Social network platform MySpace has lost significant amounts of data after a server migration
MySpace has suffered a huge data loss, with 12 years’ worth of music, videos and photos being wiped from the site.
After recently building complaints from users unable to access links on the platform, on 18 March MySpace admitted that data had been permanently wiped.
The social network apologised to users in a statement, saying: “As a result of a server migration project, any photos, videos and audio files you uploaded more than three years ago may no longer be available on or from MySpace.”
MySpace has been a platform for up and coming music artists in the past, with artists such as Lily Allen and Kate Nash having uploaded their music to MySpace during the formation of their careers.
Many current up and coming artists who uploaded their music to the site have expressed great disappointment in the platform at the loss of their tracks.
What is a server migration?
According to website Go4Hosting, server migration is simply “a technique in which data is positioned from one server to another.”
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Go4Hosting states that server migrations are often performed due to security reasons, equipment being replaced or other factors, and that before a migration, a plan should always be outlined to prevent data loss.
There have been suspicions voiced online that MySpace’s data loss was an attempt to avoid the cost of hosting the data.
Kickstarter CTO Andy Baio tweeted on 18 March: “I’m deeply skeptical this was an accident. Flagrant incompetence may be bad PR, but it still sounds better than ‘we can’t be bothered with the effort and cost of migrating and hosting 50 million old MP3s.'”
MySpace has not yet addressed these online rumours.
The final nail in the coffin for MySpace?
MySpace launched in 2003 and was the biggest social network in the world between 2005-2009.
However, in 2009, Facebook overtook MySpace in popularity and so began the decline of the platform.
At its peak, MySpace had 1,600 employees, the latest figures show they currently have 150 employees.
Could this disaster be the final nail in the coffin for MySpace?
