MySpace Positions Itself as Facebook Alternative with New Privacy Settings

 

Facebook is under fire of late as members threaten a mass exodus and NYU students attempt to build an alternative Facebook. Today MySpace is taking its own jab at Facebook by announcing that the social networking site will soon make the default setting for updates “friends only.”

This default privacy change will affect all users who “previously had any granular page setting to ‘friends only,’” but can easily be changed.

The change is part of MySpace’s new public commitment to privacy. The once-dominant social network’s stated goal is to simplify settings and let users more clearly post updates publicly, to friends only, or publicly to anyone 18 or over.

MySpace’s privacy strategy appears to be the exact opposite of Facebook’s current strategy, as late last year we saw the company dramatically alter privacy settings for members to encourage public updates. That move caught the company some flack, but controversy around Facebook’s “Like” button and Instant Personalization features dominate headlines now.

Perhaps it is the perfect time for MySpace to strike. In a blog post on MySpace, Co-President Mike Jones doesn’t specifically call out Facebook, but writes that, “We respect our users’ desires to balance sharing and privacy, and never push our users to an uncomfortable privacy position.”

Jones also takes a not-so-subtle stab at Facebook Instant Personalization by saying, “MySpace’s core value of allowing self-expression and representation of yourself remains true, without the fear that your unique contribution to MySpace will be unknowingly used for an alternative purpose.”

Still the company has nothing to show just yet — changes are slated for the weeks ahead — which makes the timing of the announcement all the more interesting. The subtext here is that MySpace hopes to position itself as the privacy-conscious alternative to Facebook. We don’t think that message will be enough for the company to reclaim its social network throne, but it’s a crafty maneuver at an opportune time nevertheless.

Source:http://mashable.com/2010/05/17/myspace-privacy-settings/ ,Jennifer Van Grove