6683

econsultancy_xml

<a href="http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/23/has-americas-first-friend-been-lying-about-his-age">Michael Arrington</a> thinks so, for reasons of trust: <blockquote> “Why would he do this?” he asks. “Maybe so that the company looked cooler, started by 20-somethings instead of 30-somethings when it first launched in 2003. “Or maybe there’s another reason. Whatever it is, lying to your users, your tens of millions of users, can’t be a good thing.” </blockquote> <a href="http://www.news.com/8301-13577_3-9806595-36.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1023_3-0-5">CNET’s Caroline McCarthy</a> is pretty underwhelmed by the whole thing, asking for “some real news now, please?” But <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/id/62330">Newsweek</a>, no less, which dug up Anderson’s real age from public records, says “history might have unfolded differently if those first few users had known that the site’s hipster co-architect was already well into his 30s.” I'm not sure we'd buy that. But others have read more into the story, with <a href="http://valleywag.com/tech/social-networks/is-tom-anderson-lying-about-his-age-on-myspace-313853.php">Valleywag</a> saying it “would hardly make Anderson the first person to lie about his age on MySpace”: <blockquote> “It points out MySpace's fatal flaw as a business. Unlike Facebook, which forces users to tie their online identities to real-life groups like colleges or workplaces, there's no reason for users -- or advertisers -- to trust anything in a MySpace profile.” </blockquote> Either way, Arrington assures us that more “sensationalist dirt” is set to come out in an upcoming book on <a href="http://www.myspace.com">MySpace</a> and owner <a href="http://www.newscorp.com">News Corp</a> by Wall Street Journal reporter Julia Angwin. Perhaps Rupert Murdoch is actually 103.

<FormattedContent xmlns="http://www.e-consultancy.com/schema/formattedContent/"> <Paragraph> <Link URL="http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/10/23/has-americas-first-friend-been-lying-about-his-age" Window="Self">Michael Arrington</Link> thinks so, for reasons of trust:</Paragraph> <Block> <Paragraph> <Quote>“Why would he do this?”</Quote> he asks. <Quote>“Maybe so that the company looked cooler, started by 20-somethings instead of 30-somethings when it first launched in 2003.</Quote></Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Quote>“Or maybe there’s another reason. Whatever it is, lying to your users, your tens of millions of users, can’t be a good thing.”</Quote> </Paragraph> </Block> <Paragraph> <Link URL="http://www.news.com/8301-13577_3-9806595-36.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1023_3-0-5" Window="Self">CNET’s Caroline McCarthy</Link> is pretty underwhelmed by the whole thing, asking for <Quote>“some real news now, please?”</Quote></Paragraph> <Paragraph>But <Link URL="http://www.newsweek.com/id/62330" Window="Self">Newsweek</Link>, no less, which dug up Anderson’s real age from public records, says <Quote>“history might have unfolded differently if those first few users had known that the site’s hipster co-architect was already well into his 30s.”</Quote></Paragraph> <Paragraph>I'm not sure we'd buy that. But others have read more into the story, with <Link URL="http://valleywag.com/tech/social-networks/is-tom-anderson-lying-about-his-age-on-myspace-313853.php" Window="Self">Valleywag</Link> saying it <Quote>“would hardly make Anderson the first person to lie about his age on MySpace”:</Quote></Paragraph> <Block> <Paragraph> <Quote>“It points out MySpace's fatal flaw as a business. Unlike Facebook, which forces users to tie their online identities to real-life groups like colleges or workplaces, there's no reason for users -- or advertisers -- to trust anything in a MySpace profile.”</Quote> </Paragraph> </Block> <Paragraph>Either way, Arrington assures us that more <Quote>“sensationalist dirt”</Quote> is set to come out in an upcoming book on <Link URL="http://www.myspace.com" Window="Self">MySpace</Link> and owner <Link URL="http://www.newscorp.com" Window="Self">News Corp</Link> by Wall Street Journal reporter Julia Angwin. Perhaps Rupert Murdoch is actually 103.</Paragraph> </FormattedContent>

2007-10-30T08:22:00+00:00

econsultancy_xml

<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Anderson_(MySpace)">Tom Anderson</a>, the co-founder and public face of MySpace, has been rumbled for lying about his age in his profile – he’s apparently four years older than he claims. But besides showing how far he was prepared to go to appear in touch with MySpace's yoof audience, and being pretty embarrassing, is this a big deal?

<FormattedContent xmlns="http://www.e-consultancy.com/schema/formattedContent/"> <Emphasis> <Link URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Anderson_(MySpace)" Window="Self">Tom Anderson</Link>, the co-founder and public face of MySpace, has been rumbled for lying about his age in his profile – he’s apparently four years older than he claims.</Emphasis> <Paragraph>But besides showing how far he was prepared to go to appear in touch with MySpace's yoof audience, and being pretty embarrassing, is this a big deal?</Paragraph> </FormattedContent>

false 1882

For background on online PR and social media more generally, It's worth reading our (free to registered users) <a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/online-pr-and-social-media-trends-briefing">Social Media Trends Briefing</a> (June 2009). Econsultancy has also published <a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/social-media-and-online-pr-digital-marketing-template-files">Social Media and Online PR Template Files</a>, which you can adapt and use for your own projects. For innovation in this space, download our <a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/innovation-report">Innovation Report</a>.

364481

MySpace founder 'fibbed about age' false

2007-10-30T08:27:00+00:00

myspace-founder-fibbed-about-age

2009-04-30T01:17:11+01:00

2009-10-13T09:23:12+01:00

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