Good lordy, the way MySpace is sometimes portrayed you'd be forgiven for thinking that it was hell on earth - sucking in the world's bogeymen like a black hole. This week's Economist reports that it's where paedophiles spend their lives grooming the underage, al-Qaeda communicate plans about world domination, Playboy recruit topless models and - prepare yourself - teenagers are rude about their teachers! Luckily, the advertising community are making themselves available to steer brands through this quagmire of filth.

David Cohen, a grand fromage at Universal McCann says he, "wouldn't be caught dead in that kind of environment". Mystifyingly, he goes onto say that when he does recommend it, he tells clients to stick to the bits that News Corporation have built and not to go anywhere near the, "unpredictable, user-generated, content". (Presumably because that's where the terrorists, paedophiles and Hugh Hefner hang out). Furthermore, Cohen says.

if he really, really, really has to use it, then he has negotiated a way for his clients to get out very quickly in case something unspeakable happens. "We can be out of there in a heartbeat", he says before going onto clarify that he actually means two days. (Nice one Dave, what could possibly happen in 48 hours on one of the world's largest networked communities). Anyway, that's much quicker than the normal two weeks it takes advertisers who have stumbled into MyCessPit without the expert guidance of Mr Cohen. Phew! Meanwhile, the tiny proportion of MySpace residents who aren't axe-wielding psychopaths go ahead organising political campaigns to stop legislation about immigration that they feel is a bit unfair. But, let's face it, they're probably up to something horribly, evil really. ;-).



Posted by: Gina    Source