MySpace cleans out the muck - to attract mainstream ad dollars?

MySpace.com continues to evolve down the path to mainstream media culture. According to a recent conference speech by Fox Interactive’s Ross Levinsohn, approximately 200,000 profiles were recently sent to the site’s quarantine bin for having content deemed unsavoury or unsafe. What does “unsavoury” mean? Basically, who know? But I assume it means anything filled with hate, racism or semi-pornographic material.

According to speculation out on the internet, the site’s new owners News Corp have a bit of a dilemma with the site. Although the site has a huge and impressionable young audience, Big Advertisers are reluctant to commit major advertising dollars with the site. Why? They’re afraid of negative associations that may rise from the site’s risque material. However cleaning up the site’s naughtier material may not be a great solution for News Corp - IMO, it’s definitely one of the reasons the site is so popular with users between 18 - 25 years. Naughty material doesn’t conform with the mainstream “rules” - and that’s why they like those users like the site.