Playboy’s Girls of MySpace, sexual predators and other crimes have tarnished have descended on MySpace like a flock of hungry vultures. The social networking site which has spawned many a few imitators is dealing with a whole lot of analog problems; problems sadly most social networks will have to face up-to in months and years to come. The Wall Street Journal looks into MySpace, and how it ended up with these headaches.
Robert Young, a guest columnist who is fast becoming our resident “MySpace” sage over at GigaOM wrote about all these issues in his provocative essay, Sex, Crimes and MySpace nearly a week ago. News Corp, the parent of MySpace, has responded quite quickly, and its efforts are laudable. “News Corp. plans to appoint a “safety czar” to oversee the site, launch an education campaign that may include letters to schools and public-service announcements to encourage children not to reveal their contact information,” writes the Journal.
This is a reflection of the sheer penetration of online social networks into the real world.
Really, it’s a stroke of genius for Playboy. With a multitude of initiatives, particularly their clothing and accessory line, they’ve done a lot to reinvent themselves over the past few years. It’s mostly an attempt to lose the tacky image and reinvent themselves as ‘cool’. Making themselves appear coupled with MySpace is going to do just that. Inevitably a lot of guys are going to buy that issue, particularly male MySpace users. But how many girls are also going to buy it? I’d say a few more than usual. Afterall, MySpace is a social network – who wouldn’t buy a copy of a magazine because one of their ‘friends’ is in it.
It’s also a natural line extension for a lot of MySpace users. As UNEASYSilence put it, MySpace is “already overflowing with countless women wearing little to nothing”. Want to see the proof? Just take a look at MySpace Babes and The Net’s Hottest Guys and Girls. Sure, MySpace has its share of fake profiles, but it also has its share of some very real girls wearing close to nothing. Playboy is simply going to monetise that fact to their own benefit.
Of course, MySpace will also benefit from it. Great exposure, more people signing up after they see the issue (and no doubt trying to find these girls on the site). But at the end of the day Playboy is likely to be the biggest winner from it.
Is this something I’d want for Rogue Connect? Probably not. I don’t think Playboy’s image has come far enough (yet) for the association to keep with our image. GQ on the otherhand…
Aside from being a haven for sexual predators, just look at the majority of member profiles to begin with! If you are advertisting yourself with provocative photos to a mass audience that may be comprised of perverts and those prone to harming others, then it shouldn’t be a surprise when unfortunate incidents happen. It’s unfortunate that the current and upcoming generations have turned into “attention whores” that need acknowledgement from everyone and everything. Kinda hard to do when there’s 5 billion people in the world and they don’t have to give a damn about you.
Uh, the internet is a superhighway for information. Myspace is not a haven for sexual predators any more then any other medium is. Just like the roads and highways, if used properly, there’s lots of fun for all involved. If abused or used by kids neglected by their parents, there may be trouble. This can be said about ANY pass-time kids are involved with, because they are vulnerable. Please don’t paint such a dirty picture of the internet. There are many resources available to people and I categorically resist the exaggerated portrayal of the net, or myspace, as a negative influence on people’s lives.