Product Description

Book Description

A few years ago, MySpace.com was just an idea kicking around a Southern California spam mill. Scroll down to the present day and MySpace is one of the most visited Internet destinations in America, displaying more than 40 billion webpage views per month and generating nearly $1 billion annually for Rupert Murdoch’s online empire. Even by the standards of the Internet age, the MySpace saga is an astounding growth story, which climaxed with the site’s acquisition by Murdoch’s News Corporation in 2005 for a sum approaching one billion dollars. But more than that, it may be the defining drama of the digital era.

In Stealing MySpace, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Julia Angwin chronicles the rise of this Internet powerhouse. With an unerring eye, Angwin details how MySpace took the Internet by storm by grabbing the best ideas from around the Web, encouraging pinup stars such as Tila Tequila to make their home on its pages and giving everyone freedom to experiment with online identities–including using somebody else’s identity.

Stealing MySpace introduces us to the site’s founders, Chris DeWolfe and Tom Anderson, who dabbled in computer hacking, online pornography, spam, and spyware before starting MySpace. Although their street savvy, doggedness, and clubbing skills far eclipsed their tech prowess, they stumbled their way to success and soon found themselves at ground zero of a high-stakes war that pitted Rupert Murdoch against his frequent nemesis, the combative Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone. Angwin sheds light on the dizzying backroom deals that allowed Murdoch to snatch MySpace from Viacom’s grasp even as the MySpace founders remained in the dark about their own fate. Then she takes us inside the Murdoch empire as DeWolfe and Anderson lobby furiously to regain control of their creation.

Venturing beyond the business aspects of the story, Angwin also explores the Internet culture, a voyeuristic world in which MySpace must stay one step ahead of amateur pornographers, sexual predators, and “spoofers” who set up fake profiles (Rupert Murdoch himself tolerates dozens of phony “Ruperts” on the site) and cope with the general excesses and sometimes illegal acts of a community of account holders equal in number to the population of Japan.

In Stealing MySpace, Julia Angwin dishes on the epic real-world battle for control of a virtual empire. In a savvy, smart, fast-paced narrative reminiscent of Bryan Burrough and John Helyar’s Barbarians at the Gate and Michael Lewis’s The New New Thing, Stealing MySpace tells is the whole gripping story behind a breakout cultural phenomenon.

Julia Angwin on Stealing MySpace

Porn. Hacking. Spyware. Spam. Spy cameras you can hide in your shoe.

Prior to launching MySpace, the founders dabbled in all of the above. Relentless marketers and knockoff artists, their story also included a boardroom coup, broken friendships, betrayals, litigation and a pair of feuding media moguls--Sumner Redstone and Rupert Murdoch.

When I stumbled on the history of MySpace, I quickly realized it was not your typical Silicon Valley saga. There were no computer geniuses dropping out of prestigious universities, no fancy algorithms, no computers in garages. In short: The MySpace tale was manna from journalistic heaven--I had to write it.

It was also a serious lesson about the evolution of the Internet. The success of these ragtag marketers from Los Angeles demonstrated an important change in our culture: Technology had finally become relatively easy to use. Innovation was no longer confined to the digital elites. MySpace's success was largely due to the fact that it put its customers first, and technology second.

Still, as it grew, MySpace's lack of tech savvy has been its Achilles Heel. Today, MySpace is being forced to play technological catch-up to rival social networking site, Facebook, and it's not clear if it will succeed.

The final chapter of the MySpace story has not yet been written. But the unlikely tale of how MySpace was born is one that begged to be told. --Julia Angwin

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Product Details

Publisher	Random House
ISBN	1400066948
Format	Hardcover
Author	Julia Angwin
EAN	9781400066940
Label	Random House
Dewey Decimal Number	338.7610067
Studio	Random House
Number Of Pages	384
Title	Stealing MySpace: The Battle to Control the Most Popular Website in America
Release Date	2009-03-17
Publication Date	2009-03-17
Manufacturer	Random House

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Customer Reviews

Thoroughly researched, and at times quite funny.

Review by George D. Girton, 2010-06-08

What is so valuable about these web properties, anyway? After reading Julia Angwin's "Stealing Myspace," I have a much better idea, and I got some great laughs along the way. It's a pretty quick read, too.

We all know that the development of web properties is filled with peculiar personalities and anecdotes. Not to mention when a site catches on, balloons in value, and is sold. I have never seen as many hilarious and revealing stories brought together in one place as in this book. Julia Angwin's meticulously researched account is filled with life and hilarity, and a good amount of thoughtful comment.

So, what's in it? Well, there's the episode of the only profitable product running through every phase of Myspace's life. I'm talking about wrinkle cream!

Then there's the story of the tactics employed by Elliot Spitzer's office to wrest millions of dollars in fines from Myspace for their role in keystroke spyware. And the fines were well-deserved, believe me.

There are the meetings with Rupert Murdoch, in which you get a real feel for what Murdoch is after and the way he thinks.

What about an ongoing comparison of Facebook and MySpace? You got it, and it's quite pertinent, even to the present day.

There are countless drama-filled episodes relating to portions of or contracts with MySpace being bought, sold, or bid for in complicated ways. I thought this aspect would be boring, but it was not.

And Ms. Angwin, a University of Chicago grad with an MBA from Columbia, summarizes in just a few sentences the pith of a 100-page McKinzie study recommending MySpace's future actions.

There are hilarious revelations regarding the creative ways that MySpace built its user base -- not through internet tools or tactics, but through live person-on-the-ground events. Also, there is the ongoing tension between the Fox News wing of the company, and the MySpace wing of the company. Very very different thinking going on.

Just about the only thing you WON'T get from this entertaining and informative account -- I would definitely read it again, for both the hilarity and the Aha! experiences -- is a big-picture view of where MySpace is going right now. Most of the people in the book have moved on to other opportunities. Stealing Myspace is still really worth reading, though.

..

p.s. Don't be put off by the length of the book -- the last 75 pages contain short footnotes detailing information sources.

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Even the title shows Internet hype

Review by Nancy Loderick, 2010-03-25

I couldn't help but think of the expression, "truth is stranger than fiction," as I was reading this book. The story of MySpace beats any soap opera or fictional story line any day!

Even though I'm not a MySpace person - I'm too old :), this was one of the most interesting business books that I've read in a long time.

What I found most interesting about this book:

-the story itself. The story has everything, from rags to riches to pornography to high finance game playing.

-the author, Julia Angwin, does a great job at bringing the players to life. Everyone, from the founders, Chris DeWolfe and Tom Anderson, to Rupert Murdoch and Sumner Redstone, are portrayed realistically. Julia is upfront about her information sources. She didn't speak directly with DeWolfe or Anderson, in spite of numerous requests. She had access to emails, SEC filings, court documents and other players.

-after reading this book, I had a much better understanding of the economy, the Internet and the culture that created phenomena like MySpace. Julia does go into a lot of detail on the financial side of things, and this was hard to follow at times. But it was helpful to see the magnitude of the numbers.

What caused the book to appear dated:

-the constant statement that MySpace is "the most popular website in America." This may have been true for a few years (2007 - 2008), but it is no longer. Facebook has overtaken MySpace by leaps and bounds, latest figures show MySpace daily visitors as 15.5 million and Facebook's as 148 million. Claims like this are typical Internet hype, even if they were true at one time.

This book is a must read for entrepreneurs for the valuable lessons that can be learned.

The lessons from this story are:

-iterations of an idea can turn into something big. MySpace had its roots in spyware, spam and wrinkle cream sales (!)

-always be on your guard. The big guns came in, i.e. NewsCorp., Viacom and Investment Bankers and out-maneuvered the original owners.

-never give up. Chris DeWolfe bided his time, and re-took control of MySpace. He subsequently left in April 2009 to start another company, one that focuses on gaming.

-it's good to open up your site to outside developers. Facebook did this better than MySpace and it helped them to grow quicker.

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The Battle to Put This Book Down

Review by Mark Witczak, 2009-11-16

This book has been researched thoroughly, written superbly, reads quickly, and overall a very good business history of MySpace. It's clear from the very first paragraph that the author has put a lot of effort into her subject. Stealing MySpace is a great read.

The writing moves along at a very good pace. On occasion, the author makes the story downright exciting. That's an impressive feat considering the subject matter.

The focus is obviously the social website MySpace and this book is a 360 degree look at the goings on in a company that didn't have a strong business model (and some may say wasn't very ethical either), but managed to stumble upon a very successful idea. The reader learns of the trials and tribulations of upper management, how they struggled, fought, got lucky, and didn't get what they thought they deserved. It's a glimpse behind the scenes of how a successful venture in the eyes of the public and Wall Street had to struggle, beg for resources, and still fall short of best practices. Evidently, you don't need to do everything perfectly to succeed in this business.

As rich as the people involved got, they still experienced disappointments and frustrations. The same problems that occur at middle management happen at the executive level in exactly the same intensity and frequency.

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Poorly written and poorly edited.

Review by V. Reddy, 2009-11-03

When the author states that one of the main characters drove away from a meeting in his "Acura Infiniti Q45," you know this book was rushed to publication in order to cash in on Myspace's quickly diminishing popularity.

Save your money.

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Stealing MySpace: A .Com Soap Opera

Review by DevonS, 2009-10-22

I recently read the book Stealing MySpace by Julia Angwin and it was amazing to read about the merry-go-round and internal drama that revolved around the control of MySpace's massive popularity. The book details the critical characters involved in the creation of MySpace, both before and after it existed, and the many power struggles that occurred. First the book gives readers a view into MySpace's co-founders Chris DeWolfe and Tom Anderson. Both of them had promising, though unconventional, views of business and where they wanted their careers to go which seemed instrumental to their eventual creation of MySpace. Next the book goes into company backgrounds and quick changes in the Industry. It was fascinating to read about how quickly companies exchange ownership and the "sneaky" way in which News Corporation acquired MySpace and made it what it is today.

This book flowed almost like a good mystery novel, giving readers just enough information about the unfolding of events to keep them interested and reading. The story involved the actions of many different people and companies, and as you read, more layers are revealed and exposed to provide a complete picture about the nature of the .com industry and the rise and fall of these internet sensations.

I would recommend this book to anyone that is interested in MySpace or other major online network companies to see how people and companies in this sector operate. The book was well written and easy to read. Overall a good book.

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