Myspace, the once-dominant social media platform that boasted over 10 million users in the UK at its peak, may be making a comeback. Chris and Tim Vanderhook, who acquired the struggling website in 2011, have hinted in an upcoming documentary that they are planning to relaunch Myspace.
Owners Confirm Relaunch Plans
According to People magazine, Chris Vanderhook said in the documentary titled Myspace: 'We still own Myspace. We are stewards of the Myspace brand at this point, and we are going to relaunch Myspace.' He added, 'We're just waiting for the right time to do it. And if that one doesn't work, we'll do it again.'
The Vanderhooks co-own Viant Technology, an AI advertising company. Their acquisition of Myspace in 2011 involved a creative gambit: they faked a press release claiming pop star Justin Timberlake had joined their team, which helped secure a meeting with Timberlake and ultimately the bid.
Myspace's Rise and Fall
Founded in 2003, a year before Facebook, Myspace quickly became a cultural phenomenon. Teenagers personalized their profiles with garish GIFs, sparkly bubble text, playlists, and ranked their top eight friends. At its height, more people visited Myspace than Google, according to comScore. In 2005, News Corporation, owned by Rupert Murdoch, bought Myspace for $580 million.
However, the rise of Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter led to a decline in users. The Vanderhooks persuaded Murdoch to sell in 2011. Tim Vanderhook recalled: 'We really tried to modernise it, but it was a different company at that point. It wasn't the same Myspace. By that time, they had been through four other sets of management and CEOs. We were going to be the fifth ones, and I think that there were a lot of the people who were really just done.'
Music Legacy and Nostalgia
Myspace also served as one of the world's largest music catalogues, hosting some 52 million songs. Chris DeWolfe, a co-founder of Myspace, told People that there is a big appetite for a music-driven website like Myspace. He said: 'I do think the algorithms have a lot to do with the addictive nature of social media. Everything's programmed to you and what you're going to like, with the complete and total notion of increasing the amount of minutes that you're going to spend on a particular social media site.'
Metro's picture editor Myles Goode, who used Myspace to learn coding and design, said: 'I now do this for a living – 2006 me would scream if he knew I was making graphics and animations for money. Also the fact it was secondary to actually socialising and wasn't taken super seriously, unless of course you wasn't in your best friend's Top 8.'
Fan Reactions and Previous Teases
This is not the first time a Myspace revival has been teased. In January, co-founder Tom Anderson posted on Threads that if he reached one million followers, he would 'talk Myspace.' The post was later deleted after criticism over his investments in SpaceX. Fans on social media reacted with excitement, with one user writing: 'MILLENNIALSSSSSSSSS ASSEMBLEEEEEEEE!!!' Another added: 'Can we please bring back MySpace, like it was?! We didn't know how good we had it! We're sorry! Please, help us!'
