Facebook Just 'Flavor of the Month': Murdoch

Rupert Murdoch today insulted the rival of his popular MySpace, calling Facebook the “flavor of the month” and a mere “directory”—on the occasion of his social networking sinking to the No. 2 spot in worldwide traffic. The media mogul said Facebook was not a real social network, and pointed to MySpace’s entertainment focus, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

In May, Facebook had 123.9 million unique visitors to MySpace’s 114.6; the News Corp. subsidiary, however, appears to remain far more profitable. It has borrowed several features from Facebook of late, including a news feed and openness to third-party developers. Speaking at the same Cannes conference as Murdoch, News Corp’s COO allowed that competition has “really galvanized us.” (More Rupert Murdoch stories.)