Image via CrunchBase
Sometimes a website is created with the best of intentions, but ultimately falls by the wayside when something better comes along. In some cases, a website can become so unpopular or neglected that it might as well cease to exist at all. In cases like that, it might actually be better for the owner to simply remove the site from the Web and let it be fondly remembered by anyone who cares to do so.
Myspace is a great example of a social networking site that has declined over time. While this was once one of the most heavily trafficked sites by people who have a social agenda on the Internet, today its use is primarily by bands and people who simply prefer it to playing Farmville. While Myspace might not be going anywhere right this moment, one has to wonderwhat will continue to power the site’s survival, let alone a continued purpose. If a website serves very few people, how can it hope to survive over the long haul?
The most likely way Myspace, Friendster and other fallen social networking websites are probably going to be able to survive is through evolving into an increasingly niched existence. While being a general website is no longer as viable an option as it once was because a small number of hugely successful websites have dominated that concept, niches still do well. If Myspace can successfully repurpose itself as some manner of niched website and properly serve its visitors’ wants and needs that way, it may be able to continue onward, and it may even grow itself into something of a cult phenomenon.
