April 19th, 2007
MySpace News goes live
Following the rumors last month that MySpace was getting into the news aggregation game, MySpace News has now gone live. Built on technology developed by Newroo (which News Corp. acquired last year), MySpace news combines the aggregation functionality of Google News, with user voting similar to Digg.
From London's Times newspaper (which is also owned by News Corp.):
MySpace is going into the news business with a service that will scour the internet for news stories and let users vote on which ones receive the most exposure.
This approach blends elements of Google News and sites such as Digg and Netscape, which rely on readers to submit stories and determine their prominence.
Despite speculation to the contrary, MySpace News won't favor News Corp-owned content, and, according to the site's FAQs page, news outlets will be able to opt-out — presumably to avoid being sued, as has happened to Google News — and that sites that aren't currently featured (including blogs) can apply to be included.
As I've said previously, it's clear that with MySpace News (and previous efforts around video), News Corp. wants to make the social network a one-stop-shop, with no reason for users to go elsewhere.
MySpace is fast becoming a portal 2.0 in disguise.
Also from the Times:
It also marks the site’s ambitions to become a web portal like Yahoo!, providing its users with a front door to the internet.
Steve O'Hear is a London-based consultant, educator, and journalist, focussing on the Internet and all aspects of digital technology. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
