Myspace, I know what you’re thinking, that’s sooo 2007.  Sure, the Myspace enrollment numbers went into the tank and Facebook has become the social network of choice.  However, I actually think Myspace has found it’s niche…MUSIC.  And, to a much broader extent, content delivery. 

Myspace has always been superior to Facebook in it’s music handling capabilities.  Of course, I don’t ever see Myspace challenging Facebook in the arena of actual social networking again.  But, Myspace has become a very nice vehicle for content delivery to the masses.  I mentioned music earlier, but the video, games, and events sections are very popular as well.

Now, I’m not advocating anyone go out and dust off their old Myspace profile (remember your login info?).  I am saying this: use a web service when it is good at something.  I’ll illustrate my point with an example: Your favorite artist puts out a new album and you want to know whether the album is any good.  What do you do?  You probably do what millions of others do…go to iTunes or Amazon and preview the album.  If you love music like me, you’ll know that a select 30 seconds of a song is not usually worthwhile in determining it’s overall value. 

Enter Myspace.  Most artists have a Myspace page as part of their online prescence.  How does this affect you?  Go to the artist’s Myspace page and chances are (if they use the page correctly), you’ll be able to get previews of entire songs/albums.  You can use this same practice for video/television clips.  Wanna watch a legit reply of a Tonight Show clip, or see an interview with a member of the Jersey Shore cast?  Myspace is good for that too.

Now, coming back to the point, what does this all really mean?  Well, it means that if you are a builder of all things web, you need to understand what you are good at; know your place.  I know this sounds logical, but think about how many businesses (online or not) which have tried to continue fighting a losing battle.  Myspace could have ran itself off the surface of the map completely by continuing to battle the likes of Facebook on a daily basis for social network supremacy.  What did Myspace do?  They’re playing to their strengths, they’ve realized what they’re good at and they’re keying on those areas.  i know it may sound silly, but maybe we can learn something from Myspace after all…our place.