Though MySpace became popular as one of the first social networking sites around the globe, it definitely wasn't the first. The first somewhat popular social networking platform was a website called Friendster, a networking site from Malaysia created in 2002. Friendster grew in popularity and caught the attention of some employees who had made accounts on the platform and eventually went on to create a similar website in August 2003.

The employees were able to take key components from Friendster and create their own website and in just 10 days of work, the first prototype of MySpace was launched on August 1st, 2003. The project was led by Chris Dewolfe and Tom Anderson under the supervision of eUniverse's founder, Brad Greenspan.

Myspace was founded in 2003 by Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe, who were working for the Internet marketing firm eUniverse (later Intermix Media). Employees of eUniverse were among the initial MySpace users. In order to determine who could sign up the most customers, the corporation sponsored competitions. MySpace was given new life by eUniverse, which also exploited its 20 million users and email subscribers to propel it to the front of the social networking field. Toan Nguyen, a software expert who Greenspan asked to join the team, played a vital role in stabilizing the platform. Aber Whitcomb, a co-founder, and CTO, contributed significantly to the design of the software by exploiting ColdFusion's higher development speed at the time compared to other dynamic database-driven server-side languages. Friendster, which was built on JavaServer Pages (JSP), could not keep up with the rate of development of MySpace despite having nearly 10 times as many developers.

 By allowing and even encouraging musicians to use the site to advertise themselves, it soon set itself apart from other social networking platforms, giving Myspace a cool vibe and making it a popular hangout for young people. Additionally, it had a reputation for having raunchier profiles and attitudes than other websites. Myspace and Intermix were acquired by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation in 2005 for $580 million, along with Anderson and DeWolfe.

Co-founders of MySpace Chris Dewolfe (left) and Tom Anderson (right)