Owned by InterMix, a company that was recently sued by the Internet Division of the New York Attorney General’s office for disseminating adware and spyware (a charge the company denies), MySpace has in its almost-two years of operation eclipsed the groundbreaking Friendster in network size.
“It's becoming porn central,” PurePlay Media’s April Storm told XBiz. “I use it for party invites and announcing events and appearances. It’s a good resource to fill up a club.”
MySpace is home to the profiles of many adult performers, who often reveal more in their journal entries than they do through their publicists. Two contract performers have announced their pregnancies on MySpace.
MySpace also is popular with bands, which can post show dates and up to four songs on the site, as well as blogs and email correspondence. The site is financed by ads from companies like Proctor & Gamble and T-Mobile but is eyeing the prospect of going public, like Google did.
Another option is to be purchased by a company like Google, which has ready cash, a similar demographic and, most importantly, no social networking site of its own. Both Microsoft and Yahoo have either released or will release competing sites.
Users employ MySpace for both personal and business pursuits. Burning Angel.com’s Joanna Angel has contacted bands for interviews on her site as well as like-minded event promoters. “It’s addictive,” she told XBiz, referring to stalking ex-boyfriends on the site, “but it’s also very helpful.”