It finally happened. After years of “whatever happened to” listicles and one very persistent rumor cycle, Myspace’s owners announced in early August 2026 that they plan to relaunch the platform — the site that, for a stretch of the 2000s, was the internet for an entire generation.

Who’s behind it

The announcement comes from Chris and Tim Vanderhook, the brothers behind advertising technology company Viant, which has owned Myspace since the early 2010s. That detail matters: this isn’t a startup buying a dead brand for buzz. It’s the people who have quietly kept the lights on deciding the moment is right to turn them back up.

One notable absence: Tom Anderson. Reports indicate the Myspace co-founder — the smiling guy over his shoulder who was automatically your first friend — is not involved in the comeback. Tom sold his stake long ago and has spent the years since photographing landscapes and being the internet’s favorite example of leaving the party early and rich.

What’s confirmed

  • The Top 8 is back. Coverage of the announcement confirms users will once again publicly rank their eight closest friends, a feature that ended friendships, started relationships, and defined middle school politics for half a decade.
  • Profile songs return. The single most iconic Myspace feature — an autoplaying anthem that told visitors exactly who you were — is reportedly part of the plan.
  • No algorithmic feed. The relaunch is being positioned as the anti-doomscroll: a social network you visit on purpose, not one optimized to hold you hostage.
  • No launch date. The owners have announced the intention, not the timeline. Nothing more specific has been shared.

The big unanswered questions

The announcement leaves the most important questions open. Will original accounts and friend lists be restored? Myspace infamously lost twelve years of user-uploaded music in a 2019 server migration, so the archive question is loaded. Will profiles be customizable the way they used to be — the pasted code, the glitter graphics, the cursor trails? And how will music licensing work in a world where the profile song has to coexist with streaming platforms?

We’re maintaining a running, sourced answer to all of this on the Myspace Relaunch Tracker, updated as news breaks.

Why this might actually work this time

Myspace has “come back” before — the 2013 Justin Timberlake-era redesign chased Facebook and Spotify and caught neither. What’s different in 2026 is the mood. The pitch isn’t a better feed; it’s the absence of one. After a decade of algorithmic sameness, the most radical feature a social network can offer is a page that looks like you and a friends list you chose on purpose. That’s not nostalgia. That’s a product thesis — and it happens to be the one we’re betting on too.