Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, hired two technology startup veterans to fill top roles at MySpace after a management shakeup last week aimed at revitalizing the online social network.

MySpace named Michael Jones as chief operating officer and Jason Hirschhorn as chief product officer, News Corp said in a statement issued on Monday.

Both have experience with startups that were later sold to major media conglomerates.

Jones worked at Userplane, which News Corp in a statement described as a provider of tools for online communities such as MySpace. Time Warner's AOL bought the company in 2006.

Jones also founded Tsavo Media, which News Corp described as an online content and search network.

Hirschhorn will be MySpace's chief product officer. He was president of Sling Media's Entertainment Group, and prior to that was chief digital officer at Viacom Inc's MTV Networks. He joined MTV after it bought his company Mischief New Media.

Jones and Hirschhorn will report to Owen Van Natta, the former Facebook executive whom News Corp hired following the surprise ouster of MySpace co-founder and Chief Executive Chris DeWolfe.

Four years after News Corp bought MySpace for $580 million, MySpace remains the largest U.S. social network, but Facebook is gaining ground with a higher growth rate among U.S. visitors.

News Corp, which is suffering advertising revenue declines across many of its other businesses, is looking to the new executive team to revitalize MySpace's performance.

Three top MySpace executives, including former Chief Operating Officer Amit Kapur, left in March to start a new company.

News Corp shares were down 44 cents, or 5.54 percent, at $7.50 on the Nasdaq stock market.

(Reporting by Robert MacMillan, editing by Maureen Bavdek)

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