Last week, rumor had it that MySpace was about to launch their long-awaited MySpace email service. It didn’t happen last week, but it’s starting to happen now. The company is rolling it out. It could be several weeks until you have access to MySpace Mail, but trust that it is on the way if you don’t already have it.
The offering makes for an interesting move on MySpace’s part, and one that could be a huge success or a huge flop. It’s no secret that MySpace has felt the pressure of competition from Facebook, which continues to gain users left and right.
MySpace is in something of a rebuilding process, as indicated by News Corp’s Chief Digital Officer Jonathan Miller. MySpace email could end up being a significant factor in future success. The keyword is could.
A few things that won’t work to MySpace’s advantage:
1. Most people are probably comfortable with their current email services.
2. Sharing on Facebook is reported to have overtaken sharing by email by at least one firm
3. Lots of people have abandoned their MySpace pages in favor of Facebook accounts
4. Email is not a new concept, and you have to wonder how many people it will attract
A few things that could work to MySpace’s advantage:
1. MySpace still has a lot of loyal users, and many of them might love the idea of having an @myspace.com address.
2. Facebook doesn’t have email addresses.
3. MySpace plans on getting much more involved with gaming, which could attract a lot of users, which in turn could attract them to MySpace email addresses.
4. It has a nice list of features like: unlimited file storage, the ability to embed photos from user profiles or the desktop with one click, the ability to send and receive music and videos as attachments (good considering how great of a role music and video play on MySpace), etc.
It will be very interesting to see if MySpace is able to turn an old idea like email into a new attraction. Will you be checking out MySpace mail? Share your thoughts here.
