Promoting Your Business on MySpace

The question of whether or not MySpace can be used to promote a business is certainly debatable. MySpace is intended to be a non-commercial website by nature but there is a different between blatant commercialization and mentioning a product or service you offer and providing a link as a useful resource to visitors of your website. This article will take a look at the opportunities to promote a business on MySpace by providing information on determining whether or not your method of business promotion is permitted on MySpace and information on how to promote your business without being accused of spamming MySpace.

Review the Terms of Service Carefully

The terms of service provided by MySpace can provide the greatest insight into whether or not there are ways to promote your business through MySpace. Members of MySpace are asked to review the terms of service before becoming a member. Each member should carefully read through this entire agreement to come to a better understanding of which types of activities are allowed on MySpace as well as which types of activities are prohibited.

One of the stipulations of the MySpace reads as follows, “Non-commercial Use by Members. The MySpace Services are for the personal use of Members only and may not be used in connection with any commercial endeavors except those that are specifically endorsed or approved by MySpace.com. Illegal and/or unauthorized use of the MySpace Services, including collecting usernames and/or email addresses of Members by electronic or other means for the purpose of sending unsolicited email or unauthorized framing of or linking to the MySpace Website is prohibited. Commercial advertisements, affiliate links, and other forms of solicitation may be removed from Member profiles without notice and may result in termination of Membership privileges. Appropriate legal action will be taken for any illegal or unauthorized use of the MySpace Services.”

This section of the terms of service stipulates that MySpace is created for non-commercial use unless Myspace.com has approved the use of a member’s website for commercial purposes. Therefore care should be taken when designing a MySpace website to ensure the website will not be deemed to be a commercial website by MySpace administrators.

When In Doubt, Ask Questions

Those who are unsure of whether or not their MySpace website, as they have designed it, will be considered a commercial website should consult with MySpace administrators. This step is not necessary unless the member is concerned their content will be perceived as being commercial. Reviewing the terms of use agreement can provide a great deal of information but some users may still be concerned with the possibility that their website will be penalized if the administrators deem it to be commercial in nature.

Contacting MySpace is a fairly simple process. Members can use the, “Contact MySpace” link from the MySpace.com homepage. The contact page enables members to select a subject and a subtopic and submit this information. Once this is done MySpace provides some preliminary information which may be relevant. If this information is not useful to the member they can email a detailed request to MySpace.

Avoid Spamming at All Costs

If you determine there is an opportunity for you to promote your business through MySpace, care should be taken to ensure the promotion does not cross the line into spam. Spamming is taken very seriously by the MySpace administrators and it may result in links or content being deleted or the privileges of membership may be revoked when a member is found to be guilty of spamming.

Links to your ecommerce website integrated into your MySpace website isn’t considered spamming. Depending on how it is used it may not even be considered advertising, and therefore prohibited, by MySpace administrators. However, visiting other MySpace websites and placing a link to your ecommerce website on each website you visit would be considered spam. These individuals may or may not be interested in the website you provide but even if they are interested sending these links to numerous websites unsolicited is often considered to be spam.

Networking on MySpace

MySpace is an online community where members can meet to share photos, journals and interests with an extensive network of friends. The MySpace mission statement describes the MySpace network as being for everyone including:

* Friends who want to talk Online
* Single people who want to meet other Singles
* Matchmakers who want to connect their friends with other friends
* Families who want to keep in touch--map your Family Tree
* Business people and co-workers interested in networking
* Classmates and study partners
* Anyone looking for long lost friends!

From this description it is clear that MySpace is an excellent place for online networking. This article will take a look at how to find the people you want to network with on MySpace and will examine whether or not the networking should remain online.

Who Do You Want to Meet?

When using MySpace to network it is important to consider who you want to meet in your networking endeavor. There is a misconception that MySpace is just for kids but many are finding there are all types of people using MySpace. Before making a decision about whether or not you want to network on MySpace it is wise to spend some time searching around MySpace to find out whether or not there is a large amount of individuals who share your interests. Spending some time doing research before beginning your own MySpace website is helpful because otherwise you might invest time and energy into designing your website only to find there are not many members with which you want to network.

Where Can You Find Those You Want to Meet?

Now that you have identified who you are looking to meet online through MySpace it is time to start finding these individuals. The search feature can be very helpful for this purpose. Compile a list of keywords which are likely to be used on the MySpace websites of members you would like to meet. Searching for these keywords can help you to locate those who share your interests.

Visiting the MySpace websites of your friends’ friends can also help you to meet more interesting individuals on MySpace. Those who you already consider to be friends likely share some of your interests. Likewise many of their existing friends may share these interests as well. Investigating websites of those who are friends of your friends can put you in contact with many more people who might be potential friends for you.

Do You Want to Take Your Networking Offline?

After networking online the natural progression is to determine whether or not you want to expand on your network to include face to face meetings as a part of this networking. Care should be taken when making this decision to ensure you are not putting yourself, or others, at unnecessary risk by arranging these networking meetings.

The most important aspect in arranging offline networking meetings with those who you meet online is choosing a safe location for these meetings. A well lit, busy, public location is ideal for these types of meetings. These types of locations not only minimize the chance that any participants in the meeting will attempt to harm others but also helps to make those who are planning to attend feel safer. You might think a house belonging to your friend is an excellent location because you are familiar with the location and will have friends with you but it is important to note those you are meeting may be just as suspicious of you as you are of them. They are more likely to be interested in attending your meeting if it takes place in a public location because they will feel more comfortable.

Another aspect to consider when deciding whether or not to take virtual networking opportunities offline is whether or not you think the friendships will be the same offline as they are online. Many Internet users feel freer to express their opinions online than they do in face to face meetings. Friends who have wonderful relationships through MySpace may find their relationship falters when they actually meet in person.

MySpace Precautions

MySpace is an online community where members can create personal websites and meet new friends or reconnect with old friends. It can be a lot of fun and can also provide excellent networking opportunities but there are some precautions which should be taken by all users of MySpace. These precautions include being aware of the ability for individuals to misrepresent themselves online, knowing how to avoid being harmed or scammed and understanding the terms of service on MySpace. This article will discuss these three key concepts which are minimum precautions MySpace members should take to ensure their MySpace experience is pleasurable.

Beware of Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing

The Internet provides an excellent opportunity for unscrupulous individuals to deliberately misrepresent themselves. This misrepresentation may be somewhat innocent such as lying about interest or activities for the purpose of being more attractive to someone you have a crush on or it can be more series. Those with criminal intent may lie about a number of factors such as their age, sex and location in order to lure another member into a harmful situation. There have been numerous stories which made national headlines about young users of MySpace being abducted by individuals they met online. Although these cases are considered to be somewhat rare, they do exist and members of MySpace should be aware of the potential for this type of activity.

Those who want to do physical harm to another may deliberately misrepresent themselves but there are other potentially harmful reasons why an individual on MySpace might pretend to be someone else. This can be done to gain the trust of other members before conducting a financial scam which will result in a significant loss of money for the MySpace members who are duped in such a scam.

MySpace members can avoid both physical and financial danger by exercising caution in their interactions with other members of the community. This includes emails and instant messages but care should also be taken to avoid posting sensitive information on MySpace pages as this information can be viewed by the general public unless the profile is made private.

Know How Much Information is Too Much

One important precaution MySpace members should take is safeguarding their personal information. This information includes, but is not limited to, the following pieces of information:

* Full name
* Social security number
* Credit card numbers
* Bank account numbers
* Physical address
* Phone number
* Place of birth
* High school attended and year of graduation
* Names of children and location and date of their births

Some of the items on the above list such as social security number and bank account numbers are pieces of information most people are aware they should not divulge to the general public. However, other pieces of information such as high school attended and year of graduation or names of children and location and date of their births may seem harmless. Unfortunately this is not true. These seemingly harmless pieces of information can be used to research an individual and it might be possible to deduce where a person lives from this type of information.

Understand the Terms of Service

Finally, members of MySpace should familiarize themselves with the terms of service provided by MySpace. This information is important for a couple of reasons. First it will help MySpace members to understand their rights as well as the security features which exist in the community. Members who are aware of these facts know their course of action if they are harassed by other members of MySpace. Additionally, being familiar with the terms of service on MySpace is important because it helps members to understand which actions are permissible and which actions are prohibited. This is important because it can prevent a member from inadvertently breaking the community rules and running the risk of being banned from the community. If after reviewing the terms of service you have questions, contact MySpace directly for clarification.

MySpace or Your Space?

MySpace is quickly revolutionizing the dating scene. MySpace advertises themselves as a virtual community for users to network, meet people, browse profiles and make friends around the world. However, some are taking this ability to meet people even further and are using MySpace similarly to the way they would use a dating website. While couples are still meeting in more traditional locations such as nightclubs and bar, more and more couples are making love connections online via MySpace.

MySpace allows members to create websites where they can post personal information about themselves and allow others to view this information and post messages commenting on the website. Through these interactions users can really get to know each other better and can foster relationships. This article will take a look at how MySpace users can meet other users, begin courting and possibly eventually meet romantic partners offline.

Meeting New People on MySpace

Meeting new people on MySpace is unbelievably easy. The search feature allows anyone to search through the MySpace community to find user websites that contain the search term entered. Individuals do not have to be members to view the search results; however, some websites might be private and not viewable by the general public. Entering search terms relevant to a particular hobby or interest will generate search results of those who share this interest or hobby.

Once an individual finds a number of websites from those who share their interests they can review these websites to determine if they wish to meet any of these MySpace members. One way to open the lines of communication with another user is to post a comment on their website. Only members of the MySpace community are allowed to post comments though so before leaving a comment users have to become members of the community. This also gives the user the opportunity to generate their own MySpace website. They can then invite those they are interested in meeting to view their website.

Flirting on MySpace

As previously, mentioned MySpace is quickly becoming a location to allow users to meet potential romantic partners. MySpace gives users the opportunity to publish photos of themselves as well as personal information making it an ideal opportunity for users to get to know each other in a safe environment. Users can also post information such as age, marital status, hobbies and interests so users can get to know each other better.

For many MySpace allows those who are normally more shy to feel confident about flirting with potential romantic partners. Those who usually don’t feel confident in crowded nightclub or bar settings may be able to express their feelings more freely through MySpace. They may also have the confidence to approach others they would not normally approach in a face to face situation.

Making Romantic Connections on MySpace

With so many opportunities to meet others through the MySpace community, it is no surprise that many of these users are making these online connections a reality by meeting their online friends in the real world. These face to face meetings can be a lot of fun but care should be taken in these situations to avoid putting yourself at risk.

It is important to remember that the Internet can allow individuals to mask their true identities. This makes it easy for harmful predators to pretend to be one person online to attract others who might be interested in meeting them offline when, in reality, they are a completely different person.

When meeting others online it is important to take precautions to safeguard personal information. Most people are aware they should not give out their address, social security number, credit card number, bank account number and other similar sensitive information but do not realize other information can also be harmful. For example seemingly innocent information such as the name of the high school attended and year of graduation can allow criminals to combine this information with other information such as a first name to determine where a person lives.

MySpace Just for Fun

There are many who take advantage of the MySpace community for business purposes such as advertising, self promotion or networking. While MySpace is certainly useful for all of these purposes, there are others who belong to MySpace simply for fun. They are not seeking to gain anything from their involvement with MySpace other than an opportunity to meet friends and have a good time. For these individuals the joy of using MySpace includes the opportunity to make friends around the world, the ability to listen to new types of music and the chance to participate in the age old practice of flirting.

Making Friends around the World

There are MySpace members who are members for the sole purpose of making friends online. This may include friends from nearby geographic regions who might become friends offline as well or friends from faraway countries who can offer insight into other cultures in addition to friendship. Typically this type of member is one who enjoys conversation and meeting new people. To these individuals friendships are usually more important than other types of relationships such as business relationships.

The use of MySpace to make friends is ideal because it is relatively safe, as long as certain precautions are taken. Most importantly members should avoid providing information such as their full name or address to others. This is important because although two individuals may have a seemingly wonderful friendship online there is always the opportunity to mask ones identity online so one of the friends may be a deceptive individual with malicious intent. This individual may use information such as a home address to stalk, harass or otherwise harass those they meet on MySpace.

While there is the potential for dangerous situations online, those who follow safety precautions can enjoy their online interactions without fear of being hurt by others. In these cases, it may not really matter if their online friend is actually not telling the truth about his identity because the other MySpace is still enjoying the conversations and is not putting herself at risk because.

Listening to Music on MySpace

Another fun activity MySpace members can enjoy is listening to music. MySpace members can place audio files in the background of their website so visitors hear this music when they enter the website. Alternatively members can place links to other musical tracks on their website for visitors to enjoy. One use of music on MySpace websites is for new bands that are looking to promote their music to place numerous tracks on their website in an effort to build up a following.

Members of MySpace who want to find some new or different music to listen to can spend some time searching other members’ website in search of music they may find interesting. Once they find websites with music they enjoy, they might want to add these members to their friends list and check back frequently to see if any new music has been posted.

Flirting on MySpace

Finally, members of MySpace may join for the sole purpose of finding others to engage in flirtatious relationships. For many the act of flirting is an enjoyable activity and flirting online is especially appealing to some because they do not have to worry about being nervous. Many individuals find they have a great deal more of confidence flirting with those they are attracted to in an online community than they do flirting with those they know in reality. Flirting can certainly be a harmless activity but when it is done online precautions should be taken to avoid potentially dangerous situations. The most basic precaution which should be taken is to keep the flirtations online and do not let them morph into meetings offline. Take care to avoid divulging any information which can allow others to determine where you live is very important. While flirting online may be a fun activity there is no way to be sure of the intentions of the person with which you are flirting.