MySpace, the social network currently on News Corp. life support, announced a new, opt-in feature called “Mashup” on Thursday that will allow users to import their Facebook “likes” to create “entertainment-focused” streams on their MySpace pages.
According to the release, here’s how it works:
>> With just one-click, Mashup imports the likes and interests from a Facebook user’s profile and immediately populates their Myspace stream with the entertainment content they love.
>> Myspace users have the ability to curate their own streams based on recommendations and trending topics, while engaging other fans that share the same interests and passions in music, celebrity, TV and movies.
>> For instance — people on Facebook who list Michael Cera as an interest or like, will automatically be linked to Michael Cera’s Topic page when they use Myspace Mashup.
For MySpace, the move is part of its last-ditch attempt at regaining social media relevancy — and a counter to the launch of Apple's Ping.
"We've been clear: MySpace is a problem," News Corp. deputy chairman Chase Carey told investors during a conference call earlier this month. "Current losses are not acceptable or sustainable."
Carey said that the company feels "really good" about the recent MySpace relaunch, but admitted the company may need to address the social network's lack of a "clear path to profitability" in the months ahead.
Since Rupert Murdoch bought MySpace for $580 million in 2006, Facebook has rocketed past it in terms of cachet — and users. Facebook now boasts more than 500 million members — MySpace, just 120 million.
In August, MySpace unveiled a relaunch with Facebook and Twitter-like features (a “story stream” and suggestions of “people you may know). And MySpace recently launched "Facebook Sync," a feature that "enables the syncing of a Myspace status update with a Facebook profile or Page." On Thursday, MySpace said that "Facebook Sync" has "reached over one million Myspace users."
