From Reddit: Guy talks about coworkers getting laid off with 60% of Myspace work force

[dame theory]

For better or worse I am a Myspace employee. Today, Myspace will be laying off 60% of the staff. This comes as no surprise to us or anyone who is vaguely familiar with the recent lack of success of Myspace. I work in the Beverly Hills HQ. So...ask away...I'll do my best to keep this up to date.

I cannot answer questions about strategy, why MS did this or killed that feature. My point in doing this is to document it, provide interesting answers to redditors. IAMA is very insightful and I have been a long time fan of reddit.

--

930AM: Time for some meetings. I'll be back to respond.

--

1040AM: Back. Today's meetings have been cancelled. People in the SF office have sent out goodbye emails so that implies layoffs have started there. An internal email said 500 people will be let go. It's pretty quiet here. In 2009 they laid off 400 people & that was a strange day where people cried. Not sure if today will be as bad because this isn't too surprising. I think were all hoping for the best.

--

1215PM: Off to lunch with my team in the upstairs cafeteria. Never before have we all ate together. It's good to get people together but disappointing it has taken this to do it. That may speak to the decline of MS such that there's not much enthusiasm around here. The cafeteria (named Mycafe, we get a $10 dollar daily budget) is packed because people are not at their desks.

--

200PM: back from lunch...in 2009 there was a flood of emails saying goodbye, not so much today. So far I know of two VPs that were let go. The thread on techcruch is filled with companies seeking resumes...sweet.

--

315PM: people in my group are now being let go. Doesnt look like my group is being hit hard & at this point I may not be laid off...hmm...should I not be laid off then I may delete my posts here.

--

330PM: the courtyard is being set up for a company wide meeting tomorrow where the CEO will probably do a rah rah session for the remaining souls.

--

400PM: I'm not being laid off. So...it's a mixed blessing. I'll leave my posts up so long as there is no risk to myself. Fortunately I think I've been objective here. There's also a party at Red Rock on Sunset Blvd that I'm heading to to hang with current & former myspacers. Any interesting, permissible stories I'll add here.

--

530PM: Seems like middle management took the brunt of the cuts. Conversation starters seem to be are you in or are you out. "in" meaning you're in jail and at myspace. "out" meaning you're free and not at myspace.

--

600PM: Just checked my PMs. Thanks for the emails from recruiters. For any recruiters out there my friends & I focus on DW engineering & BI...those fields are relevant. I did receive a PM from someone who met her significant other on MySpace. That's a good story & its comforting to hear directly that MySpace has been valuable.

--

730PM: I'm back home & the day is done. General feeling among those that were let go is they are glad to put this behind them so they can focus on the future. Those of us that are left are confused about what is in store for the future and how to continue to execute minus our former coworkers. Unofficial rumors are another round of layoffs happen in March. My expectation is that Myspace is being prepped to sell within the next few months and that process will include more restructuring. But who knows...plan for the worst, hope for the best. Now that I'm on a PC & not my iPhone I'll catch up with left over replies.

--

http://www.reddit.com/r/I...ut_to_be_laid_off_today/

Social Media...here today, gone tomorrow.

Not everyone can be Facebook. Invest in REAL things people, the intangible is just that...

 

[dame theory]

For better or worse I am a Myspace employee. Today, Myspace will be laying off 60% of the staff. This comes as no surprise to us or anyone who is vaguely familiar with the recent lack of success of Myspace. I work in the Beverly Hills HQ. So...ask away...I'll do my best to keep this up to date.

I cannot answer questions about strategy, why MS did this or killed that feature. My point in doing this is to document it, provide interesting answers to redditors. IAMA is very insightful and I have been a long time fan of reddit.

--

930AM: Time for some meetings. I'll be back to respond.

--

1040AM: Back. Today's meetings have been cancelled. People in the SF office have sent out goodbye emails so that implies layoffs have started there. An internal email said 500 people will be let go. It's pretty quiet here. In 2009 they laid off 400 people & that was a strange day where people cried. Not sure if today will be as bad because this isn't too surprising. I think were all hoping for the best.

--

1215PM: Off to lunch with my team in the upstairs cafeteria. Never before have we all ate together. It's good to get people together but disappointing it has taken this to do it. That may speak to the decline of MS such that there's not much enthusiasm around here. The cafeteria (named Mycafe, we get a $10 dollar daily budget) is packed because people are not at their desks.

--

200PM: back from lunch...in 2009 there was a flood of emails saying goodbye, not so much today. So far I know of two VPs that were let go. The thread on techcruch is filled with companies seeking resumes...sweet.

--

315PM: people in my group are now being let go. Doesnt look like my group is being hit hard & at this point I may not be laid off...hmm...should I not be laid off then I may delete my posts here.

--

330PM: the courtyard is being set up for a company wide meeting tomorrow where the CEO will probably do a rah rah session for the remaining souls.

--

400PM: I'm not being laid off. So...it's a mixed blessing. I'll leave my posts up so long as there is no risk to myself. Fortunately I think I've been objective here. There's also a party at Red Rock on Sunset Blvd that I'm heading to to hang with current & former myspacers. Any interesting, permissible stories I'll add here.

--

530PM: Seems like middle management took the brunt of the cuts. Conversation starters seem to be are you in or are you out. "in" meaning you're in jail and at myspace. "out" meaning you're free and not at myspace.

--

600PM: Just checked my PMs. Thanks for the emails from recruiters. For any recruiters out there my friends & I focus on DW engineering & BI...those fields are relevant. I did receive a PM from someone who met her significant other on MySpace. That's a good story & its comforting to hear directly that MySpace has been valuable.

--

730PM: I'm back home & the day is done. General feeling among those that were let go is they are glad to put this behind them so they can focus on the future. Those of us that are left are confused about what is in store for the future and how to continue to execute minus our former coworkers. Unofficial rumors are another round of layoffs happen in March. My expectation is that Myspace is being prepped to sell within the next few months and that process will include more restructuring. But who knows...plan for the worst, hope for the best. Now that I'm on a PC & not my iPhone I'll catch up with left over replies.

--

http://www.reddit.com/r/I...ut_to_be_laid_off_today/

Social Media...here today, gone tomorrow.

Not everyone can be Facebook. Invest in REAL things people, the intangible is just that...

 

[k2theablam]

Posted by me in the facebook thread. I feel it's relevant to this as well

Why don't I think FB will fall off? The same reason I think Google, Amazon and Apple won't fall off. They're constantly evolving, refining their product and breaking into new markets - all part of their core business model.

Unlike Myspace, Facebook never stopped reinventing itself, coming up with new products and increasing exposure through more than your traditional medium (computers) They're on Cell phones, ipads, xbox 360's, playstations and I'm sure they're not planning on stopping.

Myspace, on the other hand, is exactly the same as it was when i left it back in 2003. That's failure.

Sucks for the Myspace employees but that company has been doomed for failure ever since being bought out by FOX media.

 

[k2theablam]

Posted by me in the facebook thread. I feel it's relevant to this as well

Why don't I think FB will fall off? The same reason I think Google, Amazon and Apple won't fall off. They're constantly evolving, refining their product and breaking into new markets - all part of their core business model.

Unlike Myspace, Facebook never stopped reinventing itself, coming up with new products and increasing exposure through more than your traditional medium (computers) They're on Cell phones, ipads, xbox 360's, playstations and I'm sure they're not planning on stopping.

Myspace, on the other hand, is exactly the same as it was when i left it back in 2003. That's failure.

Sucks for the Myspace employees but that company has been doomed for failure ever since being bought out by FOX media.

 

[budweiser]

Interesting read. must be a creepy feeling seeing people drop around you.

 

[budweiser]

Interesting read. must be a creepy feeling seeing people drop around you.

 

[namtsui]

My friend works at Myspace in SF. Yeah he said it's been stressful and they have been laying off a lot of teams there.

 

[al audi]

myspace been fell off

a lot of them employees gonna apply for a facebook job

 

[al audi]

myspace been fell off

a lot of them employees gonna apply for a facebook job

 

[namtsui]

My friend works at Myspace in SF. Yeah he said it's been stressful and they have been laying off a lot of teams there.

 

[kingofny04]

Myspace allowed itself to fall off with all those third party programs that flooded profiles. They should have kept it simple, probably a wallpaper and one song choice at most with no HTML codes.

 

[kingofny04]

Myspace allowed itself to fall off with all those third party programs that flooded profiles. They should have kept it simple, probably a wallpaper and one song choice at most with no HTML codes.

 

[dirtylicious]

wonder what happened to that kid who made bank off of creating myspace profile templates.

I hope he was wise with his money

 

[dirtylicious]

wonder what happened to that kid who made bank off of creating myspace profile templates.

I hope he was wise with his money

 

[ravagebx]

If they were smart they would've moved on a long time ago. The writing has been on the walls for years now.

 

[ravagebx]

If they were smart they would've moved on a long time ago. The writing has been on the walls for years now.

 

[penny4mvp2k]

Best Comment posted ():

AwwYeahGirl 77 points78 points79 points 1 day ago* [-]http://www.reddit.com/user/AwwYeahGirl

This might catch a lot of heat, but how do you feel about individuals who portray themselves to be "ghetto," "hood," or "gangsta" minorities and whites immersed in the same culture and mentality playing a part in the downfall of Myspace? What I saw from my last visit to Myspace is that "Hood Rats" (if you will), Pornstars, and Jack Black were the only people still using the site. It honestly felt akin to a cyber wasteland because of the inability to coherently type the English language (it went way past the threshold of poor grammar), "blingees" left and right, and the only statuses being posted were all "pc4pc."

I don't mean to try and sound overtly racial or class-biased in a snotty way about this, but Myspace declining because of that is a theory that many people I know hold in common. I was just wondering about your input on the subject.



 

myspace_clone [S] 120 points121 points122 points 1 day ago[-] Valid question. It's known internally that the biggest demographic is teenage girls living in the south to Midwest. The focus on hoodrats is obvious. At a recent company party there was a performance by YG doing Toot It & Boot It. The crowd was hundreds of engineers, in the courtyard with a gangsta rapper singing about one night stands. It was a hilarious moment to witness. Our users music preferences are gangsta rap. It's somewhat funny that management pushed it internally though.

   

 

[penny4mvp2k]

Best Comment posted ():

AwwYeahGirl 77 points78 points79 points 1 day ago* [-]http://www.reddit.com/user/AwwYeahGirl

This might catch a lot of heat, but how do you feel about individuals who portray themselves to be "ghetto," "hood," or "gangsta" minorities and whites immersed in the same culture and mentality playing a part in the downfall of Myspace? What I saw from my last visit to Myspace is that "Hood Rats" (if you will), Pornstars, and Jack Black were the only people still using the site. It honestly felt akin to a cyber wasteland because of the inability to coherently type the English language (it went way past the threshold of poor grammar), "blingees" left and right, and the only statuses being posted were all "pc4pc."

I don't mean to try and sound overtly racial or class-biased in a snotty way about this, but Myspace declining because of that is a theory that many people I know hold in common. I was just wondering about your input on the subject.



 

myspace_clone [S] 120 points121 points122 points 1 day ago[-] Valid question. It's known internally that the biggest demographic is teenage girls living in the south to Midwest. The focus on hoodrats is obvious. At a recent company party there was a performance by YG doing Toot It & Boot It. The crowd was hundreds of engineers, in the courtyard with a gangsta rapper singing about one night stands. It was a hilarious moment to witness. Our users music preferences are gangsta rap. It's somewhat funny that management pushed it internally though.

   

 

[S3NTINEL2001]

myspace is just a mess now and it looks all sloppy.

 

[S3NTINEL2001]

myspace is just a mess now and it looks all sloppy.

 

[peep tha sneaks]

getting laid off is terrible

 

[peep tha sneaks]

getting laid off is terrible

 

[diego]

Originally Posted by K2theAblaM

Posted by me in the facebook thread. I feel it's relevant to this as well

Why don't I think FB will fall off? The same reason I think Google, Amazon and Apple won't fall off. They're constantly evolving, refining their product and breaking into new markets - all part of their core business model.

Unlike Myspace, Facebook never stopped reinventing itself, coming up with new products and increasing exposure through more than your traditional medium (computers) They're on Cell phones, ipads, xbox 360's, playstations and I'm sure they're not planning on stopping.

Myspace, on the other hand, is exactly the same as it was when i left it back in 2003. That's failure.

Sucks for the Myspace employees but that company has been doomed for failure ever since being bought out by FOX media.



FB will fall off one day.

 

[diego]

Originally Posted by K2theAblaM

Posted by me in the facebook thread. I feel it's relevant to this as well

Why don't I think FB will fall off? The same reason I think Google, Amazon and Apple won't fall off. They're constantly evolving, refining their product and breaking into new markets - all part of their core business model.

Unlike Myspace, Facebook never stopped reinventing itself, coming up with new products and increasing exposure through more than your traditional medium (computers) They're on Cell phones, ipads, xbox 360's, playstations and I'm sure they're not planning on stopping.

Myspace, on the other hand, is exactly the same as it was when i left it back in 2003. That's failure.

Sucks for the Myspace employees but that company has been doomed for failure ever since being bought out by FOX media.



FB will fall off one day.

 

[seasoned vet]

Originally Posted by Dirtylicious

wonder what happened to that kid who made bank off of creating myspace profile templates.

I hope he was wise with his money

- that Kato3000 guy? from freeweblayouts.net? our parents used to date when we were really young. i seen him on Facebook lately dont know what he did/is doing with the money though. i do know that he moved to Atlanta......