Once the top dog among social networking Web sites, MySpace has lost its crown in recent years as users migrate en masse to Facebook. So it didn’t take News Corp’s new head of its digital properties, Jon Miller, long to start making changes at the top.

DeWolfe (pictured above) has been at the helm of MySpace from the time the service started six years ago. He managed to hold onto that position through a period of intense growth and even an acquisition by News Corp.

Over time MySpace started losing its edge to Facebook. While MySpace catered primarily to tweens and teens, Facebook appealed to everyone from college-age to retiree.

Things got dicey for DeWolfe shortly after Miller taking the reigns, with Techcrunch posted a rumor that a headhunting firm was scouring for a new CEO for MySpace. This rumor prompted talks between the two executives that resulted in a mutual decision for Chris DeWolfe to step down.

DeWolfe will remain a part of the fabric of Web giant MySpace, taking on an advisory role with the company. There are reports that co-founder Tom Anderson will likely be shuffled into a less visible role in the coming weeks as well.

While News Corp has yet to announce a new CEO to lead MySpace, there are a few notable candidates. An early rumor was that Jason Calacanis, CEO of Mahalo and long-time Miller ally, might be tapped for the role.

However the emerging frontrunner for the position is former Facebook COO Owen Van Natta. MySpace had previously courted Van Natta to head up its MySpace Music division, but he held out for the chance to take the top spot somewhere.

While it was wise for Van Natta to hold out in retrospect, he has quite the challenge ahead of him in turning around MySpace. With its top executive and lovable mascot both brushed aside, will the company be able to muster the necessary passion to muscle past Facebook?

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Entry was posted on Thursday, April 23rd, 2009 at 10:11 am under Social Media, Technology.

Read more entries by Dave Jeyes.
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