MySpace rises as new online star

But success also draws a spotlight on MySpace's darker side.

In Middletown, Conn., police suspect that as many as seven teenage girls recently were fondled or had consensual sex with men they met on MySpace who turned out to be older than they claimed.

In schools across the country, students have been suspended for threatening classmates on MySpace, and in a case outside Pittsburgh attracting the attention of the American Civil Liberties Union, for creating a phony profile under the principal's name and photo.

Parry Aftab, who runs the Internet safety group WiredSafety, said most MySpace teens behave, but a good number are creating online alter egos with which they brag about nonexistent drinking and sexual conquests in a bid to appear cool.

And as parents discover their kids' profiles, Aftab said, they start to worry and tell other parents, who in turn spread the alarm. Parents, in some cases, try to ban their children from MySpace or the Internet completely.

"Just about every parent is aware of it and every kid is on it," Anderson said. "Some kind of reaction (is expected) as MySpace becomes part of the mainstream."

DeWolfe said the company has worked with WiredSafety to create guidelines and improve practices — dozens of employees now monitor profiles and images 24 hours a day — and encourages parents to talk with their kids about online safety.

The worries are bound to grow along with the site, which gets as many as 180,000 new members a day. It now has more than 54 million registered users, compared with more than 24 million for Friendster.

But it's not a given that MySpace will grow forever, particularly as its youth-oriented base matures and gets busier. In fact, the flashy icons and colorful lettering that MySpace enables are already too much for some.

"This isn't their bedroom," said Rina Raphael, 23, a New York magazine publicist who prefers Friendster. "People don't want to spend tons of hours creating a home page."

Complaints also have been directed at News Corp.'s purchase, including accusations of censorship as MySpace occasionally blocked video stored elsewhere and embedded in profiles, just as MySpace was readying its own video-sharing service. DeWolfe denied any connection, explaining that links and entire sites may be blocked as MySpace investigates complaints of pornography or racism.

Anderson said e-mails expressing concerns about the new owners have subsided as users realize that MySpace continues operating as a quasi-independent unit of News Corp.

Yet DeWolfe and Anderson were largely mum about what they — or News Corp. — have in store.

For now, size helps MySpace grow even bigger. Call it the network effect: The service's value grows the more people use it. And growth gives MySpace more reason to add features.

"They may have gotten lucky," said Amanda Lenhart, a researcher at the Pew Internet and American Life Project. "Enough people started using it that it became the place to be."

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