The Rebirth of Tom Anderson, Founder of MySpace on Google+

  By Tac Anderson | July 18, 2011 - 12:14 am |

Is this the first Google+ post on Techmeme?

[Update: No that wasn't the first Google+ post on Techmeme but the first one was actually by Tom Anderson and it was about Mark Zuckerberg's response to Google+ when asked at the Facebook/Skype announcement.]

As I do every morning I check Techmeme to see what’s up – or more accurately since I moved to London, what happened in the tech World in the States today. The title of the post caught my attention but then I noticed the source was Google+ and a post by Tom Anderson, founder of MySpace.

Tom and I go way back. He was my friend back when I owned the skateboard shop in Vegas 8 years ago. Actually he was my first friend on MySpace. [Wait, he was your friend too? He was EVERYONE's friend? I feel so used.] Anyway…

Earlier this month when the Google+ service launched Tom created quite a stir by throwing his support behind the service and publicly (for the first time that I know of) talked about his time at MySpace and what went wrong. Mashable has the full story here.

It’s interesting to watch Tom get a new shot at building community, this time around his own personal brand and experience and this time on Google+ not on MySpace.

It’s also interesting because a while back Techmeme said they would add Twitter posts to their feed and you see the occasional post show up but mostly you see Twitter links in the discussions section of each post. This is the first time I know of a Google+ post making Techmeme.

So to recap, Blogs (including Tumblr), Twitter and Google+ are being sourced on Techmeme but not Facebook. Interesting.

 

About Tac Anderson

Social media anthropologist. Communications strategist. Business model junkie. Chief blogger here at New Comm Biz.
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  • http://www.layeredbyte.com/ Holden Page

    Probably a bit more difficult to source Facebook because privacy settings are different for each person, and Facebook is still typically seen as a more private network (this image is skewed amongst us tech outliers).

    As for Google Plus, Tumbr, Blogs, and Twitter, typically the conversation is all public, since their existence is based on being public. It is also more socially accepted on the web to publicly display tweets, and blogs, and other explicit actions on public networks. Where as it almost seems taboo to link to Facebook content because of concern with offending someone’s privacy.

  • bride144

    I think MySpace has changed for the better.  They are defining themselves and the Media Darlings of the Social Media boom.  They do what Facebook and Twitter don’t.  They promote media: music, artists.  I think their PR could be better if their marketing team were to focus on break thru artists and do things like the Voice is on TV online.  I think they should have a tab for new or emerging artists and support them with contests and promotions. I think the Internet can change the music and entertainment industry allowing artists to self publish, promote and distribute their music if companies like MySpace can see the value of facilitating and monetizing this.  

  • http://www.makemylifeover.blogspot.com/ Julie Parker, freelance writer

    True however it is said that most people know only about 40% of their friends on Facebook yet Facebook has not found a way to divide the groups effectively.  They need to defiine easily: My Friends, Family and Connections perhaps with different streams. They could work on the ease of functionality developing this then make a way for them to develop connections outside of their friends for business or marketing purposes.  I also think Facebook should find a way to reward users like You Are a CEO does.  You Are a CEO pays members $50 bucks for new members who distribute.  That is a lot of chedar. 

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