Myspace users revolting against influx of phony marketers

MIT Adverlab reports that Myspace users are becoming increasingly irritated with brand's fake Myspace profiles.

"So the lowest-hanging fruit's gone now and it's time to move from the static and fake (yeah, fictional) MySpace profiles to something more innovative and interactive. MediaPost: " Peter Blackshaw--chief marketing officer for Nielsen BuzzMetrics, which monitors online "buzz" about a variety of topics--warns that the growing corporate presence on social networks is a topic of significant discussion among users. [...] Rachel Honig, co-founder of the digital-marketing firm Digital Power & Light, agreed that the growing number of fake profiles might quickly prove tiresome."

"Although he is a fervent MySpace supporter, Scott Koboyashi, a co-founder of a "best of MySpace" blog called SpaceCadetz, said in a recent interview that the site has lost its independent feel."

Also, VW's Helga still hasn't friended me despite multiple requests. Adidas, Yaris, Scion, Smart, Cingular and H&M did. Helga - not."

The keys to doing Myspace advertising seem to be:

Be honest about the brand's involvement
Respond to "friends" and commit yourself to giving the Myspace profile a personality and life
Offer potential friends in the community something that they really want - be it something funny, inside information, access to bars and clubs etc. Get this right and you'll capture the brand's core fanbase.