MySpace Slashes 47% of Staff | Hacker News Reader

MySpace Slashes 47% of Staff

techcrunch.com

49 pointsojbyrne18 comments

"Also does anyone think it’s odd that layoffs were announced in the midst of Verizon-iPhone hoopla? Yikes."

Why would that be odd? Why would Facebook care about unrelated companies while they are trying to remain viable?

Wait, did you say Facebook? If that isn't representative of the problems Myspace is facing, I don't know what is.

Releasing bad news simultaneously with other unrelated but important news is a common PR tactic. There are PR firms that will tell you (for a price) when big news will happen so that you can announce your layoffs quietly.

This confused me as well, but I think he means that the bad news will be buried in all the media hype/time being devoted to iPhone.

Exactly.

I was never on staff, but I spent a year working full-time with MySpace and so I have sadness and hope for the reduction.

I don't really know anyone who still works there but it is obviously sad when people you worked with in the past are laid off. However, I do think the reduction in size will help them focus - I'm guessing they will strip back their huge international efforts (which IMHO are waste because MySpace is really a US-orientated service) and most of the non-core products that just add bloat.

The new incarnation of the site isn't all that bad actually, but it needs to exist as a leaner machine of ~400 people in order to look like an attractive acquisition and find a home away from News Corp -- the only way the site will ultimately flourish again.

> I'm guessing they will strip back their huge international efforts (which IMHO are waste because MySpace is really a US-orientated service)

Really? They're in the top 100 sites in 17 different countries; I mostly encountered them while living outside the US, specifically for music stuff.

That is from impression as a non-american, as someone who used the service while I worked there and from looking at usage data. Even during the peak of MySpace it was never the #1 social network in most other countries outside of US.

The music stuff remains niche outside the USm and I think the level of "americana" (which FB never had) hurt MySpace in markets with an anti-american slant (Europe, etc).

In key markets, like Asia, social networking as a vertical looks very different which is why it didn't get the traction like local services did.

FYI, sort of related although it could be fake as there's no verification:

IAMA Myspace employee about to be laid off today http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/f09rk/iama_myspace_emp...

Would be interested to know what type of developers work for myspace now/ before these cuts. I can see how a lot of the content/ sales jobs would be in demand but I'd imagine quality developers would have either never worked there because the architecture appeared to be terrible or spotted a sinking ship from a mile away in recent years.

If you're a MySpace engineer that was laid off, hit me up: bpaetzke@leads360.com. I'm a software engineer at a .NET startup in El Segundo, CA that's hiring.

This is going to sound trollish, but I'll take a shot anyway: in three to five years, you'll be able to replace "MySpace" in this article with "Facebook" and it'll make perfect sense.

Making money is the key. MySpace wasn't able to do it with 100 million users and Facebook won't be able to do it with a billion users. Someday, perhaps, investors will learn that it's hard to make a killing by throwing free parties. If you're Twitter or Tumblr any similar social site, learn from these mistakes! By having Pro accounts, Flickr could last for decades with a decent return rate. Twitter and Facebook, on the other hand, will burn out in a few years if they don't find a sustainable source of revenue.

Fb is unlike anything else we've seen recently. Their goal is to dominate, completely dominate every second that you are online (and if they execute well on places then even when you are offline). And they will figure out a way to make money off you. The more they know about you, your friends, your likes/dislikes it will tailor advertising/service offerings that match your taste. And like someone else mentioned games is another huge revenue stream..

As much as I am not a fan of their biz model, its inevitable that they stand to make huge $$ going forward..

Doesn't facebook take a cut out of all the little apps and games that make money through their site? And facebook has the opportunity for targeted advertising far beyond what Groupon offers.

They also (finally) have their own micropayments system set up, which means they're getting a cut of all the payments made through them and I'm certain facebook will make steps to ensure they make themselves the sole payment provider for games used on it.

Who?

I wonder if they used a scythe or the elegant Japanese katana.

Heh. Until yesterday my linkedin inbox was filed with ignored offers from them

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