MySpace founder adds China to friends list

Jennifer Protulipac
August 25, 2006
Current Events Log: Week Two
“MySpace founder adds China to friends list”
It seems as though I cannot escape it. A large portion of my friends use it, and therefore also bring it up frequently in conversation. It is constantly receiving attention in the news. Even a significant portion of my professors have mentioned it in the classroom this semester. It is absolutely a hot topic. It is MySpace, and according to the article “MySpace founder adds China to friends list” it, as well as other websites similar in nature, are spreading across the globe.
Brad Greenspan is the founder of the eUniverse company, which is the parent company to multiple websites including a few popular dating websites and social networking sites, including MySpace. The article, “MySpace founder adds China to friends list” details the great economic success that Greenspan has had with the eUniverse company, recently renamed Intermix and News Corp., in particular with the MySpace website. For example, Intermix and News Corp. had recently become a partner of a deal formed between MySpace and Google which is bringing in 900 million dollars.
Witnessing the success of MySpace, Greenspan has decided to broaden his market with the formation of his newest company: BroadWebAsia. BroadWebAsia is meant to emulate MySpace as it too will focus on social networking and entertainment. To ensure that BroadWebAsia will be prosperous, Greenspan is working with twenty previously existing internet companies in China in order to merge into the new market in a secure manner considering the Chinese government has much stricter laws regarding censorship. BroadWebAsia is meant to serve 120 million internet users, to earn approximately 50 million dollars, and to require only fifteen employees to operate the company. Clearly, BroadWebAsia will be another hot topic in no time.
It seems as though my sentiments of never being able to escape MySpace will soon be shared with numerous internet users on the other side of the world. Personally, I do not fully agree with the formation of social networking websites such as MySpace. While I can understand usefulness of the website regarding occupational networking, as well as entertainment access, I also feel that there is a major security problem with MySpace and websites like it. Nevertheless, I can fully respect the business side of the website. Greenspan’s financial success with the Intermix and News Corp. Company, which includes MySpace, is plain to see. I think it is extremely intelligent to then extend this prosperous domestic business into the international market. Furthermore, the decision to base the BroadWebAsia company in China is a wise one on Greenspan’s part. The article details how while this company will be accessible to 120 million internet users, it also explains that this is solely ten percent of the population of China; consequentially, the room for growth in this market is so great that BroadWebAsia is sure to be a success. Greenspan is taking advantage of the rapidly rising number of internet users in this extremely populous industrializing nation, which is nothing but good business sense.
Citation:
"MySpace founder adds China to friends list." CNN.com 08/24/2006 August 24, 2006
<http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/internet/08/24/myspace.china.reut/index.html> .