The MySpace warning: why building on someone else's platform is a business risk

MySpace had 100 million users. Businesses built their entire customer acquisition strategy on it. Then Facebook arrived and MySpace became irrelevant inside three years. Every business that lived entirely on MySpace lost everything when it died.

This is not ancient history. It is a warning that repeats itself on a roughly ten-year cycle. Businesses that built on Vine lost everything when Twitter shut it down. Businesses that built on Google Plus lost everything when Google pulled the plug. Businesses that built entirely on organic Facebook reach lost most of it when the algorithm changed in 2018.

The pattern is always the same. A platform grows fast. Businesses follow the audience onto the platform. The platform changes its algorithm, gets acquired, or dies. Businesses that built there lose their audience overnight.

The only defence is to never let a platform you do not control become your primary customer relationship. Use every platform as a funnel into something you own — your website, your email list, your database. The platform is the introduction. Your owned channel is the relationship.

TikTok is currently the fastest growing platform in Australia. It is also currently facing potential bans in multiple countries. Every business building entirely on TikTok is one government decision away from starting over. Build there. But build your email list while you do.