Devoted to online marketing, viral marketing, and web marketing

A number of online marketers are starting to view MySpace as the new mass media - far too large to attract any specific demographic group very well. This is resulting in an onslaught of competitors beginning their own offerings in response to this possibility.

One thing that a number of analysts take note of is that MySpace wasn't the first Web site to offer a social networking experience, in only in about 6 months they launched by Friendster Inc. in monthly visitors. They add that if Friendster can be overcome so quickly, so can MySpace.

To me, the problem they have is that they are not going deep at all, just like mass media is unable to. It is a lowest common denominator sort of site, that while hot, has an enormous vulnerability to a large variety of smaller focused offerings that could cut into their demographic.

That, along with the larger companies starting to enter into the mix with their own offerings that are sure to syphon off at least a percentage of their users.

The most interesting aspect of this is that if it is going the route of simply an online mass media site, it will not have the type of staying power that a focused site will have. It may be vulnerable to becoming a commodity.

As many have said, this is only the first stage of the social networking battle. Just as in offline life, people have numerous interests that are segmented among different areas of life. For example school, spiritual, work, friends among a number of things. Mass media types of offerings don't address these in any type of depth.

MySpace is finding this out as in April 2006, only 60 percent of MySpace U.S. users visited the site. This could be a look into what is in store for them in the future.