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MySpace announced a new partnership with Facebook via a webcast today for members of the tech media.
While no revenue will change hands between the two companies, the major news is that MySpace has added a “Mashup with Facebook” option at login, allowing Facebook users to create a profile on MySpace. (The Facebook option is also available for users who were already members of MySpace, though not for MySpace “artist” accounts.)
Once a user allows their Facebook information to be shared with MySpace, a new page appears, offering a series of Celebrities, Music, Movies, and Television to select in order to customize a new MySpace profile.
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Either I haven’t done a very good job “liking” things on Facebook (probably), or Mashup did a bad job connecting my profile with relevant content. I found only a few things that interested me. No offense, Celine Dion.
When you get finished selecting your interests, you’ll proceed to your new MySpace home page, which looks a bit like Facebook, and in your new media feed, you’ll see “trending articles” based on the interests you laid out.
Other features that are new with Mashup include Recommendations (based on past activity), Subscriptions (which are pulled in automatically), Facebook “likes” connecting you to MySpace topics, and a “Follow” option.
For MySpace, the partnership means access to Facebook’s 620 million users, as well as an end to the social network battle, which they’re no longer interested in fighting with Facebook. MySpace is positioning itself as an entertainment-driven web-site, something not unlike Hulu, Vevo, Last.fm, or even iTunes.
Interestingly, Apple had fought for “Facebook Connect” for its own new Ping social network, though terms were never worked out, and the company settled for Ping–Twitter integration instead.
All in all, Mashup With Facebook ensures that fans will have a better experience exploring MySpace’s plentiful content. Though with so many Facebook pages for music, movies, and television, the same content presumably exists on Facebook. Even though MySpace recently re-launched their user interface, the site is still fairly clumsy, especially when compared to the ultra-smart Facebook. But, as Hulu has continued to prove, a curated entertainment portal can be a successful model. MySpace certainly hopes so.
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