Layoff described by one source as ":massive" are coming to MySpace although there is no official word yet from the company. MySpace shed 5% of its staff a year ago and laid of as many as 45 more last month. But these cuts will go far deeper, according to TechCrunch and could hit several hundred. Management will inevitably blame a tough economy and plummeting ad revenue, but declining traffic is the real culprit.
MySpace Expands Executive Roster
As part of the shakeup that ousted co-founder Chris DeWolfe and ushered in former Project Playlist and Facebook’s Owen Van Natta as the new CEO, MySpace has expanded its management team with two key hires. Michael Jones who comes from Userplane and AOL has been named Chief Operating Officer and Jason Hirschhorn joins as Chief Product Officer after a stints at Sling Media and MTV Networks.
From the press release:
MySpace Gets a New Chief Product Officer
Last week, it was announced that MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe was leaving the company, and that former Facebook Chief Operating Officer and Chief Revenue Officer Owen Van Natta would be taking his place. Then his second in command was confirmed to be former AOL executive Michael Jones, who will be taking on the role of Chief Operating Officer at MySpace.
MySpace Gets New COO to Go with New CEO
Last week, it was announced that MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe was leaving the company, and that former Facebook Chief Operating Officer and Chief Revenue Officer Owen Van Natta would be taking his place.
MySpace CEO Shown The Door
Big changes may be afoot at MySpace. Although the info’s far from being confirmed, a new report claims that CEO Chris DeWolfe – in addition to at least a couple other execs – is leaving the company on what could politely be called an involuntary basis.
MySpace, Fox News Reach Out With uReport
MySpace users who have an interest in citizen journalism have just been given an opportunity to get involved. MySpace and Fox News teamed up this afternoon to launch an official uReport community page.
Court Rules MySpace Posting Not Private
A California court has ruled that a high school principal who sent a copy of a MySpace journal posting to a local newspaper is not liable for invasion of privacy.
University of California at Berkeley student Cynthia Moreno wrote a journal entry on her MySpace page complaining about her hometown of Coalinga, Calif. The post was titled "An Ode to Coalinga" and began with "the older I get the more I realize how much I despise Coalinga" and then went on to make negative comments about Coalinga and its residents.
Facebook, MySpace Make Profile And App Recommendations
Some VIP-ish individuals and application developers are about to become a lot more popular. In what seems like a pair of noncommercial moves, Facebook and MySpace are starting to direct users towards various profiles and apps.
Conficker Using MySpace, eBay As A Clock
The worldwide computer meltdown culprit that never was, Conficker.C, is back, this time as Conficker.E, and is floating along peer-to-peer to networks with one apparent mission: to check MySpace, eBay and other major sites for the time of day.
Just a week after the April Fools Day hysteria surrounding Conficker.C, most have forgotten and gone on. Security researchers, however, have not, and have noted more activity and a possible connection to the spambot Waledac.
‘MySpace Local’ Helps Support Local Music
It’s been said that all politics is local and perhaps the same could be said for music. Not only do many fans love to support local music, but they want to know the best places to see it. Bands too, want to know which are the best places to perform. But like a voter choosing between candidates, which one is for them? Which choice are other members of their tribe supporting?