Some of MySpace.com's 23 Million Members Concerned About Fox Acquisition

Posted on August 1, 2005

News Corporation recently announced the acquisition of MySpace.com, a blogging and social networking service popular with teens. The acquisition will give News Corporation a chance to become a force in the blogosphere. MySpace.com has 23 million members and 100,000 new people join every day according to this news story. Every single MySpace.com member is automatically given a blog as part of their account. All members have a blog but not all members have entered a blog post. News Corporation also owns the Fox News Network, which is known for its conservative pro-Bush administration stance. BusinessWeek reports that this has concerned the youthful audience of MySpace.com.

MySpace, which is particularly popular among 16- to 34-year-old fans of alternative music, has an iconoclastic edge. The prospect of being owned by one of the world's largest media conglomerates, especially one known for conservative media outlets like the Fox News Channel and The Weekly Standard, raised more than a few hackles.

"News Corp. is an awful company," wrote one user who identified himself as Rick. "Selling to Fox? What a terrible idea," wrote another user, "erinoly." And "blah blah" wrote that "These FOX peeps are control freaks that don't see past the dollar sign."

However, News Corporation has produced shows that would not be considered conservative like Temptation Island -- so it is unlikely that MySpace.com will be run with a conservative slant. This would be next to impossible anyway with the age demographic that is using MySpace.com. They would simply find a new host that was less restrictive and more suited to their needs.

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