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News Corp. Plays It Safe

By Alyce Lomax – Updated Nov 15, 2016 at 6:42PM

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Will an ad campaign focused on Internet safety for teens save MySpace from bad PR?

MySpace.com has been an Internet success story. However, sometimes there's a downside to success -- and lately, MySpace has been subject to media frenzy concerning teen safety. There's real risk in the public perception that maybe MySpace is an unsafe online playground. That's why it makes sense that News Corp. (NYSE:NWS) is funding a public service ad campaign that warns teens about online safety.

News Corp.'s acquisition of MySpace was definitely a competitive coup. According to Amazon.com's Alexa traffic service, MySpace is the fifth-most visited site on the Web, following Internet behemoths Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO), Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) MSN, and eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY). MySpace's original competitive advantage among social networking sites was its emphasis on music -- it's even been dabbling in its own label -- but it's also become clear that there are a lot of very young users within its user base.

MySpace may be growing by leaps and bounds, but apparently, its dangerous rep is growing still more at the moment. News Corp. has big plans for MySpace, and negative PR is a serious hurdle. Indeed, having read and seen some of the numerous news reports about young girls having been stalked or victimized through their MySpace connections, I haven't been able to help but wonder whether the site's facing a serious dilemma.

News Corp. plans to spend several million dollars funding a campaign that includes public service messages for teens, with catchphrases such as "don't believe the type." The campaign will highlight some of the hazards of online anonymity -- including the reprehensible people who grossly misrepresent themselves. It's created by the Advertising Council and The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, and doesn't mention MySpace by name. However, MySpace will run banner ads on the site and run ads on News Corp.'s Fox-affiliated TV stations. There will be other online and TV ads, and print ads, too.

For its own part, News Corp. has been working on pulling inappropriate postings and profiles as well as booting kids younger than 14. It's got its work cut out for it, though; not only do predators misrepresent themselves, but a lot of kids lie about their age online as well. News Corp. has also hired a former Microsoft executive (who had been a federal prosecutor who focused on online child exploitation cases) to oversee safety, education, privacy, and law enforcement affairs. Further, it has hired 100 more people to help scout the site for inappropriate material and underage users.

The dangers of online contacts have been well-known for some time; dating sites are another area where users have to use a lot of caution because misrepresentation is common. However, a service like MySpace faces the additional risks inherent in that young user base.

There are plenty of social networking sites out there -- once-cool, now-quiet Friendster and Google's Orkut spring to mind. The buzz isn't about them, because they're just not as cool as MySpace. However, given the current negative PR, they're probably glad they're not so cool at the moment. News Corp. is trying to make sure its wildly successful site is safe for all, while keeping its cool edge. Given the here-today, gone-tomorrow elements of social networking, it's likely not going to be an easy tightrope to walk.

Amazon.com and eBay are Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendations. Microsoft is a Motley Fool Inside Value selection.

Alyce Lomax does not own shares of any of the companies mentioned.

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