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Facebook killed the Myspace star: the demise of Internet celebrity?

Dave Siekanowicz - Tuesday, May 10, 2011



Recently I read about Myspace downsizing their staff (again) to help manage operational expenses. Seems like things have been tough for the social networking giant of yesteryear. Their recent attempts of allowing users to link their Myspace profiles with Facebook profiles reveal their desperate appeal to work with the king of social networking they can no longer compete with. With all these changes and losses we have to remember that it's not only the company that suffers, but also the end user. The few Myspace faithful, some of whom own their careers to Myspace. Do you remember them? The "Myspace Celebrities"? 

 What a unique phenomenon; regular individuals who for some reason hit it big and grew in their self generated and operated popularity all thanks to a social networking site. The Mickey Avalons, Tila Tequilas and Steve's Peeps (to name a few I remember from years ago); who had millions of friends, millions of profile views and were able to sell cds, t-shirts and earn money via appearances- all for being the most popular people on Myspace. They were featured on countless TV talk shows, in numerous articles and even prime time television interviews earning them the status of (some minor sort of) celebrity in the real world. These were the kings and queens of Myspace. But as the website's millions of users made the shift to Facebook, our Myspace Celebrities slowly faded into oblivion along with Myspace. Theirs was a dependant relationship: the celebs needed Myspace for fame as much as Myspace needed their celebs to generate user interest and promote the website. 

It is interesting to reflect on how these individuals would have never become (somewhat) famous on Facebook. Myspace provided a unique platform that helped them create a celebrity persona and distribute it to the greatest amount of people. Facebook, while asking that a user's profile reflect their true identity, has too many privacy restrictions and an interface that is too limited in control (html, css, all that fun coding stuff). So with the impending death of Myspace (sorry but I call them like I see them), I must question what will become of the short lives of the Myspace Celebrities? Will they become a completely obsolete blur of the past, or will a new social network rise to fame and give them their platform? Will internet celebrities ever exist again? Youtube stars do fit in a similar genre. Regardless of their uncertain future, I for one easily credit Facebook with the destruction of their short lived internet fame. 
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