MySpace is a modern social phenomenon. Its accelerated growth is unmatched. But how did it grow and how did it grow so fast? After all, there were dozens of social networking sites preceeding it (Friendster, Classmates, and Ryze to name a few) but none have flourished as MySpace has. There are a couple of reasons, in my opinion, why MySpace has succeeded to a degree that none of the others have. First off, it is completely free to use the site. Secondly, MySpace allows for anybody to post links to other websites. In an online world where competition for links is fierce, MySpace freely allows it. So, people began using it to post links to their own commercial business websites. This is free advertising and whenever people can advertise for free they will.

The posting of links is one of the main reasons for the accelerated growth of MySpace, but an unintended consequence of this is that the website is now full of spam. Let's take the business discussion forums in MySpace. I know it is full of spam because I'm a group moderator of one of the largest business groups on the site, the Business Networking group. Other popular business groups on the site include Small Business Entrepreneurs, Black Business Owners Network, Real Estate Networking, Startup FAQ, and Xtreme Motivators. I delete nine out of every ten topics posted for discussion in my group because they don't have any value to the group. These posts that I delete include, mainly, MLM affiliate links, mortgage brokers and realtors seeking new business and sales leads, and business and website owners that use the group to link to their own website without adding any value to the discussions. It