We've confirmed with MySpace that the company is demoing a completely redesigned version of its profile pages.
“We’re testing a new look and feel of our site among users and the response so far has been positive," a MySpace rep said in a statement sent to Mashable. "As always, we’re interested in hearing feedback from our community as we roll out enhancements to the user experience and look forward to sharing more details with you in the coming weeks.”
Users began noticing the new MySpace profiles today. Sean Percival, MySpace's vice president of online marketing, tweeted about his updated MySpace profile earlier today.
Here are some of the differences we've noticed:
A new left-hand navigation: Profile navigation has been condensed into the left hand navigation menu under the profile picture.
Focus on the stream: MySpace Stream -- the site's version of the Facebook newsfeed -- is the focus of the the new profiles. You can view a user's recent activity, comment on items and share content with friends.
Follow on other social networks: There's a new module giving you the option to follow a user not only on MySpace, but also on Twitter, Facebook and other social networks. Whether this is a standard module remains to be seen.
A vastly improved UI: Without a doubt, the new profiles feature better design than their predecessors, which have been the scourge of social web app designers for a few years now.
At this time, it looks like MySpace is rolling the new profiles out to a limited number of users in order to gather feedback before a larger, site-wide launch. As our friends at The Next Web pointed out, user reaction so far has been mixed.
Whether the new profiles can help turn things around at MySpace remains to be seen, but it's a strong first step. We can't wait to see what changes come next.