BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Jan. 11 (UPI) — Social Web site MySpace said Tuesday it will lay off about half of its workers, cutting 500 jobs in the United States and elsewhere to streamline operations.

Chief Executive Officer Mike Jones said, “The new organizational structure will enable us to move more nimbly, develop products more quickly and attain more flexibility on the financial side,” The Los Angeles Times reported.

With recent changes, the company purchased by News Corp. in 2005 for $580 million is regaining lost popularity, Jones said, pointing to increased activity in some of its online forums and 3 million new subscribers.

Firms that research online activity had data that was not so positive. ComScore Media Metrix said MySpace had 3.7 million fewer visitors in November compared with October’s 54 million total visitors.

The staff at GWOP Magazine (www.myspace.com/kbdigitalvision) currently does not use Myspace as much as we did back in 2006 when we started social networking.  We have converted over to popular sites such as FaceBook & Twitter.

A firm that tracks advertising, eMarketer, said advertising revenue at MySpace fell 26 percent in 2010.

How long before social networking sites, FaceBook & Twitter fall off the radar?

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