MySpace, which has fallen from its place at the top of the social-media heap to national punchline-level, hasn’t given up hope just yet. The site is preparing a major revamp of its homepage in an effort to rebrand itself and attract new users, which it plans to do by, uh, emulating Facebook. MySpace will be instituting a Facebook-style news feed onto users’ pages, with a stream that is “wider and more prominent” and that is constantly updated with status updates and shared content. Additionally, MySpace will feature recommendations — of activities and events, as well as “people you may know” (sound familiar?) — in a more user-friendly, consolidated manner.

The shift in design comes before what MySpace president Mike Jones promises will be a “major relaunch” this fall. The change comes as Facebook has grown to over 500 million users worldwide, while MySpace claims about 120 million.

“ MySpace and Facebook really aren’t even competing in the same category any more,” EMarketer analyst Debra Aho Williamson said. “Which is good. For MySpace to be successful they need to carve out their own place.”



If carving out a niche is their plan, though, one would think MySpace might want to move in a differentiated visual direction, rather than just mimicking every aspect of the juggernaut’s look and feel. Though it’s hard to blame the MySpace guys for not being able to curb their Facebook envy: It’s got to be rough watching Zuckerburg and Co. get the David Fincher Hollywood treatment while you’re stuck with the minute-long parody video.

MySpace to revamp, simplify homepage [AP via HR]