Will Congress Pull MySpace into Mainstream?

posted by greg…….

I was recently asked to respond to a question for Revenue Magazine’s performance marketing section. Whether or not my comment will be published we’ll just have to wait and see, but I thought I’d also post it here.

Will new age-related rules on social networking sites such as MySpace effect advertising revenue?
Social networking sites are extremely popular because they are an unmonitored playground for personal expression. People flock to these sites because they are unruly and uninhibited. In short, they are fun.

Imposing rules of any type, in this case age restrictions, immediately begin to erode the sites’ legitimacy by pulling them into the mainstream where they will become less popular over time. While social networking sites will suffer the effects of less advertising, advertisers themselves will simply follow the crowd to wherever they next find their outpost of self expression.

More on the topic of laws targeted at social networking sites here:
Congress Targets Social Network Sites