Will Justin Timberlake Bring the “Sexy Back” to MySpace?

In the storm surrounding social media titans such as Facebook and Twitter everyone seems to have forgotten about the O.G. of social networking- MySpace.  Well, except Justin Timberlake.  The “Cry Me a River” singing superstar recently acquired  Tom’s favorite hangout and he has vowed to make it “cool” again.  Is it possible to make MySpace a social media giant again or is this simply wishful thinking?

Whispers of MySpace’s lack of hipness began in 2006, but 2009 ushered in a tidal wave of evidence clearly telling us that MySpace’s supremacy was usurped by Facebook and Twitter.  The reasons have varied, but experts and civilians alike have suggested that one of MySpace’s problems was quality control.  Specifically, MySpace allowed for several different types of projects to be developed, but did not efficiently test how various platforms would interact with each other.  In addition, users would often create layouts with blinking graphics and clashing colors that were visually assaulting.  In comparison, Facebook only allowed verified college students to create profiles and they could do so within the confines of Facebook’s layout.

Yet another factor was the increase of older adults using MySpace.  Ultimately, discovering that your grandma had a MySpace made it seem utterly uncool.

Timberlake and others have suggested that MySpace may be the ideal place to virtually gather people interested in entertainment, including music and movies. While Facebook offers many benefits it is a site ultimately dedicated to social networking, not to entertainment.

Do you think that MySpace will be able to reclaim the cool factor or should this project just die?