Linda Nelson

Is MySpace in Danger of Fading into the Sunset?

If MySpace wants to win back all the filmmakers that have abandonned it's site, they need to treat filmmakers as well as they treat musicians. You can't even find indie filmmakers on MySpace because they are buried three menu layers down. Who's bright idea was that? Every filmmaker I know has migrated to Facebook that really embraces real relationships between companies and the community.

MySpace is just a different animal and was like a playground for people to make fantasy identities. You never really know who you're dealing with. How can a business hypertarget a fake demographic? Facebook encourages real people to make real profiles and deal with real businesses and this makes for a differenty type of social media experience.

There was a time when we didn't have a choice, there was only MySpace and we worked hard to build up a sizable database of "friends", but once there was a choice to build a real community and engage with that community, the game changed. I still use MySpace and think they are trying to adapt, but right now, my advertising dollars are going to go to Facebook, where I know who's going to see my ads.

I still think MySpace is fine for music, as they really push music and musicians, but it would take a major overhaul for MySpace to get the filmmakers (and their followers) back. Also, Facebook is a lot more appealing to a wider demographic - even people's Grandmothers are active users. They would never go near MySpace. It is what it is and maybe MySpace will have to be happy with a young, music oriented crowd - it works for that.

MySpace Founder Out at News Corp., Former Facebook Executive to Step in?

Facebook is a totally different product than MySpace - they are both social media platforms, but Facebook is much more condusive to honest communication between people and the brands/products they love or hate. The business opportunities on Facebook are tremendous, which is why it is being embraced by so many companies, yet personal profiles represent real people. MySpace not only allows, but encourages phony profiles, while Facebook forbids phony profiles. Advertisers want real demographics. It has nothing to do with the way the pages look. I'd rather have more options to customize the look of my profile and business pages, but it's much more important that I can confidently conduct business there. Also, the engagement opportunities are incredible on Facebook. We're actually casting our next film on Facebook with actors uploading audition videos based on downloaded script sides, so that that fans can comment. It's great feedback for us and we're building a core audience even before the film starts shooting. People love getting involved. Our film DELIVERED even has it's own URL, facebook.com/Delivered....

Top 10 Video, Multimedia Websites: January 2009

The domination of YouTube is amazing! Finding ways to leverage that domination is key to our future film marketing.

MySpace to Launch New Music Joint Venture With Big Labels

This is a giant leap into the future and actually a long time in the coming. When's the last time you bought a "record". As the brick and mortor record stores morph into virtual stores online, we will see the movie business quickly follow suit. It's time for "Music" companies to re-invent themselves and they better move quick.