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MySpace members are growing more and more disenchanted as the number of fake profiles and the increase of corporate presence starts to dilute authentic feel of the the social networking site. Peter Blackshaw, chief marketing officer for Nielsen BuzzMetrics which monitors online buzz, has commented that more and more users are starting to discuss the growing corporate presence on social networks. MySpace is of particular concern since they allow corporations to create fictitious characters, pages, profiles and friend lists in a type of blended advertising. Blackshaw warns that this potentially has a higher turn-off factor because consumers may perceive it as ‘over the line.’

The corporate invasion into digital social networks isn’t anything new. Interns have long been hired to surf online forums and engage in threads and post messages to generate buzz about their employer’s product — from music to bands to movies to the latest energy drink. It’s surprising it took this long for the backlash to start.

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