MySpace has long been the UK’s leading social network (in terms of traffic), but the site seems to be losing its touch. Conversely, two competitors – Bebo and Facebook – are starting to show strong gains of their own.
That’s not to say MySpace is doing poorly – it had a unique audience of 6.5 million people in May, according to Nielsen//NetRatings, compared to 4.0 and 3.2 million, respectively, for the other sites. But the research firm still states, “MySpace records on its second monthly drop in traffic since November 2005, and Facebook becomes bigger in the UK than the US.”
As that last bit of information implies, growth numbers don’t favor the reigning champ. Between November of 2006 and May of 2007, MySpace experienced a 28 percent gain. That doesn’t sound bad, yet Bebo grew by 49 percent, and Facebook fairly exploded by 523 percent.
At this rate – and I’ve used the very scientific method of extending lines of slope with my hands – Facebook is likely to catch up with MySpace within the next six months, and Bebo could achieve the same feat.
Once again, however, I should point out that MySpace is not necessarily doomed. “There was also evidence that there is plenty of promiscuity amongst the social networkers – at least when it comes to visiting the various sites,” reports the BBC’s Rory Cellan-Jones. “Around half a million British users visited all three services in May.”
