If You Can't Beat 'Em, Join 'Em

MySpace has been making news recently. Most significantly, it re-launched the service with a new emphasis on entertainment than social networking. As part of that re-launch, MySpace debuted its new mobile site, although there is no streaming audio on the mobile version. Another signal of MySpace’s big change in moving away from social networking was its mid-November announcement of a new agreement between MySpace and its former chief rival, Facebook.

MySpace, which ceded its dominance in social networking to Facebook in 2009, is integrating Facebook Connect so that users can now see Facebook likes and dislikes from their MySpace accounts. Additionally, their new Mashup with Facebook will let MySpace users log into their accounts from Facebook.

Despite all of this new activity various media reports say that MySpace’s parent company, News Corp., is sending out signals that it’s considering selling the service. News Corp. won a bidding war for MySpace in 2005, paying $580 million for what was then the world’s largest social networking site.