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MySpace.Com Isn't Just for Teens

Posted on: Monday, 19 June 2006, 06:00 CDT

"MySpace me" is replacing "e-mail me."

And more and more the Web site best known for its teenage users is growing up.

MySpace.com seems to be everyone's favorite hangout _ at least for the 83 million and counting members it says it has. For teens, it's the online social network for chatting, surveys, music and keeping up with what's going on around town.

But young adults are flocking to the site for more than just online diaries. In fact, Nielsen//Net Ratings says the site is ranked No. 15 on the entire U.S. Internet in terms of page hits.

Delinda Pushetonequa, a 24-year-old self-professed MySpace addict, logs on almost every day.

"MySpace is the new cell phone, the new interactive e-mail, the new Google.com," says Pushetonequa, known online as Jumping Coffee Bean.

"It's a way to keep in touch or meet new people," she says. "Most of the people I meet on MySpace are either people I already know or haven't seen in years or who have the same interests I do."

Pushetonequa does use the site for chatting and keeping in touch with friends, but she also says MySpace is a great place to find out about musicians, artists and independent businesses.

"More and more people seem to be appreciating non-corporate businesses and individuals, and MySpace is a wonderful networking and advertising tool."

The site was honored with a Webby (the online version of the Academy Awards). MySpace took home the award for Webby "Breakout of the Year," with its membership growing by the millions every month and reportedly 1.5 billion hits each day.

Dara Sims, promoter for .downplay productions, knows the power of MySpace bulletins, one of the quickest ways to promote on the site. Bulletins are announcements that go to everyone on a member's friends list. People post events, surveys, invitations and more. It's a virtual flier _ word spreads quickly among friends, their friends and so on.

"I think most people our age use MySpace as a tool to find out what's up with friends and around town. They want to know what's going to be popping on Friday and Saturday night," says Sims, 23, who posts bulletins about parties, concerts and more under the name Miss Dara.

"Whatever gets people thinking or talking about an event is a useful tool," Sims says.

Something that got MySpacers talking a few months ago was a witty song rappers Joe Good and Mac Lethal posted called "Welcome to My MySpace Page." Within a week many users had it as their profile song, music that plays when visitors go to their site.

"It was an idea for a chorus. It was something a lot of people could grasp onto," Good says. "We wrote that, recorded it and had it on MySpace in less than an hour."

Good, born Jamal Gamby, says that MySpace makes it easier to get your name out and book shows, all over the country. That was the intent of the founders of the site, who originally set it up specifically for musicians and fans.

"MySpace is the best thing to happen to artists who have a hard time networking otherwise, and it's free," says the 25-year-old emcee, found online at www.myspace.com/joegood.

"It puts a face or at least a sound with the artists and promoters in other cities. Without distribution or promotion in the rest of the country I am still able to make a little impact. When I decide to make a trip now, I know that there will be some folks in these places that know something about what I'm doing. And locally, people in areas of town that I don't frequent now know about me."

Another rhymesayer who has reaped the benefits of MySpace is Stacy Smith, 28, known in hip-hop circles as Reach.

"It's a quick way to establish a fan base regionally and even nationally. The growth potential there is something that can't be duplicated on an everyday level," says Reach, who connected with artists both locally _ in the Kansas City area _ and as far away as Denmark to do collaborations, all due to the networking power of MySpace.

"It's hard to shoot your music out to someone in Michigan, but MySpace eliminates that. It's even more accessible than a person's own Web site. There are a lot of artists I know and I don't know their Web site, but I know their MySpace address. It's something everybody is tapped into, from teenagers to people looking to date to music heads. It's like the club that everyone wants to go to for whatever reason."

And the clubs, such as Kabal and RecordBar, have their own pages, too. Late Night Theatre has a page, as do clothing stores like B Blaze and Spool. Hadley Johnson, owner of Spool, posts sales and events to connect with customers and designers, locally and nationally.

"It helps build an identity for a small boutique," says Johnson, 29. "And it allows the customers to be a part of Spool other than in-store contact.

"I am able to be associated and connected to them on a different level."

___

GETTING STARTED

Log on to myspace.com.

Register with a few quick questions.

Create a profile with as much or as little information as you want.

The rest is up to you. Upload a photo or two, start a blog, browse other users.

___

(c) 2006, The Kansas City Star.

Visit The Star Web edition on the World Wide Web at http://www.kcstar.com/

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Source: The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Missouri)

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