In response to growing safety concerns, MySpace is planning new restrictions on how adults may contact younger users.
MySpace currently prohibits kids 13 and under from setting up accounts and shows only partial profiles for those registered as 14 or 15 unless the person viewing the profile is already on their friends list. Under the changes which take effect next week, MySpace users 18 and older can no longer request to be on a 14 or 15-year-old's friends' list unless they already know either the kid's e-mail address or full name.
While the changes were made to try to stop predators, they will also have a chilling effect on bands, labels, and marketers who want to reach younger teens. Kids under 18 can still be the one initiating contact with a band or other MySpace member, but the common practice of "inviting" friends who, for example, like a similar band will be restricted to those over 16.
And there still is plenty of room for fraud. MySpace has no way to verify that users give their real age when registering. That means adults can still sign up as teens and request to join a 14-year-old's list of friends. Plus partial profiles display gender, age and city. Full profiles add hobbies, schools and any other personal details a member may want to share.
