-end web development”: a nostalgic (re)imagining of Myspace, Internet Histories, 6:1-2, 48-67,
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/24701475.2021.1985836
Angwin, Julia. Stealing Myspace: The Battle to Control the Most Popular Website in America. Random House, 2009.
Irina Shklovski & danah boyd “Music as Cultural Glue: Supporting Bands and Fans on MySpace.” https://www.danah.org/papers/BandsAndFans.pdf
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/01/the-rise-and-fall-of-myspace/69444/
https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/18/business/news-corp-to-acquire-owner-of-myspacecom.html