Facebook and MySpace may share content

Facebook is open to working with MySpace regarding the sharing of content across both social networking sites, the Telegraph reports.

Tuesday, 27 October 2009

Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer at Facebook, told the newspaper that the two firms are currently in talks about a potential deal.

She claimed that Owen Van Natta, chief executive at MySpace and an ex-employee of Facebook, still has a close relationship with management at his former company.

Describing the differences between the two social networking sites, Sandberg said: "Facebook is focusing on building the best technology which helps people share content, while at MySpace they are focusing on a more content-led strategy."

Sharing its competitor's content across its network in a similar way as it does with other portals would be good for Facebook's members, she added.

Any association between the two networks could involve MySpace's music and video footage being shared on its rival's Connect platform, which is a tool that gives web users the opportunity to log into third party sites using their personal Facebook password.

Talk of a deal between the companies comes as digital analyst comScore revealed that social networking sites accounted for more than 25 per cent of all the display ads viewed online during August.

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