Help power Marketplace this winter when you support the show today. Donate Now!

MySpace showing its age

Janet Babin Oct 9, 2006
HTML EMBED:
COPY

MySpace showing its age

Janet Babin Oct 9, 2006
HTML EMBED:
COPY

TEXT OF STORY

MARK AUSTIN THOMAS: Social networking sites like MySpace and FaceBook are worth billions of dollars, but who will be the dominant online player? Janet Babin reports from the Innovations Desk at North Carolina Public Radio.


JANET BABIN: MySpace still has the most unique visitors each month and the broadest appeal, but its popularity among high schoolers is waning.

A new comScore study finds that most MySpace visitors are now over 35.

If marketers want to reach the coveted teen market, they might want to put their ads on Xanga, where 20 percent of users are 12 to 17.

Yankee Group analyst Jennifer Simpson says social networking sites are still in transition.

JENNIFER SIMPSON: “I can tell you right now how big the audience is for MySpace, but in the future it’s hard to guess. We do believe that to a certain extent MySpace and a few others are perhaps the last of their era in terms of being such a wide audience reach.”

Simpson expects most of the sites will ultimately focus on smaller niche markets as competition heats up.

I’m Janet Babin for Marketplace.

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.