The principal of the trend research company Zandl Group describes the attributes of social networking sites that marketers should apply to their strategies.

MySpace is all over the press recently, raising attention from parents and educators about the dangers of social networking sites. What the media hasn't focused on is the positive aspects of the site, and the lessons marketers can learn.

More than just a social networking site of nearly 70 million users, MySpace is a personal branding tool. It's a place where users can project themselves (or rather what they want other people to see about themselves) with ever-changing profiles, pictures and blogs-- making MySpace the perfect site for marketers to look to for insights into the young consumer's mindset.

Creativity has been the key to MySpace's success since the site's beginning. Along with crafting their written profiles, users manipulate the look of their space with easy html codes to change fonts, layout and color scheme (as well as picture backgrounds or wallpapers) of their personal pages.

Savvy MySpacers started adding music and video via html tags, and MySpace took note, adding features to the site to make it easy for anyone to link music (and most recently, video) to their page. With the new video uploading feature (or used in conjunction with sites like YouTube.com), MySpace pages become DIY broadcasting stations, where users can post their own content for both their friends and the general public.

Beyond photos and video content, copy, personal soundtracks and personal aesthetics, the company they keep is central to this practice in personal branding. Many users boast hundreds (even thousands!) of contacts, from personal friends and acquaintances to bands to bars to brands (e.g. Re-Up magazine).

Their chosen "Top 8" friends are displayed on their page, and can be their core group of friends or a rotating cast of their flavors of the week.

Users join MySpace groups within the site -- there are well over two million -- for everything from movie obsessions (e.g. House of Yes group), to brand obsessions (e.g. Starbucks drinkers), to activities (e.g. Scootlanta, a local scooter club in Atlanta). From mainstream to niche, the people, brands and groups MySpacers align themselves with define them as much as their own profile.

Even with hundreds of friends, MySpacers maintain one-on-one relationships with many of the people on their friend lists. This is done through private conversations (messaging), but also public communication: comments, blogs, bulletins and forums. The interesting thing is how a public announcement, such as a bulletin, acts as a one-on-one connection because it feels like personal, first-hand information. With 70 million users posting, commenting and interacting, MySpace's webs of relationships are constantly passing along and generating content, ensuring users will stay logged on.

Here are five lessons from MySpace for marketers:

Keep it new
Profiles that are constantly updated with new blogs, photos and comments get continuous views. Young people expect marketers to keep them engaged with new content.

Keep it creative
From amateur photo shoots to custom designed backgrounds, MySpacers take time and craft with their profiles. They are savvy and expect as much from marketers.

Keep it personal
One-on-one relationships (or at least perceived personal connections) are as important for actual brands as they are in the "personal brand image" that MySpacers create.

You're known for the company you keep
The people, groups and brands MySpacers (and real brands) befriend say as much about them as their profile does.

Small is big
Within MySpace's vast network, users create their own customized niches-- exposing other users to their individual tastes. Nimble marketers must adapt to increasing fragmentation among young consumers.

Principal of the Zandl Group, Irma Zandl has been acknowledged as one of America's foremost experts on consumer insights and trend research. She specializes in "what's next" for business, helping companies stay on-trend and consumer-centric. Irma is in demand as a guest speaker and television commentator, and she is frequently quoted in the business press for her insights on consumer behavior and market trending-- including Time, Business Week and The Economist. On the road or at home on the Lower East Side in New York, Irma always keeps an eye out for new or intriguing developments, which she posts on the Zandland Blog.