14 DAY TRIAL // Despite what its execs may be claiming lately, MySpace is still a social network and a large one at that. It has been bleeding users for the past year or so but the ones that are still around should be glad to hear that the social network has just launched a new mobile version of the site dedicated to iPhone, Android and Palm OS smartphones. The mobile site comes with all the usual sections you'd expect, like the profile and the friend updates stream, but also, interestingly, with a built-in IM chat client.
“Today, we’re launching a new version of MySpace’s mobile website m.myspace.com for iPhone, Android, and Palm WebOS users. This new site is optimized to take advantage of the advanced browsers and screen sizes on these devices, allowing the user to navigate MySpace and take actions with a lot fewer clicks. The new site also includes a mobile-optimized version of MySpaceIM and notifies the user of new MySpace activity (new messages, comments, IM messages, etc.) immediately,” John Faith, VP and GM, MySpace Mobile, wrote.
The biggest new feature, by far, is the instant messenger, which will allow users to chat with their MySpace friends from the mobile phones. The old version of the mobile site, which is still the default one for any other mobile devices except those listed, lacked IM integration and, surprisingly, so did the dedicated MySpace apps for iPhone, Android and Palm.
In fact, it was one of the most requested features for mobile devices so this should mean a lot of satisfied users. However, these expensive smartphones can't really be that popular with MySpace's mostly younger demographic so most people are probably waiting for the same functionality to be built into the regular mobile site.
MySpace is going through somewhat of an identity crisis at the moment. It is very much a social network with tens of millions of users and still the second largest in the world. At the same time, it has pretty much given up on the social networking front, leaving Facebook to take over the world, and the site is now focusing on becoming an entertainment and media hub. Its MySpace Music service was recently expanded to the UK and the social network has also launched a dedicated music video site in the US. But its success in that field is far from guaranteed, so it's nice to see that it is still putting some effort on the social networking front.
