the new new myspace (or timberlake’s toy)

By September 25, 2012design, social media

We’re finally getting a glimpse at the latest, pop-infused incarnation of MySpace. And if you’ve ever wondered what might happen if Pinterest hooked up with Instagram, well, you might want to see the love child yourself.

It’s been almost year and a half: long enough to forget that a handful of dreamers and $35 million were going to resurrect the social media has-been. Long enough to witness Facebook’s fall from grace. And long enough to watch the visual, particularly the photographic, take over the language of social and sharing.

Will a heavy dependence on imagery, a swipe at horizontal scrolling, and a renewed focus on artists and the fans that follow them be enough to breathe new life into an all-but-forgotten portal? Will the differences, functional and aesthetic, coupled with the cache of Timberlake’s attentions woo users away from their social spaces of choice? Many people have already left Facebook for Pinterest and Instagram, tired of the sameness of the experience and the indifference of the Powers That Be. Will this be something altogether different?

I snarked at the logo redesign. I rolled my eyes at the name dropping. I don’t expect much now. But maybe that’s not such a bad thing. Like they say in this business, “Underpromise and Over-deliver.” Let’s see what you got, Mr. Timberlake.