Real-life members of MySpace are apparently getting fed up with the fake profiles created by marketers for their brands.
MySpace users are growing disenchanted with the social-networking site because it's "becoming too corporate, overrun with ads, and less authentic," writes MediaPost. The article points to a dilemma that publishers of similar sites face: the measure of their success is advertising revenue, but granting marketers extensive access can undermine the authenticity and appeal that made the site attractive to users, and therefore advertisers, in the first place.
Nielsen BuzzMetrics CMO Peter Blackshaw, who monitors online "buzz," says users are discussing corporate presence on social networks. "As advertisers try to figure out the CGM [consumer-generated media] space, they're kind of blurring the line between authentic content creation and advertising. That could definitely backfire," he is quoted as saying.
A Universal McCann study recently found, for example, that only 10 percent of users said corporate messaging in blogs "can add value to my experience."