Lately I’ve heard some grumblings around the world wide web that maybe, just maybe Myspace isn’t as relevant as it once was. I’m here to tell you that such a claim is a bunch of “hooey“! It is still very much relevant. In fact it is still the most relevant social network in the world. Why?

Longevity

Myspace was founded in August of 2003. A little over 4 years old (as of this writing). That might not seem like much time for a business to be in existence, and it’s not for traditional “brick and mortar” stores, but online it is a significant achievement. Myspace has proven that it has staying power.

Simplicity

Myspace was designed from the ground up for ease of use and has been maintained, updated, and upgraded over the past 4 years with that same principle in mind.

Networking

Sure other sites do it, and arguably better in many cases, but there is something nearly “magical” (some might say infuriating) when it comes to networking with friends, family, and strangers on Myspace. It goes back to how simple the overall design is.

Cost

It’s hard to beat free. And before you start in about “getting what you pay for” take a few things into consideration. First realize that Myspace gives you a GLOBAL advertising vehicle, and then think about this:

• It allows written media, for free
• It allows spoken media (podcasts), for free
• It allows video media, for free
• It broadcasts 24/7 to hundreds of millions of people, for free

I don’t know the numbers but I do know that if you tried to do all of those things above, especially for free, you’d find it would sink a small nation in debt up to its eyeballs.

Built-in Blog

It’s certainly not the greatest blogging platform in the world but it allows you to give people a sneak preview of your work as a means to entice them to your blog where the real work is done.

Customization

With a little bit of effort you can make your Myspace page nearly indistinguishable for your blog. A seamless transfer from your profile page to your website or blog is essential for the customer’s experience. There are all kinds of resources that will get you started with customizing your Myspace profile. One is Hacking a more tasteful Myspace located over on Mike Davidson’s blog. Mike was also the cofounder of the site Newsvine.

All of that is great, but it isn’t the real reason why Myspace is as relevant today as it has ever been. The real reason is the people who use it. Who uses Myspace? Everyone from teens to old ladies with nothing more to do but surf the internet and play rummy. Everyone from business people to transients checking it out in the local library. The demographic that makes up the Myspace audience is astounding when you think about it. And each and every one of them is literally one or two clicks from becoming a loyal reader of your blog and another revenue stream.

In the time it has taken me to write this article (about 20 minutes) I have had 4 new friend requests and 5 people have accepted requests I sent out a little earlier. I’ve had 6 new visits to this blog from my Myspace profile page and 2 new clicks on Google adsense ads. Just in case you doubt how effective marketing to a Myspace audience can be.

Before we close this up let’s just cover one more topic regarding Myspace. Adding friends. Here’s what we know about it.

• It is a pain in the butt
• It is time consuming
• It is often a crap shoot as far as quality goes
• Myspace could offer some better tools for adding friends

But in order for Myspace marketing to work you have to add friends. The more the merrier, right? Wrong! Just like in any other form of advertising you must target your audience according to their needs, their emotions, their demographics, their spending capacity, etc.

You wouldn’t market a full set of hockey equipment to a 65 year old grandmother would you? You wouldn’t market guns and ammo to a 12 year old boy living in Detroit Michigan would you? Those are just two examples to illustrate how important it is to know who you are marketing to as well as what exactly you are marketing in order to leverage the awesome power of Myspace.

What about you, do you believe Myspace has become irrelevant? How much impact does your effort with Myspace have on your traffic to your blog? How about on your click thru rates or affiliate sales?

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