MySpace still has a hefty traffic lead over Facebook in the U.S., so it was big news when ComScore released 2008 data that showed Facebook gaining quickly on MySpace in international traffic. According to the data, Facebook already gets more international page views than MySpace and is gaining quickly in unique visitors. In January, Facebook had 100.7 million unique international visitors compared to MySpace's 109.3 million; a difference of just 8% compared to a year ago when the difference was nearly 400%. While some other social networking tools dominate in specific international markets, no other platform comes close to the two U.S. giants in overall audience and reach.
To many, Facebook's international gains came as a surprise. MySpace had a head start getting into the global market, launching its first international site in Britain in April 2006 before rolling out sites in other European countries, generally with success. More recently, MySpace has begun launching in countries that are more difficult for U.S. companies to penetrate, including India, Russia and, this week, South Korea. In contrast, Facebook's first non-English site didn't launch until February 2008. MySpace still has more countries in which it is embedded in the local language -- there are 29 translated versions of MySpace specialized for 25 countries. Facebook is currently available in only four languages: English, Spanish, French and German. Facebook has also faced some widely publicized hiccups with its international strategy, including the failure to purchase all of its localized domain names, such as Facebook.fr.
But while MySpace plans and launches its international sites in a more traditional way -- setting up local offices, getting entrenched in the culture and then launching, -- Facebook is building out its foreign language versions with the help of its vast and committed user base. Instead of setting up an office and a staff before launching in new countries, Facebook is putting its audience to work with an online Facebook application that allows translation by the Facebook community. To participate, Facebook users add a Translation Application to their account that they can use to translate, review and vote on translations in their language. Once the language translations are completed and quality has been verified by the community, the Facebook site in the new language is launched for all Facebook users.
Facebook is currently working on 22 more language translations, and many hundreds of users have left suggestions about other languages that they would like to see translated -- and have volunteered to help with the work.
This savvy approach to new markets will be what wins the international audience for Facebook. In combination with the widely used Facebook Platform, which will allow international developers to build Facebook applications for local audiences, Facebook's international strategy is the better one. MySpace, with its less innovative international approach and still-new and largely untested developer's platform, will not be able to catch up.
MySpace does have one huge advantage in the U.S. market -- it completely dominates Facebook in music. This could be the one area in which MySpace is able to build out its international presence and counter Facebook in new markets. However, the recent announcement of MySpace Music and its support by three of the four major record labels also included the news that MySpace Music would not be rolling out internationally until issues concerning international rights were solved. This was the final nail in the coffin of MySpace's international hopes. The one area in which it had a chance will instead have the opposite effect of alienating its international users by making them an afterthought.
(Obviously, Facebook and MySpace are not the only social networks, and there are a large number of other social networks that are #1 in various countries, including Orkut in Brazil, Live Journal in Russia and Bebo in
Comments
Hello!
Your article was a good read, but clearly written for an American audience. Facebook dominating, or coming close to dominating, MySpace internationally is certainly not a surprise to me. Here in South Africa MySpace is a thing of the past; A distant afterthought to Facebook. FB completely dominates the 16 - 28 demograph, with nearly everyone I know on it. Even school kids, some as young as 14, are chosing Facebook over MySpace. I study Branding and Marketing and I remember being at my college when MySpace first hit the scene - for 6 months everyone was on it, messaging, blogging, listening to music etc - and then something changed. Everyone got bored of it. The initial *wow* factor wore off completely and instead we were inundated with spam, pornographic comments and superficial, superfluous BS that was just a waste of time (How many friends do *you* have?). In stepped Facebook and 2 years down the line everyone is still using it. I haven't checked my MySpace account in over 7 months, and why should I, it's probably just filled with spam and bands/models asking to be my friend.
In no offensive way I will say that America, to me, has always been slow on the up-take with regards to the latest technologies. I mean, I've been sending text messages for nearly 8 years now and only recently has texting/smsing become a big deal in the States. Perhaps it's because the corporations want to squeeze out as much money as they can from the American people before they wise up to it? I know the music industry does it by purposefully trying to promote American artists and virtually ignoring the massive international acts that pretty much dominate everywhere else. I mean how can a 18 year old not have heard of Muse? Come on, they are like the biggest band in the world (excluding America).
Eventually I do think MySpace's superficial trends such as the number of friends you have will wither and die down and people will come to see just how much more functional Facebook is. Sure Facebook has its own brand of unneccessary applications, but at least I know every person on my friends list...
MySpace is pretty dead over here in the UK. The younger generation all use Bebo (the ones still at school or college) and the older ones all use Facebook (the ones in university or in work). The one thing I do wish Facebook would do is focus more on music. When checking out a new band the first place I go now is MySpace and search for the artist there, even though I am not subscribed to MySpace anymore. As Matt said, spam was a big problem for MySpace. All I seem to get on Facebook is stupid app invites, but those are easy to put on ignore as the privacy system works well. Not to mention my MySpace getting phished. I have had my Facebook 2 years and never had a problem. It is not like I choose dumb passwords. Furthermore, I think News Corp knows more than enough about people without spying on them through MySpace as well.
If Facebook can replace email, IM etc all in one place with all your friends then it has the potential to stick around. They also need to continue working on their mobile site, because I use my iPhone Facebook App all the time now. If they made it that easy on all phones and the carriers made it free then I think a lot of people my age would use that to replace SMS as well? There is a lot of potential there. I hope Facebook goes about it in the right way.
I don't agree that is will go to niches. Sure some people will branch out into various niche markets, but the majority will stay with the general sites. For example, there are loads of niche channels on Sky and Cable, but most people still stick to the main 4 or so channels. People will go where everyone else is and where the content is. I actually think MySpace has improved since I last used it, but it is too little too late because absolutely no one logs in regularly, I would be better of talking to myself. Niches are probably bigger in America. Probably why Twitter is a big hit, although still very much with the geeks. Why take something such as Twitter which is basically Status Updates on Facebook? Why not do all things in one with Facebook? Just seems like an excuse for these technology superstars like Kevin Rose, Leo Laporte, Chris Pirillo etc to get their name in as many places as possible.
I think everything here seems very valid, the main problems mySpace face is the the transient changing nature of the average surfer. Or in other words boredom. So far it has done very well to survive.
Facebook is still young enough to have not faced that factor full on and time will tell. Personally I find facebook bland and it's apps overwhelming and irritating already so the only reason I keep with it is because everyone else does... The moment something better appears I'll be off.
Myspace on the other hand my survive, albeit in a smaller capacity if it is careful, the music-centric approach means it has a niche and thats something every company needs in the long run for when customers lose interest.
The question is what is facebooks niche and could it survive a new, more attractive, more cool alternative... I wonder
I like facebook better than myspace because I think that FAcebook is safer than myspace.
I don't think that more people have a facebook I think some people like myspace better bcause
you have a wider varity of what you can do
and on facebook you don't
I also like facebook better
Very interesting information here. I am living in the UK and in my late 30's and much prefer Myspace. It has music and it's more creative, you can design your own page, etc. And it's great for finding new bands and stuff. Plus you can meet people from all over the world.
I find facebook to be very, very bland and boring adn it's also nearly impossible to view other peoples profiles the way you can on myspace. And the applications are just nonsense and time wasting, they just irritate me now. I only use facebook for work to create events and stuff. But Myspace for personal use. It's just way more creative and interesting.
Bebo I wouldn't touch with a bargepole, most of the people on it are people I'd try to avoid if I met them on the street! And also most people on it are under 18. I know a friends son who is 9 and he is on Bebo pretending to be a 24 year old! So Myspace, great for music and creative types, Facebook good for people in your own area and for work. And Bebo, best avoided unless you are under 18 and also pretty uncultured with it!
Long Live Myspace. I think it's the best one.
HEY!!!
Thank you so much for your comments!! I'm currently attending college and in my Public Speaking class I'm doing my speech on Facebook Vs. MySpace and I was just wondering if it would be alright if i quoted you in my speech? Every little bit would help. Thank you for your time.
Alisha
facebook is the ultimate social networking tool, simple fun, and lets face it, has a lot more interesting people, and a lot less reported cases of peadophiles, I dont understand why anyone still uses Hi5, which I have tried, which is crap and Myspace is just not user friendly, FACEBOOK is the social networking tool of the future. Myspace, your days are numbered.
Ian i have to disagree with you comment entirely. However vogue it would be as a typical business/econ/ commence majors answer to the question here there is a major problem with your argument. You failed here to recognize that a social network is dependent largely on the expansiveness of the network. Niche site will be around, and the will prosper, but they will never dominate because the largest draw that facebook has is it ability to connect someone to almost anyone else, most importantly anyone else that the user might actually know. The facebook dynamic as it is does not depend on pure computer to computer interactions but operates best and most prevalently as a supplement to actual personal relationships. Neich site can offer this however only to a limited scope. The prediction i would have to make is that facebook will inevitably create its own niche style applications, or another site which offers those plus the current unilateral draw of face book will supersede facebooks throne; diversification of the market however is not in its near or forseeable future.
i would also like to point out that a massive majority of the facebook users crowd is already in a niche, that being either a specific highschool or college, facebook uses this and prioitize member searches based on what related affiliations a person has. A member from wisconson cannot easily view a page from a person in singapore unless those people are already "friended" so it is in a large part already niched.
myspacee winner
to the comment above ^^
bands aren't everything in the world, facebook is total domination of life and chicken pox! just because one feature of facebook is not as good as myspace doesn't mean it is any worse than facebook, i am a member of both sites and i realised myspace has tried to incorporate applications, thus copying what facebook originally did and failing miserably at it.
and why would you be writing about it anyway if its just a waste of time?
BLAHHHH
Readers: I've had to delete several comments. You are welcome to debate which social network is better, but please be respectful of others. As noted below, "comments that are defamatory, indecent, abusive, or in violation of any law will be removed."
Ian Lamont
Managing Editor
The Industry Standard
My opinion on this matter is that myspace is dead & gone. Facebook is definatly up and on the move. I myself have used myspace before but found it pointless. I haven't made a facebook account but I am considering joining only to get more in-touch with friends and family around the world.
Zanku. =D
I prefer Facebook simply because of what it CAME FROM. I wish it was only still for college folks. But even with everyone and their mother on it, it's safer, cleaner and easy to use. Yes MySpace is more creative and good for bands, but I deleted my MySpace and solely use Facebook. But I do appreciate it's availability. Facebook is annoying however with the apps...but I just ignore them.
I don't think it makes much sense to say one site is better than the other. And as much as people here try to talk Myspace dead...it's not going to happen. I have been on Myspace for 5 years, never once got phished, nor spammed. For people who can't work their personal security settings on the site, I suggest it's better for you to be on Facebook. As for Pedo's and alike, Myspace catches more and reports them to Law Enforcement. Just because Facebook doesn't report as many, doesn't mean the Pedo's aren't on Facebook. I hear less people bitching about Facebook, because I just don't know many people using Facebook. Down the road, most likely both sites will be history one day. People should just stop bitching, those sites are free, so you can't expect not to be bothered by ads. Craigslist is full of scam, and people still love the site (I do). I don't think the sites are bad, people who are abusing the sites suck.
Well i have acounts in bouthg sites but to be honest i dont even use myspace anymore, i became to big a fan of facebook, for a while it actually made hard for me to get to work because i keep on cheacking the recent activity jajaa but not anymore!! ( yeah my boss got the site blocked jajaja)...
Any how there is some unofficial voting in this site :
http://www.ibexmatch.com/buscarpost.php?cdpost=103&Facebook-vs-MySpace
check it out..and leave a vote.
Well i have acounts in bouthg sites but to be honest i dont even use myspace anymore, i became to big a fan of facebook, for a while it actually made hard for me to get to work because i keep on cheacking the recent activity jajaa but not anymore!! ( yeah my boss got the site blocked jajaja)...
Any how there is some unofficial voting in this site :
http://www.ibexmatch.com/buscarpost.php?cdpost=103&Facebook-vs-MySpace
check it out..and leave a vote.
I must be honest i do have acounts in bougth sites, but i haveng even login in myspace account since i opened my one in Facebook, i think fb is simply more dinamic and i enjoy it the must..
By the way there is some online voting Unofficial tought but it would be kind of cool to see how wins jaaj
take a look at it:
http://www.ibexmatch.com/buscarpost.php?cdpost=103&Facebook-vs-MySpace
Well i have accounts in bought sites, but i enjoy facebook a lot more than myspace, i dont even login to my space since like Dicember jaja is hard to keep up with bought sites aajaja... I think facebook is more dinamic and it has a better spirit ..
There is some voting online
take a look at it
http://www.ibexmatch.com/buscarpost.php?cdpost=103&Facebook-vs-MySpace
When it comes to complaints about myspace by facebook users, it looks to be the same old baseless, pretentious rhetoric. Let's face it: If you think myspace has pedophiles while facebook does not, you have some real issues with employing common sense in your logic.
Mysapce, being the first major social networking site, naturally became the poster-boy for everything that can go wrong with such a site. It's like when people cry and point fingers at McDonald's for making people fat, while the most fattening fast food hamburger on the market is sold at Carl's Jr.
Secondly, Facebook is synonymous with college students, because it originated on a college campus and initially had a reputation for catering only to college students. This appeals to people who not only went to college, or who are in college, but also people who have never stepped foot on a college campus, but would like to be identified with people who have.
People enjoy being able to call something "passe." Myspace accomplishes this for them. While they pretend to be above the "friend count" culture of myspace, they relish the opportunity to tout facebook as the site that "everyone is using."
In fact, doesn't facebook also show a friend count? The ignorance is beyond my understanding.
READ:~~!!!
We can not debate about something that cannot be solved,
The reason why theres so many social networks is because people change,have different opinions,find one thing better than the other.
Just because myspace has more users than facebook,doesnt mean that myspace dominates;it means that a more people PREFER a social network that they can relate to or gives them self satisfaction.
To tell the truth,all myspace and facebook are,is a trend.And every trend eventually wears off.
So 5 years from now there will be a new and improved site,myspace or facebook may update there site but people are changing by the second.It just like a blackberry,it was very popular until the iphone came out.Doesnt mean that the blackberry was bad or the iphone was better,its just that trends have there own time whether it may be long or short.
The reason why theres more users than the other is location kids these days find out about networks like facebook.myspace from friends,depending on the area...whichever is more "popular" you can find more friends that you know and thats the site you would stay with..
Lets face it,people are always looking for something new.
Thats what facebook has done,but then again since myspace was one of the first largest social networks..facebook took some ideas changed them a little and made a site.So you cant really say its "New".
All people really want is to find a site thats enjoyable whether its high tech or not,it depends on the person..and everyone is different,so you never know.
Thanks.
P.s.Feel free to make comments,i would love to hear your opinion on the matter:)
i think facebook is more fun than myspace!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I used to get on Myspace all the time; then I created a Facebook account November of last year and have been on Myspace once in a blue moon. I much perfer Facebook. Now when I look at it, MS is a place for 15-year-olds to compete on who has the flashiest profile.
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