+

Cookies on the Business Insider India website

Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.

Close
HomeQuizzoneWhatsappShare Flash Reads
 

Former MySpace CEO explains why Facebook was able to dominate social media despite coming second

May 9, 2015, 15:43 IST

Mike Jones, the former head of MySpace and current CEO of LA tech incubator Science Inc., has been in the tech and social media scene since the beginning.

Advertisement

We asked the veteran tech guru to look back and answer a big historical question: Why was Facebook able to dominate social media despite coming after the wildly successful MySpace?

According to him, it was simple.

Complimentary Tech Event
Transform talent with learning that works
Capability development is critical for businesses who want to push the envelope of innovation.Discover how business leaders are strategizing around building talent capabilities and empowering employee transformation.Know More

"The real problem was that the world had been trained by MySpace that social networking was interesting, but the actual product had been perfected by Facebook," Jones told Business Insider.

Facebook's killer feature was that it replicated the real world by forcing people to use their real names, whereas MySpace users used pseudonymous handles, says Jones.

Advertisement

When MySpace started, the concept of giving out your real name, your identity, or photos of yourself to a website were all considered "risky behaviors." MySpace began the process of convincing people to move past that fear. Facebook ended that discussion.

Once people had become accustomed to that idea though, says Jones, people realized that the software needed to do social media correctly was Facebook, not MySpace.

"The training of the world to use social networking led to the growth of Facebook, which led to the demise of MySpace," says Jones.

Next Article