MySpace lays off more than half its staff

[ej510]

Social network MySpace has laid off more than half its staff of roughly 450 as part of its sale by News Corp. to Specific Media, The Wall Street Journal reported today.

The cuts follow a massive 47 percent staff reduction in January across all divisions that impacted about 500 workers. Now a shadow of its former self, the company had some 1,400 staff two years ago.
MySpace graphic

"MySpace did make layoffs yesterday; however, there are no plans for additional layoffs at this time," a PR rep for the new owner told CNET via e-mail, declining to comment on specific layoff numbers. "Specific Media will take another look after 60 days and invest in the areas that are under-resourced."

The once-proud social-networking site reaches some 70 million consumers worldwide but has continued to lose market share to Facebook in recent years. A design overhaul it underwent positioned it as a pop culture site targeting younger users.

In a memo sent to employees yesterday, according to AllThingsD, MySpace CEO Mike Jones announced he will depart the company after a two-month transition period.

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20075869-93/myspace-lays-off-more-than-half-its-staff/#ixzz1QnZYDkfc

I forgot Rupert Murdoch purchased Myspace. Who uses Myspace anyway?

[PoliticAverse]

1. Last one off Myspace please return the domain name... n/t

[ej510]

2. Myspace is a wasteland.

[ecstatic]

3. It's amazing how quickly things change.

I think facebook has done an amazing job of insulating itself from what has happened to all the other social networking sites over the past 10 years. You can't read any type of news story now without seeing the Facebook "like" button. They also have turned themselves into a identity/passport service as well. It'll be interesting to see how long it lasts.

[damntexdem]

4. Will change name to NotYourSpace.

Or LittleSpace. ;-)

[backscatter712]

5. Google+ is the last nail in the coffin for Myspace.

Facebook by itself was doing a good job at crushing Myspace, but now that Google's gone virtually all-in on their own social-networking site, Myspace will get squeezed out completely.