MySpace CEO Mike Jones announces profile data sharing and login via Facebook. And yes, there are Like buttons.
On Thursday, Facebook and MySpace announced “Mashup with Facebook,” a new partnered product that lets MySpace users with Facebook accounts port their Facebook interests and likes into their MySpace profiles, allowing for personalized MySpace media streams.
“MySpace is very committed to this new direction social entertainment,” said MySpace CEO Mike Jones during the announcement. “We feel this is a complimentary feature to Facebook and other social platforms.”
“We think is a great example of MySpace’s new direction, which is entertainment.” said Dan Rose, VP of Partnerships and Platform Marketing, Facebook. “Facebook is very focused on being a social platform. This makes a lot of sense in terms of a partnership.”
This new level of Facebook integration takes the original relationship much further. In the past, MySpace users were able to merely sync up with Facebook so MySpace status updates also appeared on the other social network. But with Mashup, users will be able to log in by way of a “Connect with Facebook” button on the MySpace homepage. Upon their initial sign-in, they’ll get a checklist-like page where they can choose their interests one-by-one and then progress to a new, arguably better-informed MySpace media stream.
According to MySpace and Facebook’s joint press release, specific features will include:
- Facebook “likes” and “interests” that are matched to relevant Myspace topic pages, profiles, video programming and other content in entertainment categories such as, music, celebrities, TV, and movies.
- Tailored recommendations of new topic pages and profiles that are surfaced in real-time to enable discovery of new entertainment experiences and greater customization.
- Subscriptions to a broad array of entertainment programming, including originals, exclusives and content from around the Web that are automatically enabled based on personal preferences and settings.
- Enthused fans within the MySpace community that are connected through “friending” and “following” features of MySpace topic pages and profiles.
“This clearly demonstrates that the MySpace of today is not the MySpace of yesterday,” said Forrester analyst Augie Ray. “You wouldn’t have seen this level of collaboration in the past.” As Ray sees it, MySpace must do two things to succeed and change people’s perceptions about the newly-christened “entertainment hub”: drive a lot of traffic so people can experience the recently-introduced redesign and provide people with the best possible experience.
Mashup doesn’t do a lot in terms of solving the first part of the equation, but it does add value to the overall MySpace experience. Now, MySpace users won’t have to spend tons of time tracking down your favorite TV shows. (All they have to do is log in with their Facebook account.) Of course, it’s also an admission that MySpace can’t succeed unless it works with the most popular social network, Facebook, and signals surrender of the social network space.
Which is all well and good for MySpace, but what’s in it for Facebook?
In recent weeks, Facebook has been involved in a rather public dust-up with Google. The latter company revoked Gmail contacts API access, claiming the social network was being proprietary with user information. For all intents and purposes, Mashup appears to be a goodwill gesture that basically returns ownership of user information to its users.
“This isn’t Facebook saying you have to come here for everything,” said Ray. “This is Facebook really saying it’s your data. Use it as you see fit — if it creates a better MySpace experience for you, that’s terrific.” It also shores up one of Facebook’s few weak spots, potentially paving the way for user profile information which had previously just been extraneous, to one day becoming a potential revenue stream.
Expect the new Facebook-integrated features to roll out over the next few hours, but for now, here’s how Facebook integration will appear.
