Applications
MySpace TV launches to rival YouTube
MUMBAI: News Corp‘s social networking site MySpace will today step into the online video market with the launch of a video-sharing site, ‘MySpace TV‘. The service will be launched in 15 countries and seven languages to compete better with market leader YouTube, which recently launched local sites in nine different countries. The site will be launched in enhanced beta version and will allow users to watch clips even if they are not signed up to the social networking site. It will be powered by MySpace‘s own technology, and videos will be edited using Flektor technology, a company that News Corp bought last month. MySpace GM video Jeff Berman said, “This is the next step in the evolution of video on MySpace. We‘ve quietly grown into the second biggest video site on the internet. Our users have been uploading video in huge numbers for the last couple of years. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.” MySpace will be on the lookout for professional, rather than simply user-generated, content. It is expected to host shorter versions of sitcoms known as minisodes, for which the site has got into a deal with Sony. Short ads will run before the professional content on the site, which will also host display advertising. Similar deals have been patched with content partners who will have channels on the site, including National Geographic, The New York Times, Reuters, Fox‘s IGN Entertainment, Animation Show and the Daily Reel. The site will also be part of the NBC Universal/News Corp. joint venture, which is expected to launch this summer, providing a legal online home for those networks‘ TV shows and movies. According to comScore Media Metrix, although Youtube continues to lead the online video arena and its market share continues to grow, MySpace‘s total number of video streams has grown by 100 per cent since January.
Applications
With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
