Speculation that MySpace was set for a sale has intensified since the October redesign and when Carey one month later said the site had quarters rather than years to turn around its fortunes. The CNBC business network reported earlier this month that a sale of the social network was on the cards for mid-2011, despite the predicted job cuts.

The rise of Facebook made the once-dominant MySpace look even more stagnant. Facebook overtook MySpace as the leading social network in the US back in May 2009, and last month attracted more than triple the number of global unique visitors, 154 million, according to the latest figures from metrics firm comScore.

MySpace today confirmed it is cutting 500 jobs – nearly half its remaining staff – and handing over responsibility for UK advertising and sponsorship sales to sister News Corporation company Fox Networks. The MySpace chief executive, Mike Jones, said the "tough but necessary changes" would provide the company "with a clear path to sustained growth and profitability".

Jones said the cuts did not reflect the performance of the "new MySpace", referring to the operation's most recent relaunch in October, but was "purely driven by issues relating to our legacy business".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/jan/11/myspace-job-cuts